Strong relationships and trustworthy support are indispensable in today’s economic environment. Organizations need partners who can supplement their expertise and help them resolve complex issues. When choosing a vendor partner, it’s important for an organization to consider whether they are a cultural fit and if there’s a strong potential to grow together. But perhaps most critical, is selecting a partner with the right scope, scale and depth of experience to meet your organization’s current and future needs.
Confronting an increasingly complex risk landscape
Developments such as a global pandemic, economic inflation, supply chain issues, geopolitical tensions and extreme weather events have all highlighted the need for organizations to prepare for crises of many varieties. But that’s only one factor complicating the risk landscape.
Increasing globalization in today’s economy and workforce means operating in wider geographies; claims can occur anywhere at any time. Organizations must have partners with the efficiency, scalability and local presence necessary to provide support at a moment’s notice. A global claims partner with the right breadth of coverage can be beneficial in responding with a coordinated approach to risk management — to have boots on the ground as soon as disaster strikes — and providing sophisticated data integration. Whatever the business arena, trusted partners who have deep knowledge of how to navigate local markets are key to operating in multiple geographies.
Another factor is the rapidly changing regulatory environment — the U.S. is one example where state-specific laws regarding employee leaves of absence are continually in flux. This requires employers to work harder to ensure compliance, avoid penalties and control costs while still accurately granting employees the benefits to which they’re entitled. Many employers are foregoing sole responsibility for navigating confusing leave policies by outsourcing administration of their benefits programs, recognizing that partners with national expertise are best equipped to monitor regulatory changes and embed compliance within their processes.
Broad and specialized expertise
Today’s environment tends to reward specialized skills and pointed expertise over general practitioners. Typically, organizations look to specialist providers to solve unique, complex problems and supplement in-house capabilities. But the best of both worlds is achievable: Claims partners who offer both breadth and depth of expertise — all-encompassing while still being specialized. These partners are best equipped to handle clients’ ever-changing and wide-ranging needs.
Large-scale claims organizations can improve outcomes to their clients’ benefit by layering solutions. Sedgwick’s global loss adjusting team, for example, is comprised of thousands of highly trained professionals who, among them, have 75 subspecialties — from agriculture, to automotive, to telecommunications and beyond. Collectively, this broad and deep expertise brings together a range of remedies that can solve any problem that arises in the claims arena. Complex property and business losses, for example, often require expertise that spans several disciplines. To meet all needs at once, Sedgwick offers a suite of solutions such as building consulting, contents valuation, forensic accounting, fire investigation, temporary housing and much more. These specializations can, when needed, complement loss adjusting and add value to results.
By developing deep-seated knowledge of an industry’s customer base, operating models, objectives, risk profiles and data trends, claims organizations become more than third party administrators and loss adjusters to their clients; they grow into trusted expert partners who truly understand their needs.
A world of difference
There are many benefits of partnering with a large-scale organization, if not only for the host of resources their size affords them — well beyond a small staff of claims examiners and loss adjusters. Among many large-scale partners are a team of client services professionals dedicated to ensuring best practices be embedded in their claims programs. Practice leads and other executives closely follow trends, regulations and industry developments and infuse that knowledge with clients’ programs.
On the technology front, a claims partner of greater scope is more likely to have the resources to invest in claims administration systems and platforms that deliver strong user experiences. They also have more tools to harness regarding reporting and data analysis that enable clients to stay engaged in day-to-day activity. The leading claims organizations have accumulated a wealth of experience through years of acting as extensions of their clients’ operations and by investing in infrastructure, security and innovative customer-facing applications. As a result, they’ve become experts in technology-driven user experiences.
Events like the COVID-19 pandemic and large-scale natural disasters like the 2022 floods in eastern Australia taught us critical lessons in preparedness. When catastrophe strikes, our response must be nothing less than an all-hands-on-deck, holistic approach. Global providers can draw from a world of resources when clients need them most. This kind of scope gives large partners the ability to meet a client’s urgent request anywhere in the world, and is what fuels our capacity to help people wherever and whenever the need arises.
> Learn more — check out an expanded version of this article in Sedgwick's digital magazine, edge, issue 21.