Frequently Asked Questions about TRS®

PIP/Med Pay claims must be filed separately from a related Auto case.

No. As in Online Filing (OLF), the decision is binding, no new arguments can be raised post decision.

Yes. Simply click “Add Another Feature” in the Feature Workflow Step and complete the required information to add a feature for an additional injured party. Multiple parties can be added.

Yes, the revisit timeframe is still seven days.

No. In TRS, if a rebuttal is not entered within the seven day revisit timeframe, the case proceeds to hearing without any rebuttal and no new arguments can be raised post decision.

The applicability of the decision pertains to liability only; it does not pertain to damages. For this reason, if the Adverse party challenges the amount of the supplemental payment, or its relatedness/necessity as a result of accident-related injuries, the supplemental damages would then be in dispute, resulting in the need for another filing. Recovery of supplemental PIP/Med Pay payments is supported, as long as the supplemental payments were made after the initial filing date. 

You can file PIP, Med Pay, and Auto claims at any time. While PIP/Med Pay and Auto cases could previously be filed as companion claims in OLF, these cases will not be heard together in TRS. Liability Decisions from one of Coverage Groups can be attached as evidence on other cases. The evidence will be reviewed by the arbitrator during the hearing process as a matter of course.

Yes, you will still be able to accept limits within 60 days of the decision if, as the recovering party, you either did not answer the Accept Limits question or responded with “No.”

No. Per Rule 2-10, “For new Auto filings and TRS PIP and Medical Payments filings, a deferment request by any party will be granted. An adverse party may challenge the request if it believes the delay is not warranted. If challenged, an arbitrator will consider the validity of the deferment request. If the deferment  is allowed, the case will remain deferred for one year from the deferment request date. If the deferment is not allowed, the case will continue as not deferred.”

Yes. TRS does not allow submission of the decision if any evidence items remain unopened. An empty circle on the corner of the evidence icon indicates it has not been viewed. A check mark indicates it has been viewed

Yes. A case that is started, but not finished in the timeframe of five business days returns to the “Ready to Hear” queue to allow another arbitrator to hear it. This helps to support the overall reduced cycle time.

Yes. If you need to exit the case before completing it, simply click “Exit Workflow” in the upper right corner of the page and the work will be saved.

Yes. In the Coverage Information Workflow Step, there is a Policy Limits Note field that provides an opportunity to enter any statutory policy limit information.

No. Only New York PIP allows a payment ledger be sent to support payments made. All relevant evidence should be submitted to recover the damages sought in arbitration.

This is intended for arbitrator information. When the case is heard and policy limits are an issue, the arbitrator will need to determine if there’s any indication the filer’s insured has OOP expenses.
If the OOP expenses cause the award to the exceed the policy limits, they should mark the filing OOJ.

Yes, features can be withdrawn separately.

The functionality to support New York PIP disputes is not part of the initial rollout, but will be added in the future.

There is a file size limitation of 20 MB per upload for non-video evidence and 40 MB for video evidence. If you upload each evidence item individually, each upload may not exceed 20 MB or 40 MB, respectively. Adhering to this file size limitation ensures your evidence loads correctly and all documentation is accessible at the hearing.

It depends on the scenario. If the Responder indicated “No Liability Policy in Effect” or “Denial of Coverage” and they subsequently affirm coverage (i.e., change position), AF may discontinue the prior occurrence so the claim can be refiled. AF would require something from the Responder admitting they will now provide coverage (i.e., email you may have received).

No. However, each feature added will be reflected by the AF Feature ID found on the Case Overview page (i.e. F1, F2, etc.).

No, there will not be a warning, but there is a review page where they can verify whether their information is complete before they submit it.

You will transition one (either) to TRS and complete the process to submit the filing. Then transition the second to TRS. When you do so, you will be prompted that a case has already been created. Simply select the option to join the case.

You have options:

• Issue a demand for the supplement after the liability decision is received on the TRS filing. The adverse company may issue payment, based on the liability decision, if the supplement is not disputed.
• Submit the supplement in TRS. The initial liability decision will apply. The adverse company may only dispute the supplemental damages. NOTE: You can prepare the TRS submission for the supplement while waiting for the liability decision on the initial filing; however, you will not be able to actually submit the filing until the initial filing is heard.

NOTE: Supplemental damages can be submitted only if paid after the initial recovery filing was submitted and only if the liability decision on the initial filing allows for recovery.

A case will remain in “In Progress” status indefinitely. Should arbitration ultimately not be needed, we ask that these pending filings be closed.

