New systems help insurers recover millions in claims paid out

2006/03/01

In March 2004, Europ Assistance South Africa’s Call Assist division implemented a system, which captures critical claim data, at the scene of the accident, or shortly after collision has taken place.  The information is obtained via the client, so that the claim and recovery process could literally begin the next day, as opposed to after the damage was fixed.

According to Europ Assistance SA’s Legal Division Manager, Zohar Green: “We’ve learned that if details aren’t collected at the scene of the accident, the likelihood of finding the individual, especially if he or she is not insured, is greatly minimised. This equates to millions in terms of lost revenue.”

The new service includes a conference call facility, which immediately involves all the relevant call centre personnel at the same time – from a medical personnel case manager to a legal advisor. The client calls EASA from the accident scene, and is answered by a case manager who dispatches a tow truck and ambulance, where necessary. If the client is in a condition to do so, he or she is asked to provide all the relevant information. At this stage the client is able to provide the third party’s registration, address , witness details etc as they are still on the scene.

“The client is also able to observe road markings and condition, weather conditions and so on  that would be relevant to the case. Facts like these are often forgotten by the client due to the traumatic nature of the event. Having someone ask the relevant questions at a pertinent time makes a big difference to the success of the recovery later on,” adds Green

According to Green, 65 percent of their Motor Legal Care (MLC) claims are against uninsured third party drivers.  However, 76 percent of the money recovered is from insured drivers.

With the new system in place for capturing this essential data, Europ Assistance SA has seen its recoveries increase by 100 percent, into the millions of Rands .

Green and her team are able to plot many interesting trends. She notes that over the past year they have seen an 8 percent jump in the average claim amount