Put Your Workers’ Comp Carriers to the Test with These 5 Questions

When an employee gets hurt or your client needs help, service quality quickly becomes the highest priority in workers’ comp coverage. This is especially true in an environment in which so many carriers use third parties to manage services.

These questions can reveal which carriers will step up when your clients most need support.

A carrier’s service philosophy often reveals itself in the first phone call.

Your clients aren’t looking for an automated directory. They want someone to answer the phone who understands workers’ comp and can move the issue toward resolution. When evaluating carriers, consider who handles incoming calls, how issues are escalated, and whether customers can easily reach the exact people who can help.

Cindy Santana, Summit’s customer care director, says that commitment starts with making it easy for people to promptly resolve questions and issues: “A carrier should be committed to creating an extraordinarily positive experience for agents, policyholders, and injured employees.” At Summit, all incoming calls are answered by in-house professionals with expertise focused solely on workers’ comp.

Ask whether claims are handled by carrier employees or a third party service, how much decision-making authority those adjusters have, and who assumes responsibility when a claim becomes more complex. Clear ownership of the claim matters, because delays may affect treatment success, the injured employee’s path back to work, and future premium costs.

Summit’s claims are managed by in-house adjusters—not outsourced personnel—who have the authority to make decisions. They can move claims forward more quickly and can coordinate specialized expertise when required for complex treatment.

What happens when adjusters need help understanding a diagnosis, reviewing a treatment plan, assessing a provider concern, or managing a complex injury? A carrier with in-house medical professionals gives claims adjusters real-time clinical insight, helping them address treatment questions through knowledgeable communication with providers.

According to Dr. Bob Martin, Summit’s medical director, one advantage of Summit’s approach is that adjusters have direct access to clinical expertise. “We have seamless communication between our adjusters and on-staff nurses and physicians,” he says. “This prompt communication makes a difference in the quality of an injured employee’s care and recovery.”

When evaluating carriers, ask what workplace safety support is available, how consultants engage with policyholders, and whether safety services are connected to the carrier’s broader workers’ comp expertise. At a time when many carriers are pulling back on field personnel, your higher-risk clients need a policy that comes with on-site loss prevention services.

Summit’s loss prevention consultants work closely with employers and collaborate with claims, audit, and underwriting teams to help clients improve their long-term safety records. They also work closely with each other, drawing on other members of the loss prevention team for industry-specific insights.

In other words, do a carrier’s service teams operate separately, or do they collaborate when an issue crosses departments?

At Summit, nearly all customer-facing services are handled in-house, making it easier for teams to share information and resolve issues directly. Service employees also work in geographic teams, so claims, loss prevention, premium audit, and underwriting professionals become familiar with your agency, your clients, and local conditions in the areas they serve. That collaborative structure supports better communication and coordinated service when issues arise.

Ownership is more than having each service available. It means the people involved can share information, make decisions, and stay focused on the same outcome. For agents, that translates into fewer calls tracking down answers and greater confidence that a client’s issue will not stall between departments. For your clients and their injured employees, it means clearer communication and more consistent support from injury prevention through recovery.

The question is not simply whether a carrier offers claims, medical, safety, or customer care services, but whether someone takes responsibility for the quality of the services and connecting them when it matters. The real advantage is knowing who owns the next step, and trusting that the carrier’s team can deliver answers and solutions efficiently.