A policy needs to be in place to ensure all reported claims are dealt with, and should at least include:

• A procedure for reporting complaints.
• A description of how complaints will be dealt with:
  • Corrective actions to be taken for specific problems (can refer to other policies)
  • How complaints will be prioritized, taking into consideration other routine maintenance and inspections.
  • Never ignore a complaint.
• A procedure for documenting complaints and corrective measures (including the reason for not taking action if that is the case).
• How the municipality will take action to correct or take all other reasonable steps to prevent a loss as a result of the reported problem. 

Step 1 Procedures for reporting claims to AMSC

• If a reported incident will likely result in a claim, report the claim to AMSC.
• If you receive a Statement of Claim from an injured party, submit it to AMSC immediately, because the AMSC has a very limited period of time in which to respond to the Statement of Claim.
• If applicable, AMSC will provide a Proof of Loss form that is to be completed.
• Maintain documentation of all monetary costs related to the claim (repair work, hospital bills, lost income, etc.

Step 2 Recovering money from responsible parties

Step 3 Procedures for how municipal employees should deal with incidents

• Employees should report the facts only and make no judgments on liability.
• Representatives of the municipality should be instructed to never admit liability on behalf of the municipality after an incident. An admission of liability could result in the automatic assignment of liability upon the municipality, even if another party is actually legally liable for the incident/accident.

Step 4 Deal with the Complaint

Once a complaint has been reported:

1. Ensure an accident/incident report is completed. The report helps to
1. Establish a defense for claims that may be presented years after the incident.
2. Serve as the basis for analyzing the causes of accidents/incidents and for recommending risk improvements to prevent recurrences.
3. Facilitate the charging of costs back to the responsible department.
4. Identify weaknesses in the current risk management policies and procedures and may prevent more serious losses from occurring.
2. Incident/accident reports should at minimum include:
   1. How the incident was discovered
   2. Who is reporting the incident
   3. Basic description of incident (what happened, where it occurred, when it occurred, etc.)
   4. Description of property damage and/or bodily injuries
   5. Names and contact information of people involved
   6. Names and contact information of any employees involved and other witnesses.
   7. If possible, photographs of damage (to evaluate ways to prevent recurrences and in case a claim arises) See Sample Incident Report2
3. File a notice of loss. It is a form/statement from an insured to an insurer, informing the insurer that events leading to a possible claim have occurred. The notice must be submitted to the insurer with a specified period of time determined by the insurer. The notice of loss should include the following information:
   1. How the loss took place
   2. The date and time of occurrence
   3. Where the incident occurred
4. File a notice of claim (if the loss is higher than your deductible). A notice of claim should be filed to allow investigation on the validity of the claim and to settle legitimate claims. 
5. A notice of claim should at a minimum include:

1. Date of accident
2. Date of claim
3. Time of accident
4. Location of accident
5. Identity of the person(s) injured
6. Type of injury or damage
7. Witness(es) to accident
8. How accident occurred
9. Amount of damages (actual or estimates)

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