File and document management in Kenya: – Recently, we published an article demonstrating our thorough understanding of what the banking industry expects of its third-party document management partners.

If you would like to read that article, you can access it here.

In that previous paper, we presented the lessons we have learnt as records managers for the banking sector. The various banks that comprise this major sector of Kenya’s industry are some of our largest clients.

Kenya’s economy grows at a rate that far exceeds many of our neighbouring countries here in East Africa. Much of that economic growth is fuelled by the loans provided by Kenya’s banks.

The activity of these banks produces a huge amount of paperwork. We, at the Filing Room, have been storing and managing this paperwork for the last 25 years.

The insurance industry is just as important to the continued growth of Kenya’s economy. Where banking ignites the fire of economic growth, insurance protects and stabilises it.

All of the Filing Room’s clients receive the best possible third-party records management service this country can provide. Our service understands efficiency and efficacy above all else. It is based on well-rehearsed retrieval and storage protocols. And it can call on the most modern technology developed for document storage.

The service we provide for the insurance industry is further improved by the passion we have for the protection of this industry.

We understand the influence the insurance industry has on Kenyan enterprise. Without the insurance sector, Kenya’s growth would not inspire the same confidence as it does today. As a collection of businesspeople, and as Kenyans, we appreciate what the insurance industry has done for this country.

As such, we strive to ensure that the storage of the insurance industry’s paperwork is as streamlined and effective a process as can be.

Records management for the insurance industry

Kenya’s insurance providers are, by nature, cautious. It is a hallmark of the industry. In keeping with this well-developed habit, the insurance industry’s most successful practitioners keep their records for as long as is appropriate. It is therefore very important that third-party records management companies which store records for insurers understand and take precedence from this caution.

Many insurance providers here in Kenya do not destroy any of their records. Every piece of paperwork may one day prove instrumental in the proper consideration of a claim.

As a result, our clients in the industry expect stable security and the ability to maintain it for a long time. The Filing Room takes pride in its protection and security measures.

Our warehouses are well protected with 24hr physical and camera surveillance. They are also regularly fumigated against the insect life that is so prevalent in this country. Each of our warehouses is outfitted with the latest in dry-powder fire prevention sprinklers. Even if we were, against all odds, to suffer a fire, our sprinklers would extinguish it with minimal damage to the paper records stored with us.

Frequently retrieved policy records and how we manage them

Medical insurance policies and, to a lesser extent, life insurance policy documents tend to be retrieved and updated frequently. With greater frequency than General (home, motor, shipping, etc) insurance does.

At the Filing Room, we use O’Neil’s RS-SQL Records Centre Software. It is the best software currently designed for speedy and efficient document retrieval. With our barcode-based FILE tracking, which we provide for all our clients, we can find each file as and when it is needed with the utmost speed.

Before storage we will barcode each box, and give the files contained in this box a unique number identifier. Then, when a specific file is needed for the assessment of, say, a medical insurance claim, we simply need the identifier or the name of the file to locate it. Our system will locate the file quickly and without fuss.

As we take a specific file from the box, we then put a barcode on it before sending it to our client’s office. As the files are returned to us for document storage, we use the barcode to ensure each file is organised appropriately.

If you want some more information on our box and file inventorying process, please have a read of this article.

Motor insurance policies

Motor insurance policies tend to require less frequent access. They are only necessary in the unfortunate event of an accident. They are, however, required swiftly when they are called for.

Our O’Neil’s system is just as well suited to doing this as it is to the frequent access of life and medical insurance records.

We know also that motor insurance dossiers tend to grow with each new development for the insurance owner. We understand this particularity and organise our records to allow for this year-on-year growth for each dossier.

This level of forethought ensures that the records kept on each individual insurance owner remain organised no matter how much the dossier grows. It is this attitude that defines the Filing Room’s unique understanding of this industry. It was what proves our aptitude to the task.

If you are an executive at one of Kenya’s insurance firms, and you want more information on how we can tailor our service to your needs, do not hesitate to get in contact.