There’s a common misconception floating around—commercial insurance companies want to charge high premiums. Insurance providers do want to be profitable and competitive like any other business. Insurers understand the necessity of offering competitive rates in a marketplace with many options. Their ideal scenario? They want to partner with businesses that have fewer claims. It’s simple math: fewer claims equal increased profits. Insuring businesses with a lower risk profile increases profits and creates a competitive edge for insurance companies. If businesses can demonstrate they are a safe, low-risk partner, insurers are more likely to offer them competitive rates. Adopt the following 13 practices to strengthen your business operations and give commercial insurers 13 reasons to reduce your premiums.
1. Risk Assessments: Start Here
Every strategy begins with awareness. A risk assessment illuminates the various challenges, both internally and externally, that a business might face. Why is it crucial? Once a business has conducted a thorough risk assessment, they can identify potential risks and implement strategies to mitigate them, reducing the likelihood of claims and demonstrating proactive risk management to insurers. Engage experts or use our free assessment to at (https://app.smarterrisk.com/signup).
2. The Blueprint: Your Risk Control & Safety Program
Crafting a robust safety and risk control program is your first defense. This is a written document that ensures everyone in the organization knows what is supposed to be done. These collections of policies explain what the company is going to do. Your procedures instruct employees and managers on how it is supposed to get done. Every individual should understand their roles and responsibilities. The support of every tier in your organization ensures its effective-ness. With a well-documented risk control and safety program, a business show insurers that they are committed to maintaining a safe work environment, which can lead to fewer claims and lower insurance rates. Learn more about creating a simple safety program at https://smarterrisk.com/english/blog/safety-made-simple/.
3. Training: Don’t Skip This Step
Regular training sessions are essential. Everyone, from new recruits to seasoned veterans, should be refreshed on safety protocols. The goal is to make safety second nature and hold everyone accountable for their actions. Regular safety training ensures that employees are aware of and adhere to safety protocols, reducing the risk of accidents and claims, which can result in more favorable insurance rates.
4. Bouncing Back with a Return-to-Work Program
Accidents, though undesirable, can occur. When they do, it is important to have a structured return-to-work program to help injured employees return to work sooner. It fosters collaboration between employers, healthcare providers, and administrators to ensure injured employees return to work promptly and safely. As an injured employees recover and return to work faster, it also reduces the length and cost of claims, which insurers view favorably.
5. Hiring with Safety in Mind
Safe operations start with hiring the right people. Focus on recruiting individuals who respect safety protocols. Integrating drug tests and background checks can help ensure your workforce is safety conscious. Taking these two steps can reduce the likelihood of accidents and claims, which can positively impact insurance rates.
6. Be Proactive: Inspecting for Workplace Hazards
Every environment has its set of hazards. Regularly evaluating potential dangers and inspecting your workplace can offer invaluable insights, leading to a safer workplace and potentially lower insurance premiums. Encourage employees to be active contributors in identifying and reporting risks.
7. Accountability and Clear Expectations: The Two Go Together
In workplace safety, clarity is not just preferred—it’s imperative. Set clear expectations during initial safety orientations, annual training, and regular safety meetings. Yet, clear expectations without consequence are useless. Hold individuals accountable to ensure established guidelines aren’t mere suggestions but firm rules. This combination of clear expectations and accountability can create a culture of safety, reducing accidents and claims and potentially lowering insurance costs.
8. Prepping for Injuries: Develop an Injury Response Protocol
While prevention is critical, being prepared for potential injuries is equally important. An efficient response protocol ensures that injured employees receive immediate care, minimizing the severity and cost of claims, which insurers value.
9. Injury Reporting: Time is Not on Your Side
Prompt reporting can be the difference between a well-managed incident and a chaotic situation. All minor or major injuries must be reported immediately, documented, and the claim filed with your insurer within 48 hours. Prompt and thorough injury reporting allows businesses to manage claims efficiently, demonstrating proactive claims management to insurers and potentially lowering insurance rates.
10. Learning from the Past: Post-Injury Investigations
Always perform a root cause analysis (RCA) and follow up with corrective actions. Every incident offers lessons. By thoroughly investigating each accident, businesses can gain valuable insights. These investigations can identify flaws in existing safety measures and pave the way for improved protocols, reducing the likelihood of future incidents and claims, which insurers view favorably. Learn about other examples of lagging indicators (https://smarterrisk.com/english/blog/lagging-indicators/).
11. Patterns in Claims: The Bigger Picture
Review your claim history at least once a year. This is called a “loss runs review.” Ensure participation from various departments and analyze past incidents to forecast potential risks. Identify any patterns, reducing the likelihood of future claims and potentially lowering insurance costs. Also, by recognizing repetitive injuries or consistent issues can reveal deeper systemic problems or even fraudulent activities.
12. Partnering with Trusted Medical Providers
In the unfortunate event of an injury, have a medical provider pre-selected so employees and supervisors know where to go to receive prompt medical care. Networks that offer 24/7 assistance can ensure injured employees receive timely and appropriate care when needed, also leading to faster recoveries and potentially lower insurance costs.
13. Swift and Effective Claims Handling
The efficiency of handling claims can significantly impact an organization’s reputation and finances. Businesses can foster trust and minimize financial disruptions by ensuring timely and transparent processing, potentially leading to lower insurance rates.
In Conclusion
To wrap things up, it’s pretty straightforward: Insurance companies want to work with businesses that are a good risk. Follow the 13 recommendations outlined above, and you will be well on your way to both reducing your business overhead and lowering your insurance premiums. If you need help making your agent aware that you’re on top of risk control in your business, Smarter Risk is here for you. Our platform is designed to automate the creation of safety and risk control programs. Our tools can evaluate your current safety measures and include a policy builder so you can develop safety programs in minutes, not months. Sign up (https://app.smarterrisk.com/signup).
