It's been a month, and I feel like I'm getting a handle on things at work..and beyond that, I'm absolutely LOVING this job!!! So, while I'm happy, and understanding it, and have a few minutes, I thought I'd write about what I'm doing, and why I'm enjoying it.
So first, a little story to set the stage, and explain what I'm doing.
Bob has insurance, gives the information to Albert, or Albert's insurance carrier, and the insurance companies fight it out. My company doesn't get involved.
Scenario 2:
Bob didn't say that he had any insurance, or his insurance carrier isn't responding to communication from Albert's insurance...so Albert's insurance sends the file to ABC Co. (my company) to collect the money from Bob.
Bob's file (Bob is now known as the RP, or "Responsible Party") first goes to the collections floor at ABC co. Collectors call Bob, state that XYZ insurance informed them that Bob or Bob's vehicle was involved in an incident on (incident date) and that Bob has been found to be financially responsible for the damages. At this point, if Bob says "but I had insurance...here's my information", then his file is sent to a different department to contact the insurance company, confirm coverage, and try to get the insurance company to pay it out. If Bob did, in fact, have coverage on that vehicle at the time of the incident, Bob doesn't hear from ABC co. anymore.
If Bob's insurance is denied...then his file goes back to the collections floor, and they keep calling and trying to make arrangements to get the balance paid off.
Depending on the state, if Bob fails to pay for the damages, then his license could be suspended, and the only way to get it back is to either pay the balance in full, or enter into an agreed payment arrangement to pay off the balance. While ABC co. doesn't suspend licences, in some cases, they will send the information to the DMV to initiate a license suspension. There's a department at ABC co. that deals with that. (Not my department.)
If Bob is unresponsive, or doesn't pay, or breaks promises to pay...at some point, the file is moved (generally automatically) to the Legal Forwarding Department, to evaluate whether or not the file is worth sending to an attorney to pursue. (This is the department where I work.)
If I get the file, I go through it and verify what information we have. I likely have access to the police report, which the folks on the collections floor don't, and I can read through and find out if maybe Bob had insurance listed on the report...at which point I send the file to the department to try to confirm insurance.
If it comes back to me, then I read farther through, and see whether or not liability is clear. Reading through some of the reports, sometimes it's very obvious who hit who, or who ran a red light, and who should be being held responsible. Others...there are no witnesses, and both people thought they had a green light, or the cow came out of nowhere...(Yes, I actually read a report where the incident was vehicle vs cow, and the RP was neither the cow nor the driver) and fault isn't nearly as clear. If we can't be really sure who can be proven to be at fault, we're not going to send the file to an attorney and waste their time.
Sometimes, the person listed as the RP isn't the right person. I can change the name on the file, and send it back to the collections floor, and the whole process starts again.
If the RP has made payments in the past...I send the file to another department to try to set up a new payment arrangement. If they do...I don't see the file again.
If we have the right person listed, and liability is clear, I check to see if I have proof of payment for everything the insurance company said they paid, and estimates or medical bills to back them up. If I don't...I send to another department to get them...because we can only forward a file that we can back up all the money we're asking for.
If I have everything I need, I can put the file together and assign it to an attorney, and send the file to them. If I don't, and can't get it, then I mark the file as being recommended to close, for whatever reason, and send it up to my supervisor.
In the 30 or so files that I've been assigned to review over the last month, I think I've only actually sent three to an attorney, and those were all in the last week. Most of them have been sent to the supervisor to close.
Assigning files to an attorney is really only one part of the job. Once the files are with an attorney, I am responsible for getting status updates from the attorney, processing court costs when necessary and getting them sent to the attorney, and making sure the attorney has everything else they need if the case has to go to trial. Ideally, the attorney manages to get the person to settle. Depending on the file, I can approve settlement offers for less than the full amount, or I can send to my supervisor for approval if I think it's a good settlement, even for less than what I can approve. (Sometimes, getting a lump sum payment of 30% of the balance is better than trying for 10 years to collect the whole thing.)
If the RP has hired an attorney, then the collections floor (who also takes inbound calls) isn't allowed to speak to either the RP or the attorney, and any calls are forwarded to my department. Essentially, my department is the one who is supposed to know what not to say to attorneys to get trapped into something...so we're the only ones who get to talk to them. I'm slowly learning what we can and can't tell attorneys we can send them (and when I'm not sure, I either keep my mouth shut, or say "I'll see what I can do") and I think I'm starting to collect files that aren't really mine, because when the attorney ends up talking to me, I'm most likely to give them my direct extension so they can just call me to follow up the next time.
So...why do I like this job so much?
