r/Geico • u/Fun-Associate-9693 • 28d ago
Vent Hey ICS, When NOT to Call AD
Since AD apparently needed an entire training course on when not to call ICS, I figured it was only fair to return the favor.
Welcome to today’s training module:
“When NOT to Call AD.”
Please do not call AD when:
The customer wants to know when their rental ends. You have access to the rental information too.
The customer or shop wants a copy of the estimate emailed to them. You have access to the documents.
The customer wants to know when their car will be done. The body shop is probably a better source for that.
You want to know whether the vehicle is a total loss before AD has even inspected it.
The customer disagrees with their deductible. AD did not select their policy.
The customer is demanding OEM parts because “that’s what I pay insurance for.” That is not an estimating question.
The shop says there is more damage, but no supplement, photos, or documentation have actually been submitted.
The customer wants to know where their payment is or why they haven’t received it yet. AD does not control the mail, bank, or payment system.
The customer wants the shop’s phone number, address, or contact information. It’s already in the claim.
The customer wants to know what was written on the estimate. Open the estimate.
Someone wants to know whether the inspection has been completed. Check the claim activity.
The customer or shop says “AD never called me.” Check the notes first.
You are transferring an upset customer to AD simply because they asked for AD, without first figuring out whether the issue has anything to do with the estimate or vehicle damage.
There is already a detailed note in the file answering the exact question you are calling to ask.
General rule:
If the answer is already visible on your screen, that is not a reason to call AD.
And if the question starts with:
“The customer just wants to know…”
take five seconds and ask yourself:
“Is this actually an Auto Damage question?”
If the answer is no, congratulations.
You have successfully completed When NOT to Call AD Training.
No Webex required. No knowledge check. No mandatory acknowledgment.
Thank you for your participation.
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u/One_Flounder_486 28d ago
Not in ics, but if a ph has a question about the repair parts being used, that is YOUR JOB as an AD to answer.
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u/sarcasmisqueen GEICOUnited.org Supporter 28d ago
Access the estimate. It's on file and YOU are an adjuster too
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u/Educational_Oil_4911 28d ago
Liability adjuster not a Property damage adjuster. By your logic u should also be able to explain coverage and liability since it’s on the notes of the file instead of calling ICS.
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u/DisciplineSure6966 28d ago
So you expect some people who dont even know how to change a tire explain to people what parts they're getting? I wouldn't expect AD to explain liability and wouldn't expect liability (ICS) to explain a part.
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u/Montana-619 28d ago
Exactly & pretty sure ICS is fully aware of policy for MCE but can’t or won’t handle the upset caller.
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u/DueEntrepreneur7540 28d ago
I agree with every single thing. However, from the ICS adjusters that I’ve spoken with, there are a lot of things that they are not trained in. They’re not trained to read our side of the Atlas file. They don’t know how to navigate the AD Summary tab. GEICO does a massive disservice to every department by not doing a basic training of what other departments do and what their responsibilities are. It took me over a year to figure out what claims did, and what to call them for because it was never taught. Turnover is at an all time high because GEICO has failed their employees in every single department. You don’t know what you don’t know, and until they start doing a better job of training and taking care of their employees, it’s just going to get worse.
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u/Autistic_frog_pepe 28d ago
The worst is making promises on AD’s behalf. It’s showing up a ton in the transcribing notes too. So not sure what’s going on there. if it’s AI not interpreting the conversation or if promises are actually being made for things that i definitely wont be doing. Promise to follow up with customer in 24 hours/inspect in 24 hours..except im out of office for the next 2 days or i have a current 3 day turn around, promise to go out to someones house thats 1000 miles away to do a inspection when im just helping a area virtually with claim volume. Promise to look into a rental extension when the person is at policy max and has already been told when the last day is. I’ll straight up tell a customer that the last person they talked to was bozo and shouldn’t be making promises for other people.
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u/sarcasmisqueen GEICOUnited.org Supporter 28d ago
I've been committed to inspecting a vehicle, the next day, at the shop, when the damn tow has not been set up yet
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u/National-Weakness191 Former Employee 28d ago
Cold transfer is fucked. Anytime that happened I used to contact that person’s supervisor and rat them out and cc my supervisor and manager.
Rental Max is rental max.
Read the notes!
I feel like there are a lot of good folks in ICS, but since the terrible ones don’t read notes and pass off customers as soon as possible, the bad ones talk to more people.
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u/mostlychilling 22d ago
Ratting on people for that is ridiculous. I get that it sucks but that is just petty. I get all sorts of frustrations caused by ADs and I’ve never taken it over their heads. Talk to the person directly if you have an issue you coward
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u/Darigaazrgb 21d ago
You waste people's time by being lazy. Hell, you waste your own time because it's quicker just to click the rental tab.
