RISK MANAGEMENT

Holiday House Distributing Risk Management

A Note from the Risk Management Department
WE HAVE ALL BEEN THERE!


What do you do…?

First thing Monday morning you receive that phone call from the “frantic” customer!

“Your coffee machine sprung a leak over the weekend and not only did the flood cause damage to our office, but the business beneath us is flooded as well!”


Over the years, Holiday House Distributing & Homeland Water Filters have been faced with these issues as well. In the past we just took the information, gave it to our insurance company and just let things play out. Or worse, we just sent our customer a check to resolve the issue, and then figured it out with our insurance company later. We have seen this many times. By the time the insurance company gets all of the information they require the “Statute of Limitations” has run out, leaving your company with a claim that cannot be settled and you are out hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars.



We have realized that this is not the best thing to do for your company or your customers. We learned that there must be specific guidelines put into place so that these issues can be resolved and handled in a timely manner with your insurance carrier. After all, this is what you pay those monthly premiums for! Nobody wants to deal with issues from litigation for a claim that could have been resolved with just a little communication with the claimant and the insurance adjusters.



We worked with our Insurance Company to set up this type of procedure and it has helped us cut down on Insurance Claims, which cuts down on Payouts by our Insurance Company therefore cutting back on our Insurance Rates. The following procedures have been set in place at Holiday House Distributing and Homeland Water Filters. Hopefully this may help your company devise a similar system that you can benefit from like we did with ours.



• Must receive written notice of claim within 30 days of incident
• Photos of equipment, parts, damage to property must be supplied with the notice of claim
• Proof of purchase (invoice #, product #, serial #)
• Date of Installation (installation work order)
• Investigate the claim. (Was the cleaning crew in the office? Did they move the equipment to clean under/around it? Who did the installation? Were there issues with the equipment or parts in question previously?)
• Incident Report –this report must state the findings of the claim
• The equipment must be available. The insurance company will need to inspect it.


Holiday House Distributing and Homeland Water Filters always strive to be “NUMBER ONE” in customer service. We hope this information gives you some insight on how to handle insurance issues in our industry. It has worked for us and hopefully these guidelines can help your company too.



Thank you,
HHD Risk Management

 

***All Vendors of Holiday House Distributing and Homeland Water Filters are required to provide Proof of Liability Insurance for all products purchased and sold.***