Claims management

Dear valued customer,

As most of you have heard by now, Nationwide Insurance Company is “Non-renewing” all gas station &  convenience stores in the State of California.

With Nationwide leaving this market, we are all becoming painfully aware that  Liability/Property insurance is becoming more difficult and expensive to obtain in California. Some of our customers, with claims on their record, are seeing anywhere from 25% – 200% increase in insurance premiums. In addition to this, all Carriers have also considerably expanded their  “Brush Area Maps” giving us even a greater challenge.

There are now only a hand full of companies that will insure service stations (especially 24 hour operations) and they are all becoming increasing difficult to work with.

Rest assured, that since RKM insures over 1,000 service stations, we are still one of the few agencies that have access to these companies.

It’s more important today than ever to take extra precautions on preventing claims and documenting potential incidents that may lead to a lawsuits.

A couple important steps we recommend:

•    Keep video tapes of all alleged slip/falls and/or incidents. We have  now had a couple claims were the service station had a very comprehensive camera system and kept the video tape of a bogus slip/fall. With that, the insurance company got out of paying anything. Without those videos, the insurance company would most likely had paid something, which would affect our insured’s record and premiums. Bogus Slip/fall claims are now settling out between $25K - $100K. We strongly suggest you invest in a comprehensive camera system and keep any video of allege slip/fall incident, on a flash drive, for at least 2 year.

•    Do regular daily facility inspections, a couple times a day,  to immediately clean up any slip/fall hazards. These are the most common claims for service stations and sometimes a little extra maintenance goes a long way.

•    On property damage claims, such as a vehicle striking the pumps, canopy and/or building, train your employees to get as much information on the vehicle, driver and their insurance company. We at RKM will always try and help you collect from them before it goes on your record.

We don’t want you to shoot the messenger (us) if your premiums skyrockets because of claims.

Thank you for your continuing support and if you have any questions regarding this newsletter or other, please contact your agent