Case Studies

The following stories demonstrate the attitude of our Adjusters and their commitment to providing an excellent service with their “whatever it takes” attitude.

On a recent Tuesday, Our Loss Adjuster left Kaitaia to travel to Kaikohe and then Whangarei to assess a number of claims. He returned home about 3.30pm. At 4.45pm, a phone call was received from an Insurer’s senior claims consultant requesting urgent attention to a kitchen fire in Kawakawa, obviously keen to assist their client. Our Loss Adjuster phoned the homeowner, she was obviously distraught.

The fire had occurred at 3.00pm that afternoon and the claimant obviously needed assistance. Having already travelled some 350km that day, Our Office Manager (and Our Loss Adjuster’s wife) was not too keen for him to head off again until the next morning, as Kawakawa is a 2 hour round trip. But, Our Loss Adjuster, committed to going the extra mile, headed off. It was just as well, the homeowner, who had other medical issues, was in quite a state. Our Loss Adjuster went with Mrs XXX to the only motel in the area, but this wasn’t suitable at all for herself and her two daughters, one of which was 6 months pregnant. They decided to remain in their very smelly property.

We subsequently received a letter from the claimant, excerpts shown below. It clearly shows the stress incurred during the event of the claim and the period leading up to it. It very clearly shows the need for not only the Loss Adjusting skills required, but important people skills necessary to assist clients through a very difficult time.

This is a letter to thank you and acknowledge you and your office management.

Thank you immeasurably for your acknowledgement of crisis and clear positive management throughout. Despite these adverse circumstances it is reassuring and recovering to have a specialist with skills and organisation. Although you may view this as your job, we are very appreciative of all the qualities that you bring with your management of this crisis situation. The negotiation by which you solved problems, especially your amazing commitment to turn around from Kaitaia after a long trip from Whangarei. To be with us straightaway, your promptness, your clear communication and above all efficiency!! - these forthright qualities are very much appreciated indeed…

Of course this kind of management is invaluable beyond words. It builds bridges over otherwise difficult areas which create victims instead of survivors. My family and I are of good heart, strong and thankfully, healing. We know that we could not ever have recovered by ourselves. Indeed we so obviously did not know where to start, dazed and shattered. Now we are looking forward to all of the cleaning up and results. What I'm saying is that we have already moved on and that is largely due to communication from your office, positive trust and clear liaison.

We may disagree whilst repairs are ongoing, I doubt it, BUT mine and my family's initial healing is due to your intervention and management. This letter gratefully acknowledges that we have survived.

Writer not identified for privacy reasons…

 
Motor Vehicle parts failure or dealer error

Knowledge = Savings

Modern motor engines are sophisticated creations of engineering ingenuity, designed to travel many hundreds of thousands of kilometres but ultimately only with adherence to prescribed maintenance standards. Those factors may include petrol or diesel specifications, specific oils to be used or other guidelines set down for servicing or the like.

Our key motor vehicle claims exponent was challenged with a new claim mid 2012. Following a standard vehicle service the vehicle subsequently failed four months after the service. At the time it was deemed by the servicing franchise dealer the failure was due to a part failure - albeit a critical part. “The diesel particulate (exhaust) filter is fitted to all diesel engines and is an automatic system which "burns out" soot and other contaminants close to the exhaust manifold when a vehicle is operated through the exhaust system”.

Our Adjust NZ member was introduced to the claim a week after the failure was notified but on the basis of adjusting the claim for part replacement. The initial repairer (franchise dealer) had simply addressed the issue as a simple parts replacement.

“The key to this claim is that the service manager had no idea on how to repair the item, just merely replace it. As detailed, the replacement of the particulate filter was in excess of $10,000.We discussed this with the service manager who said that he could see no way of repairing the filter and did not want to have a bar of moving to any repair method. We encouraged the service manager to attempt a repair, however the dealer would not.”
In depth knowledge and subsequent evaluation by our AdjustNZ member, from a distance of some 1200km quickly established the cause to be other than straights parts failure. In a sophisticated engine with little over 100,000km the potential cost factor for the insurer was significant. Our Adjuster established that the real issue lay in the fact that wrong oil was introduced to the vehicle in its regular servicing - by the franchise dealer.They arranged for the part to be moved to an engineer they established could identify the issue (a fact the franchise dealer were not even aware of) and those investigations confirmed that the engine failure was totally due to incorrect oil being supplied to the vehicle - by the franchise dealer.
“The particulate filter was cleaned and installed onto a donor vehicle and operated. The repaired particulate filter performed better than the original on the donor vehicle and when shipped back, the third party vehicle operated in a more than satisfactory manner”.
Quickly, through this thorough Adjusting work it was established that loss was totally associated with incorrect work techniques (wrong oil applied). This result has led to an advisory being established across the country for the vehicles’ brand dealerships as the practising dealer had no knowledge of the remedial procedure. Their work practices have been changed accordingly. “The concern is that trades throughout the country do not look any further than outside the replacement of something that breaks down. It was only with an older/more repairs experienced tradesman the reinstatement was able to be completed”.
Outcome: A saving of over 90% of initial estimate to replace equipment (equates to well over $10,000) but only occasioned by experience and vigilance of our Adjust NZ member. As a result greater knowledge by the particular franchise network of the potential outcomes of similar issues has accrued – as with outcomes of servicing with incorrect oil! Perhaps the benefit to the insurance industry can only be measured in future savings of many hundreds of thousands of $$. Adjust NZ – let us go the extra mile for you!
 

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