The mission of any public entity should be to serve its community and keep their members safe. This can make it particularly stressful when public entities must file a claim on their insurance policy.
We understand that a lot goes into the claims process for municipalities, and that it can be easy to feel overwhelmed when having to file a claim. At Berry Insurance, we’re proud partners of numerous public entities across New England and gladly help our clients through the entire claims process, when it comes up.
In this article we will break down the steps of filing a public entity insurance claim, including what information to collect, how long the process will typically take, and what you can expect from it.
It’s important to note that this guide pertains to most types of public entity insurance claims, but would not be relevant for claims regarding workers’ compensation, professional liability, or student accidents. Keep an eye on our learning center for articles on these types of claims.
Collect information
If you’ve had an incident with your public entity and decide to file a claim on your insurance policy, you’ll first want to collect some details surrounding the situation.
These details can include what happened, where and when it happened, what was damaged or lost, and the names and contact information of those involved. You’ll also want to take notes of any witnesses or any officers who responded to the incident.
While not always mandatory, gathering this additional information of an incident can be helpful for your insurance agent to pass on to the claims adjuster:
- Photos of the damages/incident
- Copy of police reports
- Invoices for repairs
Being as detailed as possible when collecting information before filing a claim can make the claims process much smoother and ensure your public entity receives proper coverage on the claim.
Filing a claim
After assessing any damages, your municipality can decide if they wish to pursue filing a claim with their insurance company.
Typically the rule of thumb is if the damage or loss would cost less than your deductible to repair or replace, you might not want to file a claim since it could actually cost you more.
If you do not want to file a claim, you should at least report it to your insurance agent or carrier “for records only” as soon as possible. This way, your insurance company is aware of the incident in case anything comes up in the future, but it will not affect your record or rates.
If you choose to file a claim, you should then follow these steps:
- Report all details collected to your insurance agent or provider as soon as you can after an incident
- Once you report the details, your insurance company will work with you and assign an adjuster to take over and process your claim.
- Your adjuster will likely send an appraiser to come assess the damage to help the adjuster decide how to proceed and how much to pay out.
- Once your adjuster completes their process, your claim will be paid subject to your deductible and you’ll be all set!
When looking to file a claim, it’s important to review what coverages are on your public entity’s insurance policy. For guides on how to insure each type of public entity, check out our articles for water/sewer districts, school districts, and towns.
How long does the claims process take?
The length of the claims process and how quickly you can expect to hear back from an agent/adjuster can depend on multiple factors.
Typically, the turnaround time for a claims adjuster assignment can take anywhere from 24 hours to a week. From there, the entire process will likely take a few weeks to fully complete, but it can vary depending on the complexity of the municipality and claim.
What can hold up the claims process?
As public entities and their claims can be complex, sometimes the process can take a little longer than we might like.
Claims can be delayed or stalled due to insurance carriers requiring additional information than what was originally provided, the current workload of a carrier’s adjusters, as well as the complexity/rarity of the claim itself.
In some cases, an adjuster or appraiser may have never encountered a situation surrounding a claim before, and will need to conduct their own research to ensure they are navigating the claim fairly and accurately.
However, if you ever feel as though a claim is taking too long, be sure to reach out to your agency so they can keep you up to speed.
At Berry Insurance we will keep a claim’s activity open to follow up with a carrier if our clients have not heard anything from an adjuster after 48-72 hours. We would also step in if a carrier’s check goes missing, was never sent out at all, or during any other hiccup along the way to guarantee your public entity receives proper coverage for a claim.
Being prepared for claims
Now that you know more about what makes up the insurance claims process for public entities, you can feel confident knowing how to respond to any incident that comes your way.
When looking to file a claim, it’s important to work with an insurance agency you can trust. If you’re interested in learning more about everything that Berry Insurance offers our municipality clients, check out this article: 5 Benefits of Having Public Entity/Municipality Insurance with Berry Insurance.
