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Briefly described, we bill the insurance company of the individual or business requesting services. We then receive the payment from the insurance company and forward the recovered cost to the fire company for the services they have rendered. Below are the details of that process.
The Incident Report
As we all know, every fire and rescue entity completes an incident report for each call for assistance. We utilize this report as the core of the billing information. Our goal is to make this process as streamlined and effortless as possible. We accomplish this by providing a toll free fax line, custom incident reports containing all necessary information, and by only requiring the most vital information. After the incident report is completed, it is then faxed, toll free, directly to our billing headquarters in southwestern Pennsylvania.
The Bill
As soon as the incident report is faxed to our billing staff, it is immediately downloaded and a bill is sent via our automated billing system. Most of the information on the bill will come from the incident report. However, hourly rates are determined for each piece of equipment before the first bill is sent. The hourly rates are based on the information you provide and are agreed upon by you. Perishables such as flares, foam, absorbent material, etc. are charged based on a cost of replacement basis. All bills contain the fire company information, incident report number, insured name and policy number along with other information required by insurance companies. Each fire company's billings are kept separate and independent from other fire companies.
Second Billing and Follow-up Calls
It is usual and necessary to follow-up the sent bill with several calls and second and third billings. Experienced billing staff must do this. Often, claims adjusters will either deny based on improper information or will try to stonewall the payment of the cost recovery. All billing must be done according to each company's own procedures and rules.
We provide a service to the claims adjusters that direct them to the clause within their particular policy that provides coverage for the charges incurred. Insurance companies must pay claims to stay in business. If a claims person can see that the billing is valid, covered within their policy, reasonable, and based on a standard, they will pay the claim without difficulty. To do anything less is considered bad faith.
Receipt of Payment
When we receive payment from the insurance company, our accounting department photocopies the check and directs payment to your fire company. Accounts are paid every thirty days and are never held more than thirty days. All moneys are held in a fiduciary account. No moneys are co-mingled. All accounting is separate for each fire company. Because each fire company is identified separately by our staff and the insurance companies, the potential for confusing accounts is extinguished.
Cost to You
All faxes and phone calls are toll free. Currently any new fire company will not have a setup charge. Again, our goal is to make this process as effortless for the fire company as possible.
When we receive payment from the insurance company on incidents that occur after the date our contract begins, we charge 15% of the amount we collect. When we receive payment on bills one year prior to the date of contract, we charge 35% of the amount we collect. The only bill for which we charge is the bill on which that we receive payment. There are no additional charges for postage, phone calls, printed materials, etc.. The only cost to you is as noted above.
Commitment
We ask that if you commit to our cost recovery, you commit for one year. However, because of the way that our contract is structured, you may choose to stop sending incident reports if you believe that we are not exceeding your expectations. We only ask that you do not begin to bill nor allow any other billing until the end of the contract. We fully anticipate that your expectations will be exceeded. We are looking to build long lasting relationships with fire and rescue companies. To do that, we realize we must exceed your expectations.
