Quality Claim Service Makes a Difference

Quality Claim Service Makes a Difference
By David Hopewell State Farm® agent

Headaches, hassles, and unnecessary strain in life can be reduced by researching the quality of claims service a company offers before purchasing an auto insurance policy. The few key areas to inspect are: customer satisfaction, customer choices and professionalism of claim representatives.

Customer satisfaction is one of the easiest to research. Independent firms, such as J.D. Power and Associates, rank customer satisfaction for auto insurance.

Quality claim service means prompt response and payment for what is owed for damage and quality repair work. Other intangibles can make the claims process less stressful.

Here are a few questions to ask when shopping for auto insurance:
· Is the person who sells me the policy, the same person I can trust to report a claim?
· Will there be someone who can answer my questions if I have one?
· Will I have my choice of body shops to repair my vehicle?

Another measure of quality claim service is customer choice. Not only choosing the auto body repair shop, but even the choices you have in communicating with the company. With today’s hectic lifestyles, some companies offer options to report claims in person, on the phone or even online, 24 hours a day.

Finally, professional claim handling can eliminate the unnecessary stresses related to an auto crash. Professional claim handling requires special skills. Claim adjusters need to empathize with the customer’s situation to establish good communication and assist them in making a claim.

The professional needs to turn the anxiety of a customer not knowing what to expect into confidence that the claim will be handled fairly and quickly. A car crash is already a stressful time in anyone’s life. But the quality of claim service can differentiate insurance company A from company B. Knowing that you’ve researched a company before buying an auto insurance policy will give you an added confidence when the unexpected happens.

Start by asking your agent about quality service.