13 Dec 30 Years Ago on December 3, 1992
Just over one week ago, 30 years back in 1992, a historic event occurred that impacted the insurance industry. If you google this date, this event will likely not appear. What happened on this date in history?
On this day in history, December 3, 1992, the first SMS (short message service) text message was sent from a computer in the United Kingdom. Text messaging was born. How many text messages are sent every day? The most recent information I could locate stated that over 6 billion text messages are sent daily.
Why is this so important? As you are no doubt aware, in the event of an E&O matter, documentation is key to an agency’s defense. There have been numerous situations where the content of text messages helped an agency’s defense. Unfortunately, sometimes the opposite occurs — a text message from a client to the agency representative was ignored / not acted upon, causing the agency to lose the E&O matter.
Many agencies would probably like to advise clients to refrain from communicating with the agency via texting. The reality is that it will still happen; thus, agencies need to have procedures to address it. The goal is to ensure that the contents of a text message are saved in the specific client’s file. Elevating the text message to an email platform is one common approach agencies use. Preferably, the initial text messages should be elevated instead of waiting until the text message thread is concluded. If your agency does not have a set procedure for handling text messages, it is heavily suggested that one be developed and implemented with no exception.
Consider the following common approaches. Some steps may apply only to Apple and/or Android devices:
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- Screenshot the text and then go into your photos and email it to yourself.
- Use the Stitch It! app. You can cut and paste parts of text messages together, save the conversation as a PDF, and email it from the app.
Ensuring that the agency file contains the contents of appropriate text messages is extremely important. This issue is not going away.
It is also suggested that any communication provided to clients on at least an annual basis provide a statement similar to what is used for voicemail and email that coverage cannot be bound or modified via texting without speaking to a licensed agency representative.