Adjuster Toolkit
Snapsheet Mobile App
A self-service mobile app is reducing the time it takes to process auto insurance claims. Snapsheet works directly with insurers, providing an easy way to inspect vehicles.
“We’re about half the cost of sending out a staff appraiser. We’re half the cost and we’re 10 times faster,” said Founder and CEO Brad Weisberg.
Several years ago, Weisberg was involved in a car accident and noticed that he received different estimates from three body shops for the exact same repair.
“It was super frustrating. It was time consuming. There’s no transparency in the industry. It didn’t make any sense to me, so I thought there’s got to be a better way to do this,” Weisberg said.
He realized that visual inspections could be completed faster and more easily with photos.
“One of the things that I noticed was everywhere I went to get my car repaired or to get the estimate, all they did was look at my vehicle. They didn’t take it apart or tear it down. They just looked at it,” he said.
The result was Snapsheet, a mobile inspection app available in iTunes and on Android.
According to Weisberg, the carrier sends the facts of the loss and assignment through the app and an adjuster sends it to the insured or claimant.
Once vehicle photos are taken via the app, they are sent back to the Chicago-based company where a team of experienced estimators writes an estimate and sends it back through the app to the claimant or insured within three business hours. Appointments can be made directly through the app with a preferred contractor, or the user can go through a repair shop of his or her own choosing. Users can choose to receive a check for the damage the next day via direct deposit. Snapsheet can also handle supplements.
“Each business unit handles a different area of the country. The carrier gives us labor rates and things like that, but we collaborate down to the ZIP code,” Weisberg said.
The company white-labels the app for insurance companies and the program is easy enough to implement that it can be up and running within 30 days.
“Fifty percent of our claims that go through our channel close same day, because it’s that easy and the process flows so well,” he said.
Website: www.snapsheetapp.com
The ICD 9 Codes App
This free mobile app can assist bodily injury and workers’ compensation adjusters by providing an explanation for medical coding.
The app, available in the iTunes app store, features ICD9-CM 2010 and 2013 codes.
Users can browse codes or search for a specific one. Diagnoses can be shared via email. Users can also create lists of most commonly used codes.
Helpful Websites & Charts
This website provides links to each state’s insurance department.
Go to www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm and click on any state.
This website, www.insurancefraud.org, provides links to some state insurance fraud bureaus. Just click on the Tools option at the top of the home page. Once on the Fraud Statistics page, choose the Links option in the left hand column.
Attorney Gary Wickert, author of the “Road to Recovery” column seen monthly on ClaimsJournal.com, hosts a PDF chart detailing anti-indemnity and additional insured legislation in all 50 states. The chart contains the indemnity rule, statute, application and whether additional insureds are prohibited.
Go to www.mwl-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Anti-Indemnity-Statutes-In-All-50-States-00131938.pdf