Altus Insurance whitepaper spreads - Flipbook - Page 33
A new approach to the claims supply chain.
Claims suppliers play a key role in the insurer’s
ful昀椀lment of the promise to put the customer back
in the position they were in before the loss. Their
service is as important as that of the insurer, but this
supply chain is o昀琀en complex, with multiple preferred
suppliers recruited to provide replacement items,
provide repair services or to oversee and manage
this activity.
Loss adjusters play a key role in property claims,
providing the expertise to assess damage, the scale
and the likely works needed to reinstate a property
and as discussed in the previous chapter, they will
o昀琀en manage claims above a certain threshold under
delegated authority. Similarly, there may be third
party suppliers who are responsible for the project
management side of construction, with either the
insurer or the loss adjuster engaged to approve works.
This approach is likely to work for a proportion
of claims, but the question insurers need to ask
themselves is whether the overall model is optimised,
both for the customer and from an e昀케ciency and
pro昀椀tability perspective.
Can the structure be flattened, such that the endcontractors engaged to carry out the repairs can
obtain approval through an insurer-managed
mechanism? This may require di昀昀erent contractors,
and potentially additional in-house expertise, but it
would also be a route to removing potential areas
of friction.
For insurers who choose to make self-serve central
to a new model, opening up the insurer platform to
all suppliers will help to provide the customer with a
greater sense of control in the process. For example,
they could see and potentially decide when works are
scheduled to take place, by whom and when they are
expected to 昀椀nish.
This approach not only removes friction by reducing
the number of update requests from customers,
suppliers and the insurer, it gives the claims function
a new level of visibility, allowing each party to
proactively step in, when necessary, to ensure the
claim is managed and delivered in the optimal way for
the customer.
Perhaps more than technology and process, this
vision of claims requires insurers to take a signi昀椀cant
step outside of their comfort zone, allowing suppliers
and customers alike, to access the deepest recesses
of the claims process. But if they can do that in a way
that works for all parties, signi昀椀cant rewards are there
for the taking.
“When you look at the current
model for home claims,
there are some fundamental
challenges. Builders really need
to be integrated into insurers’
processes, because delays in
communication and payments
can leader to disa昀昀ected
suppliers and ultimately
more friction and stress for
customers.”
Head of home claims,
personal lines insurer
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