How is technology shaping the customer claims experience?
As the world increasingly becomes more data driven and more digitized, the impact of technology can be seen in even the smallest daily task. The insurance industry is no exception, and we are seeing technology enhance the way we interact with our customers and improve the experience when they make a claim.
Our customers have told us that speed, good communication, empathy and fairness are among the top attributes that set us apart. Driven by our global Brilliant Basics initiative, we’re using technology to unlock many opportunities that help further differentiate our offering along those lines.
One of the most exciting advancements in recent years has been the growth of virtual desktop adjusting, particularly in the property space for first party claims. By leveraging specialized smart phone apps, our claims professionals can direct a customer in real time to survey their property and take and upload pictures of the damaged areas to assist with an estimate. This capability has been especially useful during the COVID-19 pandemic and created a situation where much of our work can be done virtually.
In a real-life example, we recently saw a severe storm damage the exterior of a customer’s building. On the same day the customer reported the claim, we sent instructions on how to self-inspect the damage using a specialized 3D modeling app. The next day, the customer spent less than an hour to conduct the inspection and noted how easy it was. Using an independent vendor for an on-site inspection could have taken up to a week.
Importantly, we use technology to enhance, not distance, our engagement with customers.
Communication will always remain at the heart of claims service excellence, and technology can help us stay ahead of customers’ evolving expectations. Today, many of our customers in North America want to communicate via texting, so we recently added a service, TextQBE, that uses AI to initiate and carry out routine messages with these customers, while our claims team can jump in at any time for more empathetic and complex discussions. The reaction from customers has been excellent.
We also use technology to engage with customers even before a claim occurs. For instance, we work closely with our Loss Control and Catastrophe Modeling teams to identify customers in the path of a severe storm or wildfire. We can then leverage technology to send a warning to those customers with appropriate safety and claims reporting information.
We’ve also seen technology drive huge efficiency improvements in the workers’ compensation space. We have engaged services that use machine learning and can identify treatment providers that are more likely to deliver the best medical outcomes for our customers, based on their injury type and their geographic area. We then provide these insights to the injured workers, which can help them recover and get back to work faster.
Finally, as the last step of the claims process, we want to assess our performance. Here again, technology has helped us foster improvement. We recently launched an online survey platform, TellQBE, that uses a blend of technology, art, and behavioral science to empathetically respond to customers in real time based on their experience. As a result, we’re getting industry leading response rates and rich customer insights that allow us to continuously improve the claims experience.
These are just a few of the ways we are using technology to better manage the claims process as part of our Brilliant Basics effort, and as technology continues to evolve many new opportunities will arise. It’s both exciting and daunting. The challenge is staying on top of it all.
The secret we’ve found at QBE is to reinforce our internal capabilities with a robust ecosystem of outside service providers who are pioneers in the insurance space. All the innovations described above started with the engagement of an outside service provider, followed by a close and fast-paced working relationship to develop a proprietary solution.
We are constantly looking for new partners by attending conventions and expanding our networks. Furthermore, we hold our own Innovation Summits, in which we invite vendors to come and pitch their ideas to a cross-functional leadership team including claims, loss control, underwriting, procurement, and more. It’s been a great source of ideas and collaboration.
Technology has unlocked enormous potential and we’re very excited about the new possibilities for serving customers better, not just in claims, but at every point in their experience with QBE.
This article is for general informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal or professional advice, or a representation regarding the handling or coverage of any claim. Actual coverage is subject to the language of the policies as issued. The handling of a claim or loss depends on the specific facts and circumstances of the relevant claim or loss, as well as the applicable policy provisions.
