How Agency Claims Staff Can Cause E&O Claims

When evaluating the cause of agents E&O claims, one of the current hotspots deals with the manner in which claims are handled at the agency level. While many agencies have a staff dedicated solely to this function, in other agencies this function is handled by an account exec/CSR as part of their duties. Bottom line, this claims handling task is resulting in a number of E&O claims.  From my experience, at least 40 percent of agency E&O claims are caused by this level within the agency. 

One common scenario, which probably occurs frequently within virtually every agency, involves a customer calling to advise your agency of a claim but then after discussing it with you, deciding that they do not want to file the claim. This could be because the claim is not much more than the amount of the deductible, or that the customer will lose his loss-free discount, or because of the additional premiums she will have to pay due to a claims surcharge.