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Professional Claims Managers, Inc.

Key line served: professional and general liability

Dallas-based Professional Claims Managers, Inc. (PCM), got its start in 1986 as a one-man shop, focused on providing quality services for London market programs. Nearly a quarter-century later, the organization, part of U.S. Risk, has a staff of 30—including 18 claim professionals, specializing in all lines of professional and general liability, along with property and related areas.

While many companies say their people are their competitive advantage, PCM can prove it. “One thing I always stress is the quality of our individuals,” says Brian Hobbs, president. “Our staff is comprised of attorneys who have significant backgrounds in litigation work or coverage work, either for a firm or in-house. They’ve decided this is the type of career they want.”

This background helps the company better manage and control litigation. “It’s not a group of people with limited experience, just getting started or just getting their feet wet in the industry,” Hobbs adds. “Our staff has years of experience handling and addressing claims. They know how to evaluate coverage issues and work with complex losses, how to talk to judges and claimant attorneys, how to direct and control defense counsel. Those are critical aspects of effective claim handling.”

The professional lines specialties the company serves run the gambit and include health care liability (including nursing homes and long-term care facilities); miscellaneous professional and general liability (insurance agents, title agents, real estate agents, home inspectors, etc.); architects and engineers; employment practices liability; law enforcement; and public officials liability—just to name a few. One niche that stands out is private detention liability—for-profit prisons. “Two of the three largest companies doing private detention work in the U.S. are our clients,” Hobbs notes. “It’s a very specialized area.”

Hobbs says the firm’s efficiency and proactive handling bring value to program administrators and other customers. “We make sound recommendations,” he notes, “and we keep clients well informed.” PCM can operate with limited oversight, if desired, or has the ability to seek the client’s consent on all aspects of handling strategy and claim resolution.

“We are extremely flexible in our ability to shape and mold our handling of any particular program to suit that client’s needs,” Hobbs adds. “That has been a big benefit and it’s one of the reasons we’ve been very successful, not only in the London market, but also in the specialty areas that we handle.”

For instance, some clients prefer taking a relatively hard-line stance. Other clients take a different approach and are prone to compromise early, where appropriate. “We are able to get in there and evaluate things very quickly and provide timely information to our clients, so they can make good decisions,” Hobbs notes.

It’s enjoyable work for the entire PCM staff, including Hobbs. “I like the challenge that comes with managing specialty lines programs and especially the type of litigation we see when working with these types of programs,” he explains. “It doesn’t get mundane. There are always new things—new types of losses, for instance. It’s gratifying to be able to use flexible strategies and differing approaches in trying to resolve problems and help our clients meet their program goals.”

PCM values its Target Markets Program Administrators Association (TMPAA) membership—something it has held for a number of years. “It gives us an opportunity to showcase our program, especially our program administration handling skills, to those entities that participate within the target markets industry,” Hobbs explains.

“We are very well suited for program administration work, based on our structure, our size, and our ability to be flexible and handle a variety of programs,” he adds. “We’re able to effectively help TMPAA participants maximize the results of any program they get into by helping them control costs on claims, resolve things in a timely manner, and make good business decisions.”