Post Blog: Mind the gap - CII Next Gen Claims Group to report on surge response

Well according to the findings of new research from the Chartered Insurance Institute's New Generation Claims Group, something akin to this can happen in the wake of a flood too.

Due to be published at the end of the month, the CII claims group's latest report took an in depth look at the 2013/14 floods and asked how the experiences of individual customers impacted by these events could have been improved.

And because one of the themes of next week's Post Claims Club meeting is ‘surge response' this could not be more timely - so we've asked the CII to come along and give a preview of some of the more salient findings.

In advance of the meeting, Will Curtis - a claims risk manager at Ecclesiastical and a member of the New Generation team - explained how conversations with interested stakeholders uncovered a number of significant "gaps" that can potentially act to the detriment of policyholders.

These include refuse collection and whether it was the insurer's responsibility to deal with it before carrying out remedial work - or if it was the role of local authority as usual.

Another "gap" the Group uncovered concerned the security of uninhabited flooded properties, with the loss adjusters they spoke to citing incidents where the police had been patrolling these buildings but had then moved on, leading to houses being looted.

Curtis added that one of the key takeaways from its report is the best results for insured customers happen when there is wider pre-incident planning, although he added there was understandably a line to be drawn here between cooperation and competitive advantage.

To hear more from the CII New Generation Claims Group, do not forgot to sign up now for the second Claims Club meeting of 2015, where we will also hear how managing general agents can add value, not just in specialist underwriting skills but in the claims arena too; and how the role of loss assessors has evolved over the last half decade.

And don't forget we already have Benedict Burke, senior vice president, Crawford & Company and incoming Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters president; Jonathan Davison, strategic development director, British Damage Management Association; Mike Hallam, head of technical services, British Insurance Brokers' Association; and Mark Shepherd, manager - general insurance, ABI, signed up for the surge panel.

I look forward to seeing you on the 15th April at the South Place Hotel.

Jonathan Swift, Post Claims Club Chair