13 Apr What is the E&O Culture in Your Branch Offices?
Remember this old game? Tell something to the first person in line and ask that they tell the next person what they were told and have that person tell the next one, and so on. Invariably, when you ask the 10th person in line what they were told, the story barely resembles what the first person was told.
The same thing happens in the world of insurance, especially for those agencies that have branch offices. Somehow, what the branch offices hear differs, sometimes significantly, from the home office. I can speak from experience that this happens in the insurance carrier world, so I would trust it also occurs on the agency side.
When you are dealing with critical E&O procedures and practices, this disparity can cause issues and potentially E&O claims. There are ways you can avert this potential problem. Here are a couple of suggestions:
- Your agency should have a point person that has the overall E&O loss presentation responsibilities. This way, someone owns this important initiative. This point person must have the support and backing of senior management. In the E&O Plus program, this is the Quality Coordinator.
- When procedures are implemented or changed, the point person and a key member of senior management should visit the branch offices to ensure the message’s precise delivery. This is especially important when the agency makes a recent acquisition. The goal is to make a solid effort to ensure the new agency knows how vital E&O loss prevention is. If a visit is not possible, you can use video conferencing. If possible, the entire branch office staff should attend the video conference. Delivering the message to one person and asking them to communicate it to the rest of the team could water down the message.
- Have a point person in each office that serves as the E&O champion to ensure a strong E&O culture – this way, when senior management leaves, there is someone in the agency that stays focused on the issues. Someone that “walks the walk and talks the talk.”
Ideally, you want each office to take ownership of this key element. I have seen many agencies implement initiatives in their office. To strengthen the need for quality and prompt documentation, for example, they put signs around the office that say, “if it’s not in the file, it didn’t happen.” These serve as constant reminders of the expectation.
Bottom line, more often than not, branch offices (whether achieved through growth or acquisition) are more of a hot spot for E&O claims than the home office. Look for ways to keep this from happening in your agency.