Brian Bilinovich with girlfriend Katie King
Brian Bilinovich ’14 started as an Inside Property Claims Representative with Westfield Insurance on Dec. 1, processing claims with the help of vendors like Servpro.
He says that his Sociology-Criminology degree from the College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio University has helped him. He does a a fair amount of investigating, just in a different area than law enforcement, which is an easy direction to see for the major, but not the only one.
When he receives a claim from a customer, for example, for a ring that was stolen out of the house, he has steps to go through to be able to pay the claim. First, he reviews what policies the customer has in order to pay the most he can in order to bring them back to previous to loss condition. Then he contacts the customer to get the story of what happened and record a statement for reference later on in the claim process.
After he has all of the information, he contacts his vendor who, in this case would specialize in jewelry, in order to get a fair value on the stolen item. He also reviews previous claims filed by this customer. Most of the time everything goes as planned and the customer receives payment.
“To put things in the simplest terms, I am their contract with a check book. I review what policies they have and if they have a loss I gather the resources I need and pay or deny the claim. This may seem like a short and easy process but claims can be closed within a week or can last for months, ” Bilinovich says.
What he likes most about this job is helping people.
“Most people are having the worst day of their lives on the day they submit a claim,” he explains. “They lost their wedding ring they’ve had for 35 years. Their whole house burned to the ground. Their basement flooded and all of the baby pictures that they had stored are now ruined. My job is to bring people back to their pre-loss condition, as much as is possible. I bring them back to whole again, as close as can be done financially.”
Aside from the job itself, Bilinovich describes Westfield as one of the best companies he has heard of. The culture there is a family atmosphere, which makes going to work each day especially enjoyable. The company supports a work life balance and healthy lifestyles. Bilinovich says they have even had nutritionists come in to talk about healthy eating – and he gets a monthly allowance for a work out facility.
Before he started his new job, he completed Westfield’s Graduate Development Program, which is their six-month training at their home office – and was paid to attend the classes.
“I truly am thankful for where I am. I’m currently living in Columbus, which I’d highly recommend for active people. There are endless things to do or eat”
When Bilinovich is not at work, he is usually doing something outside. He recently picked up cycling and plans to compete in a Half Ironman next fall. He also enjoys backpacking with friends in the National Forests and National Parks around the United States.
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