Claims representative has a role of ensuring that his or her client does not fall into the tricks that many insurance companies apply. However, he or she has to ensure that a balance is achieved between the insured and the insurer. Several techniques of negotiations exist, but the representative should choose the ones that would facilitate a win-win situation and keep away from the ones that favor one side. The adjuster has to select the approach that would be utilized in the negotiation since two broad categories exist, one of them being interest-based, which is also referred to as integrative or cooperative, while the other is positional, distributive, or competitive.
The first option has to be selected over the second because it fulfills the wishes and desires of all concerned parties. The second option is destructive because it simply favors one side, and the insured is likely to be on the receiving end. Through interactive bargaining, parties arrive at a win-win situation, implying that the strategy focuses on developing reciprocally favorable agreements. Positional bargaining insists on holding onto a particular idea without considering the interests of the insured. The two techniques that the claim representative should never think of using are competition and avoidance because they may damage his or her image and might end up causing losses to the client.
Competition is usually utilized when instant decisions are needed, especially when an incident or accident has occurred. Additionally, they might be used in cutting costs and instilling discipline among various concerned parties. Since the claims representative is always believed to be right, he or she might end up forcing the client to take an expensive cover that would strain his or her finances without achieving any objective. Competition tactic is only used to benefit the insurance company since the client would not be represented adequately. Avoidance is usually employed to resolve a trivial issue, especially when it is clearly felt that the adjuster and the insurance company cannot attain their goals.
