Understanding the Property Claim Services (PCS) Index: Adjusters Guide
Claims Adjuster
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Sam Miller
RevOps Manager
When devastating and widespread disaster strikes, catastrophic (CAT) claims adjusters play a crucial role in helping individuals and businesses recover their losses. The Property Claim Services (PCS) Index serves as a valuable and important tool for CAT adjusters who are assigned to manage catastrophic claims.
If you want to work as a CAT claims adjuster, you’ll need to understand how to use the PCS Index. So, let’s dive into the details…
What Is Property Claim Services?
What Is Considered a Catastrophe?
How Does PCS Categorize Catastrophes?
What is the PCS Coding System All About?
PCS monitors industry loss reports and assigns a catastrophe serial number (code) to an event if it meets PCS rules (i.e., its own catastrophe criteria). The serial number usually is released within 24 to 48 hours after the event occurs, and it allows insurers and reinsurers to track losses related to that single, discrete event.
Can Anyone Access PCS Catastrophe Codes?
PCS catastrophe serial numbers are an industry standard available to all PCS service subscribers, including any adjuster who has a current subscription.
How Does the PCS Catastrophe Code List Benefit the Insurance Industry?
PCS’s long-standing reputation for accurately defining and tracking catastrophes helps to reduce disputes between primary insurers and reinsurers, saving the industry millions of dollars in staff and legal expenses each year.
How Can Adjusters Incorporate PCS Codes in Claim Documentation?
It’s just a matter of inserting the appropriate code in a reporting document. This is easy to do if you create reports with a floor plan app like magicplan. This type of app is an ideal tool for documenting disaster damages quickly, and then developing and sharing structured reports with sketches, photos, notes, and, of course, appropriate PCS codes.
Does PCS Offer Other Services That Can Help Adjusters?
Yes. If adjusters subscribe to ISOnet PCS – which is a core service provided by PCS – they can stay on top of important data and keep track of weather changes and catastrophes that are underway.
ISOnet PCS provides:
Daily severe weather summaries — descriptions of severe weather with current data, including conditions, forecasts, and satellite and radar maps
Catastrophe bulletins — the latest details on recent and past catastrophes, with the ability to select information by date, state, peril, or catastrophe serial number
Storm and event tracking reports — up-to-date data on tropical storms and events occurring on land but not yet declared catastrophes by PCS
Catastrophe news (estimate updates) — catastrophe loss summaries and periodic bulletins on issues affecting the insurance industry’s response to catastrophes
Catastrophe History Reporter — five detailed reports to help anyone compare and analyze the effects of catastrophic events
Claims information services
PCS help bulletins — guidelines and procedures for claims adjusters
Catastrophe claims-handling regulations — catastrophe-only information about state adjuster licensing laws, valued-policy laws, acts concerning unfair claims practices, and other laws and regulations
How Much Time Does an Adjuster Need to Spend on a Catastrophic Claim?
There is no set answer to this question. Catastrophe claims vary in the amount of time they take to investigate, document and estimate, based on a variety of circumstances. But use of software tools can definitely help streamline the overall process!
Summary
All CAT adjusters must have a solid understanding of the PCS Index, so that they can code claims appropriately after disasters strike. This helps ensure that catastrophe claim documentation is correct and thorough, to help ensure efficient claim processing. So, if you are planning to become a CAT adjuster, take time to get more familiar with this important coding system.
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