Declarations

No Answers

“I have a concern that BP is stalling claims. Yes, BP is stalling. I doubt they are stalling for money. It’s not that. I just don’t think they know the answers to the questions (by claimants).”

—Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of a $20 billion compensation fund set up by British energy giant BP. Feinberg was speaking on the sidelines of a town hall meeting in southern Alabama at which fishermen and other business owners expressed frustration and anger at what they say is a slow and complex claims process that lacks transparency.

No Wait

“We’ve had people come in the morning and get a check in the afternoon. A lot of it has to do with the complexity of the claim itself – the farther you get away from the water and the obvious claims, the more difficult it gets.”

—BP spokesman Ray Melick maintaining that complaints and delays have been the exception in the claims program.

No Good

“Client ratings of broker satisfaction are influenced more by service quality than by price. Many brokers have become too focused on generating quick ‘wins’ and the associated revenues when they should be focusing on building out their client service functions in order to capitalize on the new needs of corporate risk managers. As a result, service levels are deteriorating, dragging down client favorability ratings. It’s a vicious cycle.”

—Greenwich Associates Consultant David Fox commenting on his firm’s survey showing corporate risk managers are unhappy with the service they are getting from insurance brokers and carriers. Too many brokers and carriers are becoming more bottom-line focused and transactional in the corporate insurance business at a time when U.S. companies are enhancing internal risk management capabilities and elevating risk management to a strategic priority, according to the research.

No Wind

“Although the Administration believes in strengthening the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for the benefit of policyholders and taxpayers, the central rationale for the program – the difficulty of obtaining flood insurance through either the private market or state programs – simply does not apply to windstorm insurance in most markets.”

—The Obama Administration opposing a move by Rep. Gene Taylor, D.-Miss. to add wind insurance to the federal flood insurance program.

Topics Risk Management