VCS Desk Reviews

Vale Consulting Services has been helping carriers control the rise in average indemnity in various ways.

We have performed claims process assessments and audits to identify and control leakage, and have also been performing pre-settlement desk reviews of commercial and residential property estimates.

Vale Consulting Services Desk Reviews are performed by highly skilled estimators who take into account the carriers estimating guidelines, the documentation in the file, and industry best practices.

Our reviewers comment in the estimate on the errors they find and enter the corrected amounts.  The corrected estimate is then returned to the carrier within two business days from receipt.

Savings typically average 10%-25% of the original estimate and 20 to 40 times our fee for this service!

Loveland Innovations Partners with Vale Training, Offers Drone-Specific Program for Insurance Professionals

Loveland Innovations®, maker of advanced drone solutions for the P&C Insurance industry, announced today a new partnership with the leading provider of educational tools and services for insurance professionals, Vale Training.

This partnership allows Vale Training to use Loveland Innovations’ first-of-its kind autonomous drone inspection solution, IMGING™, as part of a new program designed to help insurance and roofing professionals understand how and when to use drone technology for roof and property inspections.

With drones as a part of their toolkit, these professionals can increase their inspection efficiency, ensure more consistency between inspections, and gather amazingly detailed roof and property photos, all from the safety of the ground.

“This is an industry first,” says Jim Loveland, Founder and CEO of Loveland Innovations. “Thousands of insurance professionals are ready to take advantage of the benefits drones can bring them, but aren’t sure where to start. This partnership is the first big step toward teaching the next generation of insurance adjusters and roofing professionals how to incorporate the latest technology into their processes. We’re excited to partner with Vale to make this happen.”

The four-day course will take students through a variety of topics including Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, how to fly and maneuver DJI drones, as well as how to use IMGING, which allows drone pilots to create flight plans, capture high-resolution aerial imagery, and build reports using all the detailed roof and property information the drone captures. With these skills, insurance professionals can increase the number of daily inspections they can complete five-fold or more, without compromising quality.

“Vale has been a leader in training insurance professionals for decades and we recognize drones are an evolving and important tool,” says Douglas Dell, Vice President and Director of Vale Training. “Our partnership with Loveland Innovations will make it simple for insurance professionals to learn everything they need to know about drones so they can make inspections and claims documentation easier and more consistent. The program design is a unique blend of pre-work, classroom and field-based, experiential learning that will ready claims professionals to optimize drone technology. ”

The next drone-focused course offered by Vale Training will take place October 17-20 at Vale’s Dallas facility. Visit valetrainingsolutions.com to learn more or to sign up.

For further information on Loveland Innovations® and IMGING™ – click here to view their video.

Coaching for Success. The Real Cost of Claims Professional Fee Concessions

Vice President, Vale Consulting Services, John Fleming and Bob Johnston co-authored ‘Coaching for Success. The Real Cost of Claims Professional Fee Concessions’ featured in the October issue of Claims Management magazine.

The article discusses the need for procurement and claims management teams to work together when negotiating claims services, to ensure the insurer’s goals and objectives will be met and the unintended consequences of not balancing the better, faster, cheaper equation will be avoided. Read the full story online or PDF.

VCS Leakage Assessment Service

Are you seeing a significant rise in average indemnity such as the Insurance Information Institute reports has been occurring over the last several years?

Do you know all of the newly evolving sources of leakage you may currently be experiencing?

Vale Consulting Services can help.

•    Our leakage assessments take into consideration your current practices and processes and how they match up against changes that our experts have observed in the current claims environment.

•    Vale Consulting Services then goes well beyond the typical claim audit against your current best practices. Because the claims environment is ever changing, your current best practices may not be sufficient to control all newly emerging sources of leakage.

•    We perform a claims file audit as part of our leakage assessment service which takes into consideration these emerging sources of leakage in an outcome based audit method.

•    The assessment report which we provide contains not only the findings of the audit, but also a root cause analysis of each deficiency identified, and recommendations as to actions which you can take to control all of the identified sources of leakage.

Vale Consulting Services can assist you in analyzing and controlling leakage on property, casualty, worker’s compensation, and litigation management. Please contact us for further information at  [email protected].

Download the brochure

For further information visit: Vale Consulting Services (VCS)

Common Pitfalls of Leakage Audits

According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, average indemnity is on the rise over the last several years.

The greatest causes of indemnity leakage are often not what one would think.  Audits without a root cause analysis of deficiencies are likely to cause a claims leader to look in the wrong direction for the keys to improving outcomes.

Pitfall #1-Typical best practice audits are not likely to improve outcomes and effectively control leakage.

Pitfall #2– Best practice audits can report high scores on claims with poor outcomes. The audit questions in an outcome based audit must generate a score that is reflective of the outcome and not just service level compliance.

Pitfall #3-Evolving external factors are not typically considered in best practice audits, so your current best practices and processes may be insufficient to control leakage in today’s environment.

Vale Consulting Services can assist you in analyzing and controlling leakage on property, casualty, worker’s compensation, and litigation management. Please contact us for further information at  [email protected].

Download the VCS Common Pitfalls of Leakage Audits brochure

Vale launches Vale Consulting Services

Vale Training, a Cunningham Lindsey Company and an independent division specializing in training for adjusters and appraisers in the insurance claims industry, announced today the launch of Vale Consulting Services to provide seasoned executives as claims consultants to advise insurers, brokers, and third party administrators (TPAs) in best practices and processes to address evolving claims challenges.

Vale Consulting Services (VCS) currently specializes in providing leakage analysis for property, casualty, worker’s compensation and litigation management. The analysis is performed by seasoned claims executives averaging 30 years’ experience in claims management. VCS consultants effectively identify the difference in actual payment on a claim versus what should have been paid if all best practices had been followed. VCS consultants go beyond a simple file audit to deliver a thorough analysis of processes and practices that identifies the root causes of the variance and leakage, and provides a strategic plan with constructive recommendations that will ensure fair indemnification, and minimize variance and leakage.

John Fleming, Vice President and Director of Vale Consulting Services, comments “Over the last several years, we have continued to see data indicating that carriers are experiencing a significant rise in indemnity payments for reasons that we have found ultimately lead back to a need for an evolving best practice philosophy across the claims process.” John adds, “Just as the claims industry is ever-changing, so are we, and providing consulting services isn’t new for us. We’ve just expanded, created a dedicated practice to provide consulting services with a team of seasoned professionals who can navigate these modern day challenges of an evolving claims world.”