E&O TIP: Are You Memorializing Conversations with Your Clients?

In the past, when a client would call with a question or a decision on a coverage, the agency standard was to document that discussion in the agency file. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Today, that is not enough. While these discussions should be documented in the system, they should
also be memorialized back to the client in a written format – by email, letter, etc. Without some form of
documentation that confirms or memorializes the discussion to the customer, it will be the agency’s word
vs. the client’s word if an uninsured loss occurs. You might be surprised about what a client will say in
such instances.

The goal is to address any potential misunderstandings between what the customer told you – or
thought they told you – and what you heard. Simply documenting the conversation in the agency
management system does not help to identify a misunderstanding.