Yes, you will be able to revisit the case to enter liability arguments regarding the new party. You will also need to update your admitted liability for the new party.

For security reasons, evidence is purged after 70 days of no activity. This includes “In Progress” filings, as well as filings that are heard.

Yes, if the recovering party on the existing case grants permission. If you attempt to submit a case and receive a Duplicate Case Check message, first review the information to determine if it matches the case you are trying to file. If it does, you can discontinue the case and request to join the new case. Simply click “Next” and the Discontinue Case Confirmation message appears. Click “Submit” to discontinue the in-progress filing, and if you are not already a party of the existing case, TRS will send a request to the recovering party for you to join the case. After the recovering party accepts, you will be able to continue to file your claim. Evidence that has been uploaded to the discontinued case will automatically transfer to the existing case you joined, and you will receive an email confirmation of the discontinued case.

Yes, if you initiated the filing, it may be withdrawn any time up to when the decision is published. NOTE: if the adverse party has filed its own feature damages, that filing’s status might immediately change to Ready to Hear; you will be unable to refile yo.ur feature damages if you need to.

If the request pertains to the loss date and/or state, AF Member Services will review the request and applicable submitted evidence and make the change(s) as supported. If the request pertains to the company selected as the responding party, the case will return to you as a Revisit, and you will have up to seven days to make the change. The sooner the change is made, the sooner the case can move to hearing.

The case will be placed for hearing by an arbitrator (assuming there are no additional parties that need to respond).

For wrong company change requests, the filing will be closed. The filing company would be free to refile against the correct company.

Rule 2-6 states, “only companion claims under the same coverage will be heard together and only when they are submitted together.” Therefore, features filed under different coverages, i.e., an auto collision feature and a PIP feature cannot be linked or heard together; they will be heard separately. If a prior liability decision for a coverage feature is submitted as evidence on another coverage feature, it will not be binding on the subsequent filing but may be considered by the arbitrator along with all of the submitted evidence.

Vehicle damages do typically arise from one or the other, not both. When both coverages are selected, the user will be prompted to add two features – one that was paid under Collision; one that was paid under Comprehensive/OTC. If damages for only one feature are being submitted, the user can return to the Coverages section workflow step and delete the incorrect coverage.

When you agree to accept policy limits, you are, in effect, agreeing to eliminate the excess exposure for the adverse party’s insured. However, if your insured has out-of-pocket expenses, he or she could initiate further action against the adverse party’s insured for reimbursement since those expenses are not included in the arbitration damages. For this reason, if it is confirmed that out-of-pocket expenses exist, the adverse party will require the recovering party to agree to reimburse its insured for his or her expenses, thereby eliminating any possibility of excess exposure on the part of the adverse party’s insured.

No, you will not lose your recovery rights. The liability decision will be binding, so the adverse company should reimburse you based on it. If it doesn’t pay the claim or it disputes your damages, you will be free to file arbitration in TRS since the claim was not concluded. If salvage is pending, you can enter your response information and indicate “Salvage Pending” under Company-Paid Damages. Last, since the liability decision will carry forward, the adverse company will only be able to dispute damages.

Depending on which revisit option the recovering party selected, the available revisit reasons are:

• Refute an exclusion you raised, if applicable
• Refute your damages arguments, if damages are disputed
• Change its answers to the policy limits acceptance questions, if policy limits is asserted
• Dispute your damages, if your response includes counter-damages

You cannot amend your liability arguments after you submit your filing or response. The only actions allowed after submission are under a revisit. Regarding evidence, you are able to upload additional evidence items into the Evidence Manager (at occurrence level); however, you cannot attach new evidence to your filing or response after you submit it.

Yes, one 15-day extension (calendar days) can be requested by a responding party, as long as the response due date has not passed. If the last day ends on a Sunday or an AF holiday, it will be pushed to the next working day. A fee is charged for the extension.

Thirty (30) calendar days. The countdown of 30 days can be interrupted for any of the below situations:
• Incident Change Request – Change of State or Loss Date
• Request to Remove Party
• Request to Disqualify (Does not expire – only an AF user can resolve)
Upon submission of one of the above requests, the due date is frozen and will resume after the request is processed or expires; a request will expire after seven days.

Any challenges to the deferment will be sent immediately to an arbitrator for a ruling. The arbitrator will determine if the deferment should end or be allowed to continue. If the arbitrator decides the deferment should end, the case will be heard immediately. For this reason, we recommend submitting a complete case with the deferment challenge.