As much as I said I didn't want to get stuck in an office, I'm really enjoying this. I have my own cubicle, so I have my own private space. I have plants, and a framed print that says "She believed she could, and so she did", along with my "WonderTre" figurine, where I see them any time I look up from my computer screens. I'm not constantly face to face and interacting with people...but I can hear people around me, and can interact with them when I want to. If I need to stand up for a few minutes, or walk to the bathroom, or to get more water, or coffee...I can just go. I don't need to ask permission; I don't need to feel guilty for not working for a couple minutes.
Nothing is an emergency.
Nothing that I do is so important or time sensitive that it can't wait a few minutes, or a couple days, to be sure it's done right.
I have a good mix of routine and non-routine tasks. When I'm going through a file, I flip through the same computer screens to check basic information (routine), and then slow down and read through things more slowly if something pops out as out-of-the-ordinary. I can use my judgement to decide what course to take...and if I'm not sure it's the right answer, I can ask my supervisor. There are times that I'm not sure whether it's worth sending an attorney $100 to try to keep collecting on a $20K debt...so my supervisor will review it with me, explain what factors she would look at, and make the determination. By her explaining her reasoning and the factors she's evaluating, I can make that determination myself the next time, with more confidence.
While there is a script for some of the calls, most of my telephone time isn't really scripted. I'm building my own internal scripts (like the fact that I had to give myself one for the beginning of calls, because I kept forgetting to introduce myself), and I'm learning to more easily say "I'm new to this file, can I put you on hold for a few minutes so I can read through the notes and see if I can figure out what's going on?" But it's ok for me to joke a bit with the attorneys, or their staff, and actually be human. (I had one call with a Paralegal who was also new to the file I had been going through, and I could hear her on the other end trying very hard not to say "What the hell were they thinking?", which had been my reaction to the file, too.)
So, in short...it's a good environment for me. I can think, but can also do semi-mindless tasks...I can set my environment to make me happy...I don't have to be endlessly social and cheerful. The people around me are generally happy, or at least if they're grumpy, it's not about the company or the work.
Even if I don't get a raise if/when they hire me on permanently, I'll be eligible for bonuses. The drive is a bit long, but I think it's worth it. The two people with cubicles on either side of me have been with the company for over 15 years each. This seems to be a surprisingly good fit.
So first, a little story to set the stage, and explain what I'm doing.
Albert and Bob are in a car accident, where it is deemed that Bob is at fault. Albert has insurance, likely including Uninsured Motorist Coverage (UIM) and makes a claim to his insurance company, who pays out for Albert's damages. Then, the insurance company pursues Bob to pay back the money that they gave Albert.Scenario 1:
Bob has insurance, gives the information to Albert, or Albert's insurance carrier, and the insurance companies fight it out. My company doesn't get involved.
Scenario 2:
Bob didn't say that he had any insurance, or his insurance carrier isn't responding to communication from Albert's insurance...so Albert's insurance sends the file to ABC Co. (my company) to collect the money from Bob.
Bob's file (Bob is now known as the RP, or "Responsible Party") first goes to the collections floor at ABC co. Collectors call Bob, state that XYZ insurance informed them that Bob or Bob's vehicle was involved in an incident on (incident date) and that Bob has been found to be financially responsible for the damages. At this point, if Bob says "but I had insurance...here's my information", then his file is sent to a different department to contact the insurance company, confirm coverage, and try to get the insurance company to pay it out. If Bob did, in fact, have coverage on that vehicle at the time of the incident, Bob doesn't hear from ABC co. anymore.
If Bob's insurance is denied...then his file goes back to the collections floor, and they keep calling and trying to make arrangements to get the balance paid off.
Depending on the state, if Bob fails to pay for the damages, then his license could be suspended, and the only way to get it back is to either pay the balance in full, or enter into an agreed payment arrangement to pay off the balance. While ABC co. doesn't suspend licences, in some cases, they will send the information to the DMV to initiate a license suspension. There's a department at ABC co. that deals with that. (Not my department.)
If Bob is unresponsive, or doesn't pay, or breaks promises to pay...at some point, the file is moved (generally automatically) to the Legal Forwarding Department, to evaluate whether or not the file is worth sending to an attorney to pursue. (This is the department where I work.)
If I get the file, I go through it and verify what information we have. I likely have access to the police report, which the folks on the collections floor don't, and I can read through and find out if maybe Bob had insurance listed on the report...at which point I send the file to the department to try to confirm insurance.
