The unfortunate truth is that good and bad teams aren’t far apart in baseball. Wins and losses aren’t as easy to predict. The Cubs have a hard road ahead of them.
You may feel the same way, as you stare down the process to filing a business insurance claim. Don’t worry! You won’t have it nearly as hard.
The Planning Process
So, you have to file a business insurance claim. Maybe you went through years without having to file one, but all of a sudden a loss happens and you must do so. The first thing you need to do is to plan. As a business owner, you should have a disaster plan ready. Your employees need to know how to report a claim. Here are a few things you can have in place to help prepare you:
- Uniform reporting forms
- Cameras
- Regulatory compliance
- Mock drills
With proper planning, you can be ready in case something happens.
The Reporting Process
This is where you need to put your knowledge to work. As soon as there is an accident or claim, you need to notify your insurer. Do this as soon as possible. If there were fires, thefts, weather damage or auto accidents, your insurer must know as soon as possible. This is also the case if there were any injuries to a third party.
Next, report any incident to law enforcement. If there was a theft or vandalism, you need to have a police report on hand when you file the claim.
The Contact Process
Next, contact your insurance agent or broker. From there, you’ll be refreshed on how to file a business insurance claim. The broker or agent will collect information about your case and prepare the form. The broker sends the form to the insurer. During this time, you should be able to contact the claims department for a timeline.
When your insurer receives the form, you will be assigned an adjuster. Make sure to contact the adjuster within 72 hours. This is where the police reports and any photos of damage come into play. The adjuster will request any proof of loss.
Next, you want to contact any necessary professionals to assess the damage. This gives you an estimate on repairs and allows you to start getting your business back on its feet again. If you would feel more comfortable doing so, you can also hire legal counsel to help advise you through any disputes.
If you follow the steps, filing a business insurance claim can be easy. In no way is it going to be as hard as it was for the Cubs to win the World Series. Once you contact the appropriate people, your broker or agent will take an active role in moving your case along and getting your claim processed.
