http://www.insurancetech.com/claims/231600405
Insurers Address Irene's Claims and Business Continuity Challenges
Insurers across the nation used social media channels to reach out to policyholders, while carriers in Irene's path ramped up not only their claims responses but also their business continuity and disaster recovery plans.August 29, 2011
The impact of Hurricane Irene in terms of both insured and economic losses remains to be assessed, but insurers across the nation were prepared for the worst. As Irene worked her way up the East Coast, carriers reached out to customers using both traditional means and social media. Carriers based in the vast area affected activated their business continuity plans against the potential impact.
Insurers made heavy use of social media, such as Twitter, to inform policyholders about the storm and their carrier's response. Among it's many tweets, Allstate (Northbrook, Ill.) invited customers to "hear what's happening from our team on the ground," with a link to the insurer's newsroom. Nationwide (Columbus, Ohio) used Twitter to inform policyholders that some of their agents were without power and give policyholders numbers they could call to file claims. Utica National provided a stream of advice and resources via Twitter, both during and after the storm, and invited followers to share stories.
Los Angeles-based Farmers Insurance deployed one of its Mobile Catastrophe Claims buses from Atlanta to the Virginia coast, and locally based insurers activated not only claims response but also business continuity and disaster recovery plans to protect their own employees, facilities, systems and data.
"We activated our business continuity plan and we were in constant communication with members of our crisis and incident management team before and during the event," relates Mark Schussel, a spokesman for Warren, N.J.-based Chubb. "There will also be a debriefing after the event too, from which we can learn and incorporate any learnings into our future planning."
Schussel reports that Chubb's adjusters were dispatched to areas affected by the storm and that the insurer's service centers were fully staffed and functional during and in the aftermath of the event. "We have been taking calls, and we're dispatching mitigation services to our insureds to help them prevent additional damage to their property," Schussel reports.
We tested our business continuity plan after the storm. Where our department usually works out of the office, employees were randomly chosen to work from home to see if they could still carry out their daily routine. At 5.a.m. on the day of, the selected individual(s) would receive a phone call telling them not to come into the office. I have yet to learn of the conclusions made from the test of the plan, but I'll assume all went well as there were no major meetings to discuss how we could improve. Luckily, our home office was uninterrupted and we were able to return to work as scheduled following the storm. The losses from Irene continue to develop. Business continuity plans are essential; our insureds count on us to be available no matter what the circumstances are, and we need to deliver on that. Technology has enabled this.
Insurers made heavy use of social media, such as Twitter, to inform policyholders about the storm and their carrier's response. Among it's many tweets, Allstate (Northbrook, Ill.) invited customers to "hear what's happening from our team on the ground," with a link to the insurer's newsroom. Nationwide (Columbus, Ohio) used Twitter to inform policyholders that some of their agents were without power and give policyholders numbers they could call to file claims. Utica National provided a stream of advice and resources via Twitter, both during and after the storm, and invited followers to share stories.
Los Angeles-based Farmers Insurance deployed one of its Mobile Catastrophe Claims buses from Atlanta to the Virginia coast, and locally based insurers activated not only claims response but also business continuity and disaster recovery plans to protect their own employees, facilities, systems and data.
"We activated our business continuity plan and we were in constant communication with members of our crisis and incident management team before and during the event," relates Mark Schussel, a spokesman for Warren, N.J.-based Chubb. "There will also be a debriefing after the event too, from which we can learn and incorporate any learnings into our future planning."
Schussel reports that Chubb's adjusters were dispatched to areas affected by the storm and that the insurer's service centers were fully staffed and functional during and in the aftermath of the event. "We have been taking calls, and we're dispatching mitigation services to our insureds to help them prevent additional damage to their property," Schussel reports.
We tested our business continuity plan after the storm. Where our department usually works out of the office, employees were randomly chosen to work from home to see if they could still carry out their daily routine. At 5.a.m. on the day of, the selected individual(s) would receive a phone call telling them not to come into the office. I have yet to learn of the conclusions made from the test of the plan, but I'll assume all went well as there were no major meetings to discuss how we could improve. Luckily, our home office was uninterrupted and we were able to return to work as scheduled following the storm. The losses from Irene continue to develop. Business continuity plans are essential; our insureds count on us to be available no matter what the circumstances are, and we need to deliver on that. Technology has enabled this.
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