Dave Burn is not alone in worrying about claims notification (Letters, 5 October). Many brokers are rightly concerned about getting left out of the loop when claimants go direct to the insurer - and only finding out about settlement payments made when renewal comes round.
Of course it shouldn't happen; but when you are working in a more traditional technology environment, it's not hard to understand how it comes about. One way to keep yourself in the picture is to outsource claims management to a third party provider and give them the authority to instigate appropriate procedures to prevent seepage to other agencies.
The better specialist outsourced claims companies will have the procedures and the IT systems in place to keep you fully informed of all claims activity from a single source. With all correspondence between all relevant parties available for the broker to view at any time, the whole issue of non-disclosure should never arise.
An alternative solution might be to suggest undertaking a full review of how claims are currently reported and instituting a programme to ensure all claims are reported via a single controlled and managed channel. The only seepage then should come from claims reported by the third party which can be mopped up later.
It's always a good idea to have all the facts at your fingertips. When you don't, it's not just embarrassing and frustrating, it can directly harm client relationships.
Dickon Tysoe, Director, Bankstone
