There is a correlation to the Claims Industry.
Recently I was speaking with a senior claims adjuster who confided that she has 200 claim files. This might be low in some claim offices but I suspect it is on the high side.
A Risk Manager must ask how an adjuster can perform with this number of files. The same adjuster who has 200 claim files also added that one case in litigation took up her entire afternoon with reviews and discussions with defense counsel. With a caseload of 200 files (no exposures or "features") the adjuster must apportion 9 files per day on their diary. Well, taking an entire afternoon for one case now pushes the per day diary to 9.3. Sounds manageable enough you may think. Consider holidays, sick days, vacations and the myriad of interruptions and the number of files to review escalates.
The pressure to keep adjuster head count is real. Efficiencies play an important role then in maximizing the time of every adjuster and for this reason the claim management process must be viewed the same way one would view a production line.
We believe part of the solution is to bifurcate the responsibility for investigations away from the adjuster. Adjusters are paid to think and organize information for defense or settlement.