The response time for a supplemental damages filing is seven days. It is shorter than the initial filing’s response time, since liability has already been decided, and the sole issue is the supplemental damages. As such, less time should be needed to respond. An extension is available if more time is needed.

Extensions are applied and charged on a coverage basis. Given the above scenario, the responding party would be allowed to request (and be charged for) an extension on the Collision coverage filing and/or PIP coverage filing.

Cases will remain on the Worklist for 70 days following the last activity. This applies to My Cases and My Company’s Cases. Cases on My Watched Cases will stay there until the user removes it.

The Worklist can be viewed two ways. You can view as cases or features. The Enter Response case action is viewable when you are in the Features view.

These are cases that have an action pending, i.e., Revisit, Request for Information, or Response Due.

Yes. The file size cannot exceed 40MB, and the acceptable file types are: .mov, .wmv, .avi, .mp4, and .vob. When submitting video evidence, you can either select “Video Evidence” as the Evidence Type and add a description, i.e., security camera or dash cam view of loss; or select an applicable Evidence Type such as Statement-Driver if the video is your driver’s account of the loss.

Evidence that has been uploaded must be attached to the case to be viewed by the arbitrator. Evidence is attached by selecting the “Attach Evidence” button found throughout the TRS platform, i.e., Liability Arguments, Exclusions, and Disputed Damages.

Evidence marked “viewable in E-Subro Hub will not automatically be viewable in a TRS arbitration filing.

Currently, cases will appear on your My Hearing Queue for five business days. The time to hear the case and submit your decision will be displayed in the Time Remaining column (Days; Hours; Minutes).

This is set by your AF arbitration manager based on your expected productivity. To ensure the best possible case cycle time, it is preferred that you pull an amount of cases that you can hear that day. This prevents cases that other arbitrators can hear from sitting in queue.

If you are set up as a TRS arbitrator, you will pull cases from the Ready to Hear queue when you are ready. On the My Hearing Queue page, simply select Get Case to Hear (in the upper right hand corner). A case that matches your arbitrator profile will be automatically assigned.

There are a few scenarios that would cause a case to be pulled from an arbitrator’s queue. An email notification is sent to the arbitrator advising that the case has been pulled.

Yes, your Arbitrator dashboard has a tab titled, “Submitted Decisions.” Decisions are stored here for two hours.

The liability percentage should be entered as 0% for each party since liability was unproven. The liability percent entries of 0% and 100% are only entered when a party has been proven to be 100% liable.

The time remaining (to hear the case) will pause until the inquiry is responded to; the time remaining will resume when the inquiry is closed. If you proceed to hear the case and submit your decision prior to receiving a response to your inquiry (i.e., you find your answer elsewhere), the arbitrator support inquiry will be automatically closed.

Simply, to accommodate arbitrator preference. An arbitrator can click on and view each piece of evidence individually or click “View all Evidence” in a particular section and scroll through the evidence submitted by a party in that section. Also, there are different areas for the arbitrator to review evidence. Evidence can be attached with an exclusion, liability arguments, or damages.

TRS is designed to provide a single liability decision that will be binding unto the named parties for any subsequent filings, i.e., counterclaims, under that coverage, currently limited to filings under the Automobile Subrogation Arbitration Forum (Auto Forum). For this reason, you will need to determine liability for each party as a recovering party.

Yes, Gamma can file to recover against Alpha and Beta.

Beta can file to recover its damages if they were paid after the initial filing. No, the arbitrator can’t render a different liability ruling; the decision from the initial filing between Alpha and Beta is res judicata.

Yes, the initial decision is only binding between Alpha and Beta.

One of TRS’s many benefits is that it streamlines work processes, including how a PostDecision Inquiry (PDI) is made. Rather than navigating to a linked form on AF’s website, TRS users submit a PDI directly from the case. To support prompt resolution of disputes, inquiries made after a decision are limited to specific time frames. TRS improves the PDI process by only allowing valid PDI options to appear; if an inquiry type is not available, it means the time frame to make that inquiry has expired. For more information, see Post-Decision Inquiries in TRS.

If the initial decision was voided because the claim was removed from jurisdiction, i.e., award exceeded policy limits, party not signatory, the supplement would also be outside of arbitration’s jurisdiction. For this reason, the supplement filing is closed.

The Award Pay Request is available at the Feature level under Decision Actions (See graphic below). NOTE: It is not available until 30 calendar days following the decision publication date.