Service Disruption: Next Stop for Claims - Paper - Page 4
Foreword:
Mark McDonald, Altus Consulting
Insurance has always had something of a love/hate relationship with the
most important aspect of what it does – the claims function. It is the moment
of truth for customer and insurer alike. The customer has put their faith and
trust in the insurer to pay their claim should the worst happen, and the insurer
undertakes its contract to honour that trust. Put simply, it’s the core purpose
of the insurance product.
However, the reality is that many insurers are still
trapped in a mindset that sees claims as a cost, a cost
that must be controlled to protect pro昀椀t.
In a world where service expectations are high and
trust in insurance is low, the insurance sector has
worked its way into an unenviable corner – the very
reason people buy the product is seen as a real and
continuous threat to the health of the balance sheet.
When an organisation looks at the moment its true
value is recognised as a cost that must be managed,
something has gone fundamentally wrong with the
claims process and the thinking around it.
Many insurers in the UK are awake to this problem
and are tackling it head on, putting all their e昀昀orts
(and their hopes) into a ‘digital transformation’ of
the claims function to improve e昀케ciency and the
customer experience. Everything from advanced
analytics and blockchain to chatbots and dedicated
apps are being used in an e昀昀ort to modernise the
claims process, create greater e昀케ciency and deliver
more customer satisfaction.
While some are building bespoke, in-house systems
to deliver this, most are putting their faith in the world
of technology, applying it in a discreet, speci昀椀c way,
tackling individual process issues without considering
the need for a wider, cohesive and strategic approach
to the claims management function. What has largely
happened to date is a slight modernisation of some
parts of the claims process that has generated so
much customer distrust to date.
So while many speak of transformation, few
are actually undertaking a genuine one. A true
transformation requires not just a change in the
kind of tools being used to power the process, but
a complete change in how insurers approach the
single most important aspect of what they do,
honouring the promise to pay.
The need for such a fundamental change in claims
is gathering momentum across the market but most
insurers are still looking to e昀昀ect this change from a
purely digital perspective. The temptation to do so is
understandable but to rely entirely upon technology
to create the necessary change is a mistake.
While technology undoubtedly has a crucial role
to play in transforming claims, it isn’t the only tool
available. Humans will always have the central role
to play in the claims process as they bring critical
thinking, intellectual and moral challenges and a
crucial empathy to play in the process that machines
will never be able to match.
Before any consideration is given to technology,
insurers must start from the ground up and map out
the process they want - from a satis昀椀ed customer
right the way back to the noti昀椀cation of their loss. It is
only by taking an engineering approach to the claims
process that insurers can hope to make the most of
the genuinely exciting technology that is available to
them today.
And it is only by taking that methodical, ground-up
approach that insurers can start to deliver the kind
of consistent, e昀케cient and service-driven claims
experience they know the customers of today and
tomorrow will demand.
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