Claims Consultancy SIG Sessions
Loss Adjusters should be "Treating Customers Fairly" even though they are less likely to be assessed by the FSA, delegates were warned.
Former regulator Branko Bjelobaba said adjusters should use the guidelines to sharpen their practises in an entertaining discussion for attendees at the Claims Consultancy SIG.
Branko, now running his own compliance consultancy worked at GISC for 3 years and outlined the principles of TCF, which all authorised firms are subject to.
TCF should cover every aspect of your business and include providing training for staff, ensuring customers gets the right advice and products and meeting customers' expectations. Companies that fail to evidence they are treating their customers fairly could fall foul of the FSA and this could then mean enforcement action and fines.
To highlight the theory behind TCF, Branko cited the example of a restaurant. In this you should have:
- Well trained and knowledgeable staff
- A menu you understand
- Able to ask questions about the menu
- Get what you ordered and to the standard expected
- No surprises
- The correct bill
- Not being taken ill later
"If a restaurant met these criteria there wouldn't be much cause for complaint," he said. "If you did need to complain, another example of TCF would be the way in which the restaurant dealt with your complaint, taking all the above factors into consideration. If the menu didn’t have clear prices, how many complaints do you think there might be about the bills? And do you think it would be fair to uphold those complaints?"
Branko added that even though loss adjusters do not “sell” insurance, they still deliver a key service and what they do in the management of a claim will have a direct bearing on overall client satisfaction. Whilst loss adjusters are less likely to be assessed than brokers or insurers (the focus being on firms that sell higher risk products) all firms have to file reports to the FSA twice a year and the sector could be subject to a thematic review.
"CILA being a chartered professional body has a detailed code for loss adjusters, which does deliver high standards but TCF could sharpen up some of your practises. Just because you're not going to be assessed doesn't mean you shouldn't adopt its principles," he said.
Download Presentation (PDF format, 1.8Mb)