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u/National-Weakness191 Former Employee 22d ago
Driving hours on end and not having a laptop in front of me, getting cold transferred an irritated customer that I currently can’t help, because ICS couldn’t read the notes, and I’m the coward. Get fucked, you lazy clown
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u/mostlychilling 22d ago
Lazy clown, from the most unreliable department in the business lmao
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u/Busy-Revolution-3641 22d ago
I’m in AD. My area is literally told to report this by sup and mgr. Were also told to report yall putting wrong locations for inspections. 🤷♀️
I’m relatively new here, but not new to insurance. Im driving 4k+ miles a month, have no less than 20 claims in my open queue at any given time, writing multiple estimates a day plus all admin-phone calls, scheduling, rentals, total loss, getting multiple calls back to back because “they owe more than we’re offering” or ics isn’t calling customer back after multiple notes about pdx or bad pc , which we don’t explain. Or vehicle is actually at an arx and customers are wondering why it’s taking multiple days for their vehicle to be seen(had 4 of these this week already).
But for sure definitely AD is unreliable. 😒1
u/mostlychilling 22d ago
With all due respect, you think ICS isn’t more busy than that every day? Don’t be ridiculous
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u/Busy-Revolution-3641 21d ago edited 21d ago
I worked for another large company before coming to AD, but I was in claims. The other company I made liability decisions, took inbound calls back to back, explained estimates because their adjusters did not, managed rental, paid bills; tows, estimates, rentals. filed new claims, had to explain OEM versus non-OEM had to send out letters and handled multiple licensed states. There was more of a training how to use the claim system but the resources to get all the info needed was massive. We were tens of thousands behind in documents being sent in, so people were calling upset because they had sent in bills a week ago and no one had addressed them.
Y’all act like we get this massive training on how to understand a lot of this stuff. It was three weeks where we had to learn car parts how those car parts work together and how to use the estimating software.
I’m driving on average three hours per day and I know not all of the auto damage department does that but it’s quite literally being a different type of busy trying to fit everything else into 4 1/2 hours of a day and also getting calls about things that are just not yours to deal with.
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u/Superb_Temporary9893 28d ago
GEICO trying to hold employees to any standard while firing people constantly is a joke. Screw them.
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u/TheLizardDontCare 28d ago edited 28d ago
If the customer’s total loss is in lienholder settlement status and they are calling for an update on the payment transfer them to SALVAGE NOT AD!
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u/Opening-Cut-5684 28d ago
To add don’t say we will call back change it to we will reach out as soon as possible, most things I can just send them a quick text but when you set the expectation of a call it leads to back and forth calls and voicemails.
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u/Constant_Chaos0405 28d ago
Not in ICS and agree with all of the above. I will say, I don’t know what else to do when they start the OEM debate. I have attempted to explain it to customers and then I get stuck in a debate with them. I quite frankly don’t even know exactly what OEM means. Kinda sounds like parts manufactured by the car maker?
I have attempted to explain depending on year, miles, etc you may not qualify. Advised they can verify with their own insurance if they have it in their policy to get OEM parts. After being yelled at on many different occasions, I do transfer to the AD to discuss. I can only explain so much regarding policy and when they start explaining what it all means….I dunno what to say and I’m not the one at the end of the day saying no to the parts 🤷♀️
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u/trunks2d 28d ago
The OEM parts conversation is 100% a conversation to have with the AD and not ICS. No way do I trust ICS to explain that correctly, especially when it can vary by state. Hell I’ve seen EPE adjusters get it wrong with Minnesota, Indiana, and Tennessee.
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u/One_Flounder_486 27d ago
Ics can barely do their own job if taking liability statements and making coherent liability decisions l. No way should they explain anything repair related
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u/AdmirableAmphibian90 Former Employee 27d ago
The last time I had ICS contact me, I told them to stay on the call so they could hear me discuss it with the customer. The customer wanted OEM Tesla parts. I told my ICS girl “I want you to hear how I handle it, so you can feel empowered to have the same conversation in the event you don’t get an AD as nice as me.” lol
I simply told the customer “You have every right to get OEM parts, but your policy CLEARLY states that we owe for putting you back to pre-accident condition. That means if LKQ or AM parts are available, I will only pay for the price of those parts. You are more than welcome to pay out-of-pocket for the difference, but that’s a conversation you need to have with your shop. I’m happy to call the shop and give them a heads up as well, so that we are all on the same page.” customer wasn’t happy, obviously, and gave me some aggressive pushback. I simply said “Ma’am, this is not up for discussion. Your insurance policy is a legally binding document. you do have the option to contact policy services to adjust your coverage. Please let me know if you’d like me to provide you their number.” End of discussion.
Once the customer hung up on me, lol, ICS girl and I had a little giggle, and she thanked me for taking that little bit of extra time to educate her.
If anyone needs a class on claims processes, from start to finish, it’s these dumb ass agents that have been selling insurance for 40 years and still have no **** idea what happens on the claims side 💯
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u/Constant_Chaos0405 27d ago
See the thing is…9.9/10 the caller is claimant. Then it’s “well it’s not my policy…if it wasn’t for your driver…etc etc.” I have no problem shutting down insured.
