Steps to Make a Professional Liability Claim
When owning a business, it is important to have liability insurance to ensure the safety of your company. Now a days, people will sue for any reason that they can find. Therefore, you never know when you are going to get a difficult client who threatens to sue, or an employee who happens to get injured on the job.
Liability insurance will protect you from situations like these. By being covered you can put your full focus on your business, rather than having to worry about the possibilities of getting sued.
Once you have liability insurance, it is important to know the steps to take to make a claim. Of course, we hope that you won’t have to, but in the case of an unfortunate event, being prepared will help ease the process.
Be Prepared
The first thing that you should do when you realize that you need to place a professional liability claim is prepare yourself for the call to your insurance provider.
To prepare, you will want to write down any questions that you have about placing the claim. By doing so, you will ensure that all your questions are answered. This will help you to feel confident about understanding how the process will take place.
Placing a claim can be nerve racking. When nervous, it can be easy to forget questions that you were wanting to ask before you made your call. Having a list of questions will guarantee that all your questions will be answered.
Contact Your Liability Provider
In the case that you need to place a liability claim, you will want to contact your liability provider. The sooner you contact them the better! If you wait too long to make a claim you can jeopardize your coverage.
When you notify your provider, they will need your policy number as well as the type of coverage that you have. So, make sure that you have those readily available when you make your call.
Even if you just have a suspicion that your company might be sued, it is beneficial to notify your insurance company. It is better to be safe than sorry. The longer that your insurer has to prepare for your case the better.
Provide Documentation
Once you have notified your insurance company, it is important to gather any documentation that relates to your case. Some documents that you will want to include are contracts, e-mails, receipts, and records of work that you have provided for the trouble client. The more documentation you have the better.
You also want to make sure to be completely transparent with your insurance company. Many people will hold back information in fear that their company will look bad. Your insurance company is not here to judge you, they are here to help.
If your insurance provider is not given all the proper documentation, it will make their job that much harder. Knowing the details of your situations will allow your insurer to take the proper steps needed to get your claimed settled.
Follow Your Claim Representative’s instructions
Once you have prepared questions, contacted your liability provider, and provided documentation, you will want to wait for further instructions from your claim representative. They will inform you of future actions that will need to be taken.
Make sure to be readily available when your representative needs you. Even though they have the information that you provided, they still will have further questions that you may have to answer. By being prompt and prepared you will not only make the process easier on your claim representative, but on yourself as well.
These 4 steps will help you know how to make a professional liability claim. If your business needs liability insurance, or if you are looking for a new carrier, contact usfor a free quote today! We would love to help your business thrive.