If it comes back to me, then I read farther through, and see whether or not liability is clear. Reading through some of the reports, sometimes it's very obvious who hit who, or who ran a red light, and who should be being held responsible. Others...there are no witnesses, and both people thought they had a green light, or the cow came out of nowhere...(Yes, I actually read a report where the incident was vehicle vs cow, and the RP was neither the cow nor the driver) and fault isn't nearly as clear. If we can't be really sure who can be proven to be at fault, we're not going to send the file to an attorney and waste their time.
Sometimes, the person listed as the RP isn't the right person. I can change the name on the file, and send it back to the collections floor, and the whole process starts again.
If the RP has made payments in the past...I send the file to another department to try to set up a new payment arrangement. If they do...I don't see the file again.
If we have the right person listed, and liability is clear, I check to see if I have proof of payment for everything the insurance company said they paid, and estimates or medical bills to back them up. If I don't...I send to another department to get them...because we can only forward a file that we can back up all the money we're asking for.
If I have everything I need, I can put the file together and assign it to an attorney, and send the file to them. If I don't, and can't get it, then I mark the file as being recommended to close, for whatever reason, and send it up to my supervisor.
In the 30 or so files that I've been assigned to review over the last month, I think I've only actually sent three to an attorney, and those were all in the last week. Most of them have been sent to the supervisor to close.
Assigning files to an attorney is really only one part of the job. Once the files are with an attorney, I am responsible for getting status updates from the attorney, processing court costs when necessary and getting them sent to the attorney, and making sure the attorney has everything else they need if the case has to go to trial. Ideally, the attorney manages to get the person to settle. Depending on the file, I can approve settlement offers for less than the full amount, or I can send to my supervisor for approval if I think it's a good settlement, even for less than what I can approve. (Sometimes, getting a lump sum payment of 30% of the balance is better than trying for 10 years to collect the whole thing.)
If the RP has hired an attorney, then the collections floor (who also takes inbound calls) isn't allowed to speak to either the RP or the attorney, and any calls are forwarded to my department. Essentially, my department is the one who is supposed to know what not to say to attorneys to get trapped into something...so we're the only ones who get to talk to them. I'm slowly learning what we can and can't tell attorneys we can send them (and when I'm not sure, I either keep my mouth shut, or say "I'll see what I can do") and I think I'm starting to collect files that aren't really mine, because when the attorney ends up talking to me, I'm most likely to give them my direct extension so they can just call me to follow up the next time.
So...why do I like this job so much?
As much as I said I didn't want to get stuck in an office, I'm really enjoying this. I have my own cubicle, so I have my own private space. I have plants, and a framed print that says "She believed she could, and so she did", along with my "WonderTre" figurine, where I see them any time I look up from my computer screens. I'm not constantly face to face and interacting with people...but I can hear people around me, and can interact with them when I want to. If I need to stand up for a few minutes, or walk to the bathroom, or to get more water, or coffee...I can just go. I don't need to ask permission; I don't need to feel guilty for not working for a couple minutes.
Nothing is an emergency.
Nothing that I do is so important or time sensitive that it can't wait a few minutes, or a couple days, to be sure it's done right.
I have a good mix of routine and non-routine tasks. When I'm going through a file, I flip through the same computer screens to check basic information (routine), and then slow down and read through things more slowly if something pops out as out-of-the-ordinary. I can use my judgement to decide what course to take...and if I'm not sure it's the right answer, I can ask my supervisor. There are times that I'm not sure whether it's worth sending an attorney $100 to try to keep collecting on a $20K debt...so my supervisor will review it with me, explain what factors she would look at, and make the determination. By her explaining her reasoning and the factors she's evaluating, I can make that determination myself the next time, with more confidence.
While there is a script for some of the calls, most of my telephone time isn't really scripted. I'm building my own internal scripts (like the fact that I had to give myself one for the beginning of calls, because I kept forgetting to introduce myself), and I'm learning to more easily say "I'm new to this file, can I put you on hold for a few minutes so I can read through the notes and see if I can figure out what's going on?" But it's ok for me to joke a bit with the attorneys, or their staff, and actually be human. (I had one call with a Paralegal who was also new to the file I had been going through, and I could hear her on the other end trying very hard not to say "What the hell were they thinking?", which had been my reaction to the file, too.)
So, in short...it's a good environment for me. I can think, but can also do semi-mindless tasks...I can set my environment to make me happy...I don't have to be endlessly social and cheerful. The people around me are generally happy, or at least if they're grumpy, it's not about the company or the work.
Even if I don't get a raise if/when they hire me on permanently, I'll be eligible for bonuses. The drive is a bit long, but I think it's worth it. The two people with cubicles on either side of me have been with the company for over 15 years each. This seems to be a surprisingly good fit.
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