Passenger Vessels | Commercial Marine | Professional Liability
BMI News Summer 2005 Online Issue
All
This Talk About Service...
by
Marty Blackadar
SERVICE, YADA YADA YADA...
I've been considering this topic for a while in anticipation of this newsletter and apparently the insurance "gods" have been keeping an eye on my thoughts and meditations. The reason I say this is because they've been feeding up fodder for material to include as part of this agents observation and opinion. Some of their ideas, we would have been happy to live without the experience of, others have been gratifying and remind me why I continue to be involved in this business.
Nearly 30 years ago, when Al Blackadar, my late husband and partner hired me to work at Blackadar Insurance Agency in Plaistow, New Hampshire they put me to work in the "claims department". I was the new kid and knew nothing about insurance. As it turned out that was one of the worst snow winters ever and we had homeowner's claims and collision losses by the hundreds. Al always said he thought the best way to train someone was to, "throw them in and let them sink or swim". Well, I guess I learned to swim, probably after much gasping and swallowing. I'm not sure I agree with the idea of placing the new kid in the position of handling claims, but it worked for Al.
Claims are why people buy insurance. Claims are how we can prove our value. I find working with claims both challenging and rewarding. I don't enjoy the hardship they cause for our customers, but it does present the opportunity for us to illustrate what we're often offering as argument to a discussion about what makes Blackadar Marine different than another insurance agent when it comes to insuring marine risks. Insurance should not be just about price as if you are buying a product. You are buying a product, which doesn't perform for you until you require service. The policy is only as good as the service that backs it up. 1- 800-Insurance Company, probably isn't going to be the best experience for someone with a boat that parted company with its mooring in the middle of the night and was found a half mile away on top of a rock in the middle of a channel.
Don't get me wrong; I don't live for the phone call at 1 a.m. on my cell phone with the frantic voice crying or worse yelling about what's happening, but I am there. I'm groggy and I might need to call back in a few minutes for a chance to turn on the computer and open my eyes (not in that order, by the way...), but our emergency access 24 hrs a day allows us to counsel our customers from the moment they know they're experiencing a loss. Being involved with marine surveyor's and working with our good marine insurance carriers claims offices for nearly 30 years gives us an advantage in helping our customers know what to do, what to expect, who will be in touch to help them with the situation and when.
We have to work with marine surveyors for a while to develop relationships. It is not a business in which every adjuster who has a license is the best person for that particular loss situation. There are good liability adjusters, good wooden boat surveyors, better yacht adjusters, people we only use for commercial business, and the list goes on to all the various specialties. Our carriers need to trust the surveyors we prefer and that relationship needs to be nurtured and encouraged.
In the office the same personnel who quote your business and service your account usually are the ones who will handle your claim. I don't get involved unless it is weird, complicated, or I'm nosey. Our staff is few, but they are excellent! They have our customers best interest at heart. You can count on talking to a "real person" when you call the office to report the claim or check on its status.
To begin with we only offer the best possible marine insurance forms available for our customers various marine needs. This eliminates a lot of the problems right up front rather than dealing with forms that are substandard or issued by non-rated carriers. We have chosen to be a small insurance agency doing a very good job with excellent markets and reliable, knowledgeable people to help us serve our policyholders.
This is a service business. I've been very fortunate to have had a tough teacher, excellent friends and customers to learn this marine business from. It is my hope and plan that Blackadar Marine can continue to be of service to the owners of boats and marine business with a reputation for personal, caring, excellence.
I've come to the conclusion that in order to maintain quality, a service business can not always be the least expensive. It is similar to the retail business and the comparison of the large warehouse stores versus the local or specialty stores. It takes years to develop relationships with the network of professionals we need to service our policyholder's business to the standard we've set for ourselves. It takes loyalty and integrity to maintain those relationships through various market trends and conditions. Integrity sometimes isn't the most exciting choice or profitable direction for the short run, but it's the way we're going to do it.
Marty Blackadar
President
