The journey of a product’s warranty starts with the manufacturer and ends with a satisfied customer. It’s a huge system, and managing it efficiently is key! That’s where a great warranty management system comes in, especially in the service industry. It’s the essential tool that automatically tracks products or services still under warranty and helps you properly validate and process claims for reimbursement.
Did you know that handling millions of consumer claims from thousands of vendors is much more complex and expensive than managing claims from just one or two Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)? ServiceWorks is designed to tackle this complexity head-on!
What ServiceWorks Can Do for Your Warranty Claims
The ServiceWorks warranty claims management system offers a robust set of features to make the entire process smooth and accurate:
- Easy Entry: It allows for the online entry of new Work Orders for claimable products or services.
- Seamless Integration: You can easily import existing work orders from other third-party service systems.
- Smart Processing: It verifies claims, and then reviews and processes them using comprehensive warranty business rules and detailed device history.
- Dealer Empowerment: It allows dealers to create, edit, and process various types of claims for items, parts, or services covered by a warranty.
For manufacturers who regularly process claims filed by their servicers, ServiceWorks is truly a game-changer. It features a complete Warranty Claim creation module that can be perfectly tailored to your specific needs. By properly tracking, adjudicating, and paying the right claims for the right amount, you can save significant costs and streamline your entire submission process.
Why Servicers Love Warranty Claim Management Software
Servicers need the right tools to ensure they’re paid correctly and quickly. A smart warranty claim management system helps by:
- Accurate Classification: Precisely classifying claims into logical categories to reflect their true nature.
- Cost Guidance: Providing an early orientation on approximate repair costs.
- Coverage Control: Maintaining tight control over what is and isn’t included in the warranty coverage.
- Smart Scheduling: Easily identifying the closest and most efficient service personnel for the job.
- Performance Tracking: Monitoring and adjudicating servicer performance, creating a valuable record for future reference.
- Reporting: Storing all payment information for easy report generation.
Understanding the Basic Warranty Process Flow
A warranty claim is typically made when a product is being repaired or a part is found to be defective, especially for products owned by customers and under an active warranty. The servicer performing the repair is the one who files the claim. An investigator will then examine the warranty and, if approved, reimburse the servicer for labor, materials, and/or sublet costs.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the typical workflow:
- Contact: The Product Owner contacts the Servicer for repair or investigation.
- Assessment: The Servicer determines if the part defect is covered under warranty.
- Filing: If valid, the Servicer files the warranty claim.
- Review: Warranty Assessors may review the claim for accuracy and compliance.
- Decision: The claim is either approved or rejected.
- Reimbursement: If approved, the claim is processed through the finance department, and the Servicer is reimbursed.
- Record: The Servicer notes the payment received from the warranty claim.
Warranty Claim Management in ServiceWorks:
- Config Setup : Before anything else make sure your Create Claimable Job is checked in the module visibility of Job Settings. If this setting is not turned on you will not be able to create claimable jobs.
- Create New Work Order: At first a new Work order or job is generated by entering the general details about the part and reason to service the product. The Work Orders can also flow in from Service Bench and Service Power.
- Define Warranty Claim : Now, after entering the general data, claim type should be defined by checking the Product as Claimable. You can’t add more than one claimable product in one work order. Please create a new work order for another claimable product.
- Define Claim Pricing: In the next step claim value must be defined. Every warranty claim should have a pricing structure to determine how much value to be reimbursed to Servicer when part is to be repaired within warranty period promised by the company. The item/part and Service can be marked as Billable to Distributor, OEM or Claim Processor. While setting up Claim Processor in the configuration you can chose to Submit Part Pricing or Cost as part of the warranty.
- Deductible: After completing step third, define the copay or deductible that is Billable to Customer and will not be covered by warranty. Select an other charge called Copay / Deductible and make sure it is billable to Customer. This charge will be invoiced to the customer and will attach to the claim as deductible.
- Documents Uploading: Add an image or pdf of the Product’s proof of Purchase while creating work order.
- Labor Code: Enter labor code in your Service Items as these are based on different action done on those claims. These codes can be set in the PriceList in your configuration.
- Enter Internal Comment : Servicers may add any comment regarding the claim that will be visible only to admin in the Trip Note Section.
- Claim Submission: Prior to submitting the claims the work order has to be in Delivered state and all Items going for warranty needs to be delivered. When the job or work order is completed the Claim is available for submission under Jobs->Warranty Claims. Select the claim you want to submit and select the Action button and choose the appropriate method of submission. Service Bench claims can be automatically submitted, Service Power claims can be downloaded and others can be manually submitted.
- Print Warranty Invoice: Submitting a claim will change the Claim status to Submitted. At this time you can click on the three dot action menu in the claim row to generate warranty invoice, to sent it to the processor if you want.
- Receive Payments from Warranty: After claim submission and your claim is approved, you will receive payments from the warranty company. You can go to Accounting -> Warranty Claim Receivable and enter the payment you received. This grid gives you a snapshot of all vendors having due payments. You can filter the Vendors and open the appropriate vendor from whom you are receiving the payment.
You can see the Part, Labor and Deductible are listed by Invoice or Job number. Select the checkbox for respective items and enter payment information.
You may have received payment via ACH, Cash, Check or Parts Credit. Track the details and add the meaningful reference number. Save the payment detail. All the previous due amounts will drop off and only the ones you need to still collect payment will remain. This
This completes the warranty process.
