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Letter to the Editor
Wednesday April 13
Allstate to Simplify Handling of Total Loss Claims
Allstate Insurance Company has announced a new plan it says will shorten and simplify the claim process for more than a quarter million customers annually.Under the new plan, Allstate is redesigning the way it handles “total loss” auto insurance claims – un-repairable vehicles that accounted for approximately 17.7 percent of the company’s overall number of automobile damage claims settled in 2004.
“Allstate is making it easy for the customer to do business with us,” said John Edelen, Allstate assistant vice-president for claims. “We’re also smarter and more efficient about the way we do business.”
Traditional thinking in insurance says a company cannot significantly manage expenses and improve customer satisfaction simultaneously. The nation’s second largest home and auto insurer says already completed tests show this new service plan dramatically improves customer satisfaction and claim speed while simultaneously lowering company expenses.
Allstate says it is eliminating three steps in the total loss claim handling process by empowering one claim expert to guide the customer from start to finish. The company is replacing a process that required multiple “hand-offs” of total loss claims, involving several claim employees to complete a task that can be handled more efficiently and faster by one expert. Testing in 2004 showed Allstate completed claims three to six days sooner than before.
Edelen predicts the new plan could reduce future costs by millions of dollars annually by reducing car rental, storage and other fees “Allstate is able to manage this expense while simultaneously improving customer service,” Edelen said.
Tests of the “total loss redesign” in Washington, New Jersey, and Michigan last year delivered 13.9 percent improvements in the company’s customer service scores.
As Allstate continues looking for ideas to drive its overall “customer experience,” the company says the effects of this plan will likely be seen across a wider range of claim services, as staff and time previously occupied by total loss vehicle claims are freed up to serve other customers.
The company is in the process of launching this streamlined claim customer service plan across the country.
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