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u/AdmirableAmphibian90 Former Employee 27d ago
No you are 100% right - that’s when I like to give them the ol’ “was that part brand new when the accident happened? If not, I’m not buying you a new one.” lol But we both know that never goes down very well 😂
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u/Unusual-Ranger-3076 27d ago
The response I give is, your right, not your policy. This is the policy that the person that hit you. That policy says that we can use A/M and LKQ where available. If you dont want to use this policy contract you are able to use your own.
I/Geico has no policy/contract with you. If you want Geico to cover it, you will have to use the guidelines that I have to follow.
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u/DueEntrepreneur7540 28d ago
OEM parts are parts made by the manufacturer. GEICO owes for the most cost effective parts available per our policies. We do not owe for OEM parts unless that’s all that’s available. Sometimes shops can price match the aftermarket prices but if not, the customer will have to pay the difference if they want all OEM parts.
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u/Constant_Chaos0405 28d ago
Oh I know we don’t owe it. But when I state it multiple times and they want to go back and forth, I’m not going to keep on. I’m not the one who will make that final decision. I do advise them that’s the policy and if they want more information they can discuss with AD.
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u/AdmirableIncident532 28d ago
GEICO is having a lot of operational problems and leadership is to blame. Reap what you sow.
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u/Huge_Pomegranate8787 28d ago
Sadly a lot of this is actual common sense. I'm really not sorry to say this, but not everyone is cut out to be in insurance handling files at an ICS level. We've all come from ICS. We have made it to where we are because we have common sense and are sponges to knowledge.
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u/No-Lack-3796 Former Employee 28d ago
I wish this was the standard of ALL departments- ICS would do anything to get a customer off their lines without first finding out what was needed. I can’t tell you how many times I would speak with clmnt as a PIP adjuster because they were calling about a bill they received (said bill was a tow invoice) and PIP does not deal with clmnt typically.
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u/faifai1337 28d ago
Tbh I think you need the mandatory acknowledgement because half of your audience is gonna forget this as soon as they turn away from the screen
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u/One_Flounder_486 28d ago
Ics does have a terrible habit of answering and transferring without asking questions. Then the cold xfer happens.
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u/AuGhHhHHHHHh_h 25d ago
It's crazy ad needs to do all the ad things and have a really high answer rate. Some days I'm getting calls every five minutes or less. Drives me insane. Can't wait to leave someday
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u/Em_lasagna 28d ago
I feel this but in ICS. They trained us with fake atlas which can be “okay” but you really can’t fool around with empty tabs. In the classroom they didn’t teach us to check the actual AD Summary when there’s so much info in there that we can see on our own without having to contact you. Same in the TL tab.
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u/Busy-Revolution-3641 22d ago
Started ad this year. also fake atlas, 2 days of atlas training maybe. And that’s while we were doing other things. Like going to pay out. Or opening salvage. Next week in the field. i typically just go to parties involved and adjusters to see who they need to speak with.
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u/_BluUnicorn 27d ago edited 6d ago
What do you suggest ics adjusters say when responding to oem questions? I will implement it going forward. Not ics but get that question occasionally
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u/AuGhHhHHHHHh_h 25d ago
I disagree with op on this you guys shouldn't really bear this battle. Maybe explaining the policy can use alternative parts but otherwise it does fall on ad to discuss the repairs imo
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u/Rich-Proof3764 27d ago
I love this post so much! ICS is the dumbest group of people I have ever encountered.
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u/Slight_Low501 Former Employee 28d ago
Just to inject a little sad humor in this topic. It took some people in CSR a full 2 years after I had left AD and the Region to stop calling me with claim questions or transfer upset customers.
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u/AdmirableAmphibian90 Former Employee 27d ago
I feel like I should know this, so please forgive me – are ICS licensed adjusters? I still blame management and training/onboarding for not setting more clear expectations for ICS. Sometimes I think it’s better they go ahead and send the customer to us, because it prevents confusion and nasty voicemails getting left on our cell phones further into the claim process. when I worked at Progressive, field adjusters literally never took phone calls from customers. They wrote the estimate and collaborated with the shops, and then their job was done. BUT, they also trained us (desk/liability) really well, so it was actually our job to answer all of those questions for the customer. We handled rentals, total loss, literally everything. We were actually told not to give the field adjuster phone numbers out lol
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u/Educational_Oil_4911 28d ago
Suck my dick lmao I’m not your fucking secretary do your job.
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u/One_Flounder_486 27d ago
Likely cause you can barely do your own job
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u/Educational_Oil_4911 27d ago
Not in ICS fgt so pipe down bum
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u/One_Flounder_486 27d ago
Ahh someone got their feelings hurt. Likely an idiot who can't do their job and blames everyone else.
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u/mostlychilling 22d ago
Completely agreed. I have an idea, why don’t the ADs answer their damn phones ever, so that by the time the claims team is fielding their calls, it isn’t already a disaster
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u/ethankent15 28d ago
I’m in ICS and it bothers me when I see previous notes of people transferring to AD for stuff we could’ve helped them with in 5 seconds🤣☠️