Services - Raintree#

Risk Management

Risk management involves identifying, assessing, and mitigating risk. The practice of identifying and analysing loss exposures and taking steps to minimize the financial impact of the risks they impose. An insurance company’s risk management approach is typically designed to prioritize the organization’s most significant risks, identify the potential impact of those risks and develop strategies to mitigate or eliminate them. One example of a popular insurance risk management technique is a reserve fund. A reserve fund is created by using a percentage of all the premiums being collected. The fund will be used to pay out claims on behalf of people who have been impacted by an event. Most entrepreneurs are risk takers, willing to invest resources with an expectation and hope, but no guarantee, of reward. But, from the viewpoint of insurance, “risk” is another word for “peril” and refers to things that can go wrong. Crime, vandalism, fire, a personal injury lawsuit, a computer virus, equipment breakdown, non-delivery of raw materials, death or illness of a key employee — the list of adverse events which can cause economic harm to your business or organization goes on.

Risk management is a broad topic. It involves taking steps to minimize the likelihood of things going wrong, a concept known as loss control. It also involves the purchasing of insurance to reduce the financial impact of adverse events on a company when, despite best efforts, bad things happen. No one likes thinking about what could go wrong. Nevertheless, as a prudent manager, you should understand the risks your business faces. Until you identify risks, you can’t make good decisions about managing them. Risk management, particularly loss control, begins at the top of any organization. If the head of company makes it a point to emphasize safety, compliance, and lawful and ethical behaviour, the rest of the organization is more likely to follow suit.

Risk management costs money, but the costs of not paying attention to safety concerns and not purchasing insurance can be far higher in the long run than any front-end savings. While small companies typically do not hire full-time risk managers, risk management should not be left to chance. Specific individuals/intermediary should be required to take responsibility for safety and compliance programs as well as for insurance matters.

One useful resource is insurance intermediary. Invite us to tour your premises and discuss how you are currently managing risks. We will be able to evaluate your actions and offer suggestions.

Loss Control and Insurance

Effective loss control — reducing the number and size of losses — may impact both the availability and affordability of insurance.

A business that is indifferent to loss control may have a higher than average number of insurance claims. A really poor loss history can make it difficult to find insurance. Conversely, businesses that actively manage risks, and thereby control losses, will have fewer claims and will often see those efforts rewarded with lower insurance premiums.

Portfolio Management

An insurance portfolio is simply a collection of insurance contracts. Strategic decision-making does not occur at the contract level. It happens in the conference room, where management reviews available data and possibly steers a new course. From the portfolio perspective, insurers want to do capacity planning, set management policies, and balance the mix of products being booked to grow revenue while controlling volatility. From intermediaries’ point of view portfolio management primarily addresses the following.

Scrutiny of the insurance contracts
Analysis of claims
Incurred loss ratio against each portfolio as well as overall results
Searching for competitive takers
Try modelling lucrative portfolio
Analysing capacity of the respective insurers
Innovative covers and Products
Placement strategy

Claims Management

From intermediaries’ point of view claims management primarily addresses the following.

Coordination among the insured, insurer and various TPs who are interested in the claim
Constant follow up
Relating claim with the insurance contract
Addresses possible gaps/eliminate doubts
Control and Maintenance of salvage
Documentation
Quantification
Determining values lost and recovered
Protecting rights of recovery
Avoiding litigation
Speedy Final disposal

Insurance customers expect a company to settle claims quickly and to their satisfaction. Because high customer satisfaction levels can give a company a competitive edge, reducing the time it takes to settle insurance claims is one way to decrease the number of customer complaints and improve services. As an intermediary we ensure speedy disposal of claims.

Settling insurance claims is just one aspect of the claims management process. The time it takes to process a claim involves several stages beginning with a person filing a claim. The stages that follow determine if a claim has merit. As an Insurance broker, we involve ourselves in every stage of a claim.