Claims Management
The Claims Management system automates the steps involved in the claims process. Some of the features of the program are:
- You can create a new Claims File that stores and tracks information regarding claims with the supplier.
- From Claims Management, you can issue various letters and other documents related to the claims process and download them as Word documents.
- You can rank claims, see an aging report on claims, or purge claims.
- The claims department can use the Claims Management program to enter a claim to file with the manufacturer for a defective product on behalf of a consumer. The two types of claims cover:
- Installed Defective Product – The consumer calls the retailer the product was purchased from. The retailer may process the claim internally, or through their supplier, which may be a distributor or manufacturer. The retailer, in turn, calls the distributor or manufacturer the material was purchased from. The distributor's or manufacturer's sales representative inspects the product to determine if it is a defective material, and sends the claim information to the manufacturer. Each manufacturer has its own claim form.
- Uninstalled Defective Product – A defective material is discovered by warehouse personnel, or by a customer after delivery, but before installation. These claims usually go through a customer service representative, or your claims department who files the claim with the manufacturer.
The salesperson or customer service representative usually completes the required information on a form and forwards it to the claims department to start the claims process. Claims are entered and tracked for each distributor or manufacturer, who approves or denies the claim. The consumer can hire an independent inspector before filing a claim with the manufacturer, or afterward if the customer disagrees with the manufacturer's denial.
Each claim is tracked separately to determine if it is approved or denied. If approved, information is forwarded to your company as to whether the claim received full or partial approval, if labor is required, and if other materials were also approved on the claim. The reports included in the Claims Management System give you information such as how old the claim is, the amount of loss on the claim, and the type of products involved.
The Claims Management System may be used by retailers, distributors, or manufacturers. All procedures, status codes, and letters may be customized for your business model.
Claims Management uses low-level passwords that allow inquiry only, and high-level passwords that give authority to perform all of the system's functions.
If the control panel is set to restrict to a company, then only claims for that company appear.
Setup Options
Before working with claims, there are some configuration steps that need to be implemented. Using the Set-up portion of the Claims Management Menu, you can create the following.
- Letters - You can customize approval letters, denial letters, and other types of letters to reflect information about the status of claims to suppliers and customers. If you have the authority, you can customize these letters as well as status descriptions, such as Claim Pending and acknowledgment Received. Using easy to use shortcuts you can create letter templates that can be used for any customers with only minor modifications.
- Status Descriptions - You can establish status codes to identify approved claims, rejected claims, claims that are awaiting more information and so forth. Essentially you can create a status for every aspect of the claims process.
- User Defined Information - This part of the set-up enables you to establish and define information based on your business practices and products.
- Global Settings - This area allows you to establish mandatory entry fields.