Membership

Membership to Arbitration Forums is FREE and offers numerous benefits

  • Resolution of disputes takes only a fraction of the time compared to litigation. The time it takes from filing your case to hearing your case is usually less than 90 days.
  • Dramatic reduction in legal cost/expense. There are no court costs or legal fees.
  • No membership fees. Arbitration Forums charges a minimum filing fee of $42.
  • An average of $38 is recovered for every dollar spent on filing fees.
  • Neutral panels of over 7,800 claims professionals. Arbitration Forums assures members of high-quality arbitration decisions by utilizing over 7,800 arbitrators.
  • A user-friendly process. Filing a case is a simple and user-friendly process.
  • Free training programs and materials available. Reference guides, online tutorials, and Webinars are offered to Arbitration Forums' members at no charge.
  • Over 80 years of experience. With over 80 years of experience in insurance-related dispute resolution and more than 1.2M cases processed annually, you are guaranteed a staff of knowledgeable people working for you.
  • A nationwide network of over 5,100 companies. Through the years, Arbitration Forums has established a membership of over 5,100 insurers and self-insured organizations.

Membership Qualifications

The services of Arbitration Forums, Inc. (AF) are available on a compulsory basis to all insurers, self-insured's, and commercial insured's with large retentions who have executed a signed agreement with AF.

All of AF's programs are designed with compulsory provisions requiring signatory members to forego the future litigation of disputes and have their differences settled within the applicable AF forum. The compulsory provisions specific to each of the forums are addressed in Article First of each of the agreements and addresses the requirement of signatories to bring disputes to arbitration.

Self-Insured Membership

Self-Insured companies are increasing their use of inter-company arbitration to increase subrogation recovery and are realizing some unique benefits: Increasing subrogation recovery and reducing costs.

Benefits of Arbitration for Self-Insureds
  • Resolution of disputes takes only a fraction of the time compared to litigation. The time it takes from filing to hearing is usually less than 90 days.
  • Dramatic reduction in legal cost/expense. There are no court costs, no legal fees and no membership fees — only a minimal filing fee.
  • Protection from litigation. Once an agreement is signed, all participating companies must forego litigation and use AF's arbitration process to resolve loss disputes related to each program.
  • Often low value subrogation claims are abandoned as their value does not justify the expense of litigation. The low costs of arbitration allows you to pursue all cases.
  • As signatories to AF's programs, more than 5,100 insurance companies and self-insured are required to arbitrate settlement. The result is a significant cut in the abandoned subrogation claim rate for self-insureds.
AF is currently working individually with self-insured members to determine what training tools are needed to help increase participation in arbitration programs.