Confusing Threads... Please Clarify...

[DoubleYouEsAre]

Hey all, working on a business plan that fits my needs. I've read the posts on here for about six hours and my eyeballs are about to fall out, but there's a lot of very useful information.

Thanks to Coitster and everyone else that referred us noob's to RLI.

I do however have some questions about some murky posts.

It seems people are confusing the contact management software with the ability to bill insurance companies. I've also noticed that some are noting that their RLI is not accepted by the insurance billing networks.

Can someone put these issues into perspective for me? I thought i had it straight until i read the posts. The liability insurance just covers you and your business against damage to a client's property, correct? And to "be on a network" simply means you've applied and been accepted to any of the given insurance billing networks, allowing you (for a fee) to submit billing invoices for insurance claims.

Some are implying that there's a correlation between these entities.

Any help would be appreciated!

-Ryan Heckman

[mafsu]

Sounds like you've pretty much got it. A couple of points you may be confused on are:
You can submit invoices to the networks even if you are not a member at no additional cost.
The advantage of being on a network for a new company is that your customer probably will get the warm fuzzies when they call them if they already have you in their computers and know who you are.

The correlation between the two is that the networks require you to maintain a certain amount of liability coverage to remain a member.

[DoubleYouEsAre]

Okay,

So then other than being in their computer, what's the point in paying to be on the networks if you can submit claims without it?

Thanks for all your help, btw!

-Ryan

[gold star wsr]

The difference is this: If you are not listed as part of the networks, they can then tell the customer that your shop is not one of their "approved" service providers, and that they do not warrantee your work, thus raising an element of doubt with the customer as to the quality of your work. This is not a problem if you prepare the customer for this in advance. Even if you do join the networks, dont expect the phone to ring off the hook with referrals... they still send the work to their own people, which we all know is called "steering" and it's illegal, but they do it anyway. I personally hold the insurance companies at fault for this, for allowing these networks, which also own their own repair/replacement facilities, to handle their glass claims.

[DoubleYouEsAre]

Ok, thanks a lot guys!