Page 22 - Texas

The Conflict of CLAIMS
The
DTAhMe CACoGonEnPfliRcttEoofVfCECNLATIMIOSSN DAMAGEINVESTIGATION DAMAGEPREVENTION flic
LAIM DAMAGEINVESTIGATION By Roger Cox
Pre
sident
MAGEINVESTIGATION ACTS Now, Inc.
Much talk surrounds the
seems to be a limited viewpoint. As a
Since 2017 I have served the Mississippi topic of damage prevention
practical matter, I believe the highest
Enforcement Board as its Executive
across the nation today.
and best use of a claims department in
Secretary. In that role, my office
While there are pockets
our industry is to collect for damages to
receives all complaints filed in the
of improvement in some cases, there
their utility lines.
state. These complaints are the result appears to be stalemate nationwide
of alleged violations committed by an When discussing collections with claims
on reducing damages. Actually, there
industry stakeholder. They could be personnel, when they can collect for
seems to be an upward trend in damage
levied against the excavator for a variety damage, they rightly feel like they’ve
to underground utility lines.
of reasons, such as not calling 811 before done their job. Their process seems to
digging, digging early, not potholing as
It is a fair question to ask why this is
have someone in the company perform
required by law or failing to white line
the case. The answer falls along the
an investigation, take photos, determine
as required by law. Equally, complaints lines of “the disadvantages of preventing
who is responsible and turn it over to
are filed against the utility company for damages outweigh the advantages of
claims.
several reasons, mostly for failure to preventing damages,” so the motivation
What would happen if we could turn
locate, not locating on time or failure to
to change behaviors to prevent damages
that damage investigation into damage
locate accurately.
has not been clearly established.
prevention by refocusing on the
Often, the documentation submitted
Here are a couple of things I’ve learned
purpose of the investigation itself? If
which would include photos and other about underground utility damage
the purpose was still to determine what
pertinent information to prove the prevention. Slogans are easier to
happened and what we could do to
allegation does not meet the burden
come up with than preventing damage.
prevent the recurrence, both liability
of proof. Talking with others across Identifying what people ought to do
and collections would be a by-product
the country in similar roles, this is a
is easier than getting them to do it.
of an effective damage investigation.
common occurrence.
If we know that preventing damage
A product of an effective damage
is about building relationships and
Without a thorough and complete investigation is to develop a relationship
clearer communication, we don’t need
damage investigation with the purpose with stakeholders. That relationship
to wait for new technology or some
of finding out what happened and
is strengthened by conversations
organization to come up with a whiz-
what can be done to prevent it from
based on what the investigation
bang plan to start making it happen.
happening again, you will not reduce uncovers. When we discuss the facts
damages and for that matter, you will
For example, have you paid attention
uncovered by the investigation, it
not have an effective enforcement
to a damage investigation program?
becomes the springboard for higher
program.
I’ve attended many such classes in
expectations brought about by personal
my almost 50 years in the industry
communication, rather than just an
Finally, the investigation doesn’t benefit and for the most part they haven’t
invoice.
damage reduction if it doesn’t trigger changed much since day one. Damage
the damage prevention department to Having said that, I am not saying we
or accident investigations have been
address the issue with the appropriate shouldn’t have claims departments. We
carried out for decades and the purpose
stakeholders.
should! However, it has been proven
of them was to determine why it
to me more than once that a claims
Ok, I get it. You say that won’t work. happened and what can be done to
department is measured by a different
You might be right! But what we’re prevent similar incidents.
measurement than a damage prevention
doing now is clearly not working, so it However, most of the utility damage
department. It follows if we really
might be worth considering.
investigation classes I’ve attended
want to reduce damage to our vital
Stay tuned!
focus on liability and claims. There is
underground utilities, we need to take a
nothing wrong with that focus, but it
second look at our current efforts.
20 • Texas811 2024, Issue 4