Your Recruiting & Hiring Guide for Restoration Claims Management Roles

Managing insurance claims and dealing with adjusters can take up a lot of your bandwidth at a restoration company. At a certain point, if you want your business to continue to grow, hiring someone to manage your claims is a necessity. At One Claim Solution, we have an entire team dedicated to claims management, so we understand what it takes to find successful restoration claims management workers. Here’s advice from Nicole Liesenfelt, OCS Human Resources Director, and Elisabeth Steigena, OCS HR Generalist, on how to find successful claims management specialists.

When to Hire a Restoration Claims Manager

It can be tricky to know when the right time is to create a designated claims management position within your restoration company. In many restoration businesses, especially newer and smaller ones, managing and negotiating insurance claims is one of the many responsibilities that fall to upper management. While this works for some companies, it’s hard to sustain long-term. Lots of the contractors we work with at OCS that previously handled claims management like this quickly found it eating up so much of their time that their other important responsibilities had to take a back seat.

If you’re a restoration contractor who’s unsure if it’s the right time to create a designated claims position, here are some questions to consider:

Am I neglecting other parts of my business because I am so overwhelmed with my claims workload?
Am I finding myself settling claims for low, unfair dollar amounts, just to avoid negotiation and save time?
Is trying to manage other business responsibilities preventing me from being available to answer the phone when adjusters call, effectively delaying payouts?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s time to consider hiring someone to manage your insurance claims or outsource this responsibility.

Important Traits for Claims Management Roles

Administrative Experience

When it comes to hiring, most restoration companies spend the bulk of their time hiring for technician roles. Hiring for claims roles requires a different recruiting approach. “You’re looking for someone with a background that’s more administrative,” Elisabeth explains. Elisabeth also emphasizes the importance of a candidate being able to work under stress in a fast-paced environment.

Industry Experience

Restoration industry experience is non-negotiable when it comes to claims management roles. Being familiar with restoration common practices gives claims management workers an important foundation for defending line items on claims to adjusters. In fact, ex-adjusters can be some of the best claims negotiators for restoration companies. Their experience with negotiating from the other side is a valuable asset.

Opportunities to Promote Internally

Finding a claims manager can also be an opportunity to promote internally. If you have a “really strong player in the company” who has experience negotiating insurance claims and knows what it takes to succeed, they could be a great fit for this role, Nicole points out.

Consider Outsourcing Restoration Claims Management

If the way you’re handling insurance claims within your restoration company right now isn’t working, but you aren’t sure if creating a designated claims specialist position internally is the right answer, you can always outsource the job to an expert restoration claims management company like One Claim Solution. Outsourcing this responsibility allows you to skip the recruiting and hiring process altogether. You can also take advantage of our experience and expertise at OCS. We know the best negotiation approaches for each carrier and fight to make sure you get the payouts you deserve. If you’re interested in seeing if OCS is right for your restoration company, reach out to our sales team.