Stanley Steemer

A Clean Sweep with Liability Savings

Overview

Stanley Steemer employs more than 2,300 associates to provide residential and commercial carpet and upholstery cleaning in 48 states. The company has been in business since 1947 and includes 54 company-owned branches and 250 independently-owned franchises nationwide.

Connection with CorVel

In 2015, Stanley Steemer expanded their partnership with CorVel to include workers’ compensation and general liability claims administration after being impressed with CorVel as a partner for case management.

Little Things Can Make a Difference

Typically, minor property damage issues were not reported as claims and were instead resolved by friendly Stanley Steemer cleaning technicians and management before they left the customer’s home. For example, if a doorstop was accidentally damaged during a cleaning service, the operational management team and/or cleaning technician would retrieve a new doorstop from a hardware store and install it before completing the work. Although customers were appreciative, Stanley Steemer wanted to prevent the accidents from occurring at all and also needed their technicians to move on to the next job for productivity purposes. Together with CorVel, they developed a stratified approach to processing property damage claims.

Allowing for Stanley Steemer to expand their water restoration business opportunities and to maximize productivity of the cleaning technicians’ time, CorVel set up a system in which all of these events were recorded, coded and then resolved to minimize incurred costs and maximize efficiency. By reducing the ancillary activities associated with these claims, the operational managers could spend more time supplementing technician training with on-the-job mentoring, therefore helping to prevent future accidents.

In addition, CorVel’s adjusters spent time in the field becoming experts on Stanley Steemer’s services to better understand their business. The Adjusters were trained on core cleaning services, but additional services as well such as color sealing, tile and grout, and hardwood cleaning.

More Claims, More Savings

During the first year of their liability partnership, Stanley Steemer saw significant results in their liability claims. Even though they added over 350 previously unrecorded claims to their book of business, Stanley Steemer’s average incurred remained flat and even decreased. And despite their claims nearly doubling, their average incurred costs dropped nearly 40%. This success is attributed to transferring claims management to CorVel and implementing a fast track program, which also significantly reduced the risk of claims spiraling out of control.

In addition, by developing a new process for property damage events, Stanley Steemer was able to return over $100,000 in unused claim funds back to sites leading to increased buy-in and a mutual understanding on the company’s strategy for effective claims management.

Future Plans, Future Success

Going forward, Stanley Steemer looks to expand their program and educate their staff based on the outcomes their program has yielded. Equipping field techs with custom online intake and pre-inspection forms to submit via their mobile devices is an upcoming enhancement for the program. Stanley Steemer also looks forward to further developing their fast track program as well as to continuing to positively affect outcomes.

Partnering with CorVel allowed Stanley Steemer’s outstanding associates to focus its operational efforts on maintaining and improving core cleaning skill sets. By spending less time on doorstops, now CorVel’s responsibility, Stanley Steemer could dedicate more time to delivering quality customer service, ultimately a win-win for both their business and their customers.

Stanley Steemer is proud to be the first carpet cleaning service certified asthma and allergy friendly.