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What's Your Business Interruption Values (BIV) Grade?
Jeff Esper
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If you are responsible for your company’s Business Interruption Values (BIV) reporting, we have a special offer for you! BIV reporting is possibly the most misunderstood data requirement of all lines of coverage. We hear it from brokers and policyholders across the country. It’s a concern for many and now you can find out how your values stack up.

RWH Myers now offers a simple and effective three-part system to assess the validity of a company's reported Business Interruption Values. 
  1. First, we'll walk through a simple questionnaire that examines the process currently in place to pull together the numbers. The process used is a major indicator. Why? By looking at how you come up with your BI Values reveals what you may be missing and where potential problems are lurking.
  2. Next, we can review your current BIV reporting. With this step we can gain insight in to the output and what the underwriter is seeing. Any unclear or inconsistent numbers will create uncertainty in the mind of the underwriter and drive up premium costs. We'll ask the questions that your underwriter won't ask so that we can identify areas to improve.
  3. Finally, we'll do a BI Benchmark against others in your industry segment to see how your current BIV compares to the benchmark number. Our proprietary BI Benchmarking tool is a popular and useful tool that displays a ballpark BIV displayed in a "worksheet" like report summary. How will it compare to your numbers? There's only one way to find out.
The benefits of getting your grade are many. Once you know your grade we'll share with you what is hurting your score as compared to what you should be doing to increase the accuracy of your numbers. The way to a higher BIV Grade is the way to more accurate ratable BI values which is used to calculate your premium. This offer is free of charge to policyholders so there's nothing to lose by signing-up!

To sign-up for your BIV grade click here and we'll get started. You may contact me directly with questions. jeffesper@rwhmyers.com

Insights Worth Sharing

By Jeff Esper 17 Dec, 2021
Happy Holidays from RWH Myers & Company
By Jeff Esper 21 Jul, 2021
Making a business interruption claim is more than just an accounting exercise. It requires a good strategy, a thoughtful process and perhaps most of all, patience. These lessons come from experience and the team at RWH Myers has earned it from decades of preparing BI claims. Though this topic is of the philosophical nature, it is just as important as the details behind a business interruption calculation. So let’s dive in and see what you really need to make a BI claim. Strategy Every loss is different. You can’t apply the same game plan and the same approach to every claim. You have to assess the situation and all its parts to devise a specific workable strategy. Experience will help ensure your strategy is appropriate for the situation, but the claim will take on a life of its own. The initial loss assessment is derived from the loss information such as what happened, the timeline of events, the impact to operations and how long it will take to get back to normal. As forensic accountants, we will look at the entirety of the situation and dissect it from every angle to figure out the full scope of loss and then determine the best approach to measuring and supporting the claim. We will also anticipate how the claim will be adjusted and plan for arguments against the claim. Taking the time to develop a proper strategy will pay off at every stage of the claim process. Process Once you understand the situation and have designed an effective strategy, you can lay out a process to get to the desired result. The process starts off with identifying and assembling the team to execute the plan. The claim will require data from various sources and input from key internal experts to provide insights as to the impact on operations, both upstream and downstream. The process also includes managing claim adjustment, from setting the timeline to handling requests for information. During the process, your claim preparer will work to keep all phases of the claim moving forward whether with data gathering or insurer feedback. Claims tend to start out with a high level of attention, but it is common to lose momentum. Simply put, a well-defined process will keep the claim moving, limiting distractions and roadblocks. Patience Patience doesn’t equate to conceding to a lengthy and arduous process. It’s just the opposite. By definition, it means, “quietly and steadily persevering or being diligent, especially in detail or exactness.” It is important to understand that certain parts of the claim take time to develop, and that time is critical to ensuring a thorough and well thought out claim presentation. For example, taking your time in the beginning of the process to lay out the foundational elements of the claim will avoid obstacles that may delay claim settlement and the amount recovered. It’s best to set expectations early and commit to the process. Again, practicing patience will expedite the claim process and improve the outcome. You can rely on the experience of your forensic accounting team to lead that effort. So, you see, it’s not all about the numbers. There is more to the intangibles than you may have thought. Every claim has its own unique challenges. You should be prepared for anything and everything. Again, preparing a claim is just as much strategy, process, and patience as it is the technical elements of claim preparation.
By Jeff Esper 29 Oct, 2020
Property damage insurance claims are among the most infrequent for corporate policyholders, but this year Louisiana has suffered through a record number of Hurricanes. When catastrophe strikes, recovering insured losses essential to rebuild and resume operations. Effected policyholders will need expert help to evaluate, organize and document their claim to present to insurers. Forensic accountants that devote their practice to preparing claims for policyholders have every day experience just as adjusters and auditors do, so it is certainly to your advantage to hire a firm of experts to represent your interests throughout the property damage and time element claim process. Though the specific insurance claims and the policyholders may change, the vital steps to recovery remain the same. One thing both sides agree on is that the claim process goes smoother when the policyholder is well prepared for demands of a claim from start to finish. The partners at RWH Myers prepared a detailed guide to assist policyholders in preparation for claim recovery. It is designed to serve as a resource and a framework for the claim process and includes the following sections: Establish Appropriate Accounting Methodology: Provides guidance and an organizational framework for post-loss activities, establishing specific accounts to capture the loss. Property Damage Expense Categories: Explains the types of expenses that may be included in each category of coverage and the documentation required for these costs. Claim Preparation Objectives and Overview: Identifies objectives for the claim preparation process, and provides a conceptual framework for achieving them. What is Covered: Examines the direct and indirect exposures to loss that are typically encountered, and provides guidelines for determining whether specific types of property damage losses are covered under the policy. Claim Preparation Procedures: Suggests timetables for the submission of inventory, property damage, and discusses the format and content of standard claim submissions. Audit and Settlement Guidelines: Discusses the procedures undertaken by the insurers adjusters and experts, and provides an overview of the settlement process. Click here to download the full guide.
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