Best Practices – Standards

When an agency talks to me about working with them on their best practices, they often think this only about how to do their work with their agency management system. However, best practices are so much more. I start with defining the agencies standards in each area of their processes.

A STANDARD applies to any definite rule, principle or measure established by authority <standards of behavior>.

Most agencies have standards for their different procedures. However, they are often not documented. If, by chance, they are documented, they are not maintained, up-to-date or in an electronic format available to everyone in the agency. I also find that standards may vary between different individuals within the department. This is further complicated if there are multiple locations. Each location may have their own standards and, of course, there may be more than one standard within each location.

Here are two samples of what a standard might look like:

• Certificates of insurance and Evidences of Property will be issued within one hour of receipt of request. Issuance of the certificate may be delayed due to additional information needed from the client.
• Endorsements will be requested within 24 hours of receipt of request from client. Requesting the endorsement may be delayed due to additional information that is needed from the client.

Do not feel that you should adopt these particular standards. They are examples of what some of my clients have used. Your standards should reflect what you expect to be able to do 80% of the time in your agency.

Each of your procedures should have standards. Standards cover a number of areas, including the ones shown here and others, such as how the endorsement is ordered from the insurance carrier, or how soon after the endorsement is received from the insurance carrier it is to be checked. You need to carefully review and up date the standards for each of the procedures in your agency.

Be careful that the standards you set are realistic. Setting a standard that says that endorsements will be checked the same day they are received from the insurance carrier is probably not realistic. Doing this puts unrealistic expectations on the staff. Having the setting at five days after being from received the insurance carrier is probably more in line with the possibility of accomplishment. However, it is possible to go too far in the other direction. Documents sitting in your office and not delivered to your client carry possible E&O implications.

Therefore, it is important to carefully evaluate all the steps in a process such as certificates of insurance and determine what is realistic while delivering the best possible service to your clients. I have had a client with as many as 30 standards on certificates of insurance and one with as few as 5. So much of this is based on the type of business you do. The client with 30 standards for their certificates of insurance does mostly contractors. There are a lot of requirements by certificate holders, insurance carriers, insurance brokers and the insured on these types of certificates. The client with 5 had a book of business that rarely required a certificate of insurance. I say they were blessed.

What pointers do you need in helping you to define your standards? What pointers do you have that have helped your agency be successful at setting, maintaining and complying with your standards?