(Part 2 of our “Claims in 2030” series)
Last week we started an exploration of what the property insurance claims departments might look like in 12 years from today with the help of PWC’s Claims Workforce of the Future: 2030 report. This series discusses the possibilities of what the future of the claims industry might hold, we showcased how Symbility has already started on our journey to this vision of the future with examples of how some companies are already using our technology to achieve these advancements. If you haven’t read part one of this series, you can do that here now.
We’ve pulled out a few more of the key predictions that PWC has made about what the claims industry will look like in the year 2030 to share, analyze, and explore how they’re already coming to fruition:
FNOL:
One of the key areas that automation will continue to vastly grow is in the FNOL stage of the claims process. We’ve seen carriers today exploring ways to make this process more quick, accurate, and easy for policyholders. PWC believes that “by 2030 this will have progressed to having the majority of FNOLs being automated. The process will have improved too, with better data being captured up-front which informs the rest of the handling process.”
FNOL is the most important step in a claim as it kicks off the entire process and dictates how everything after it should proceed. Finding ways to automate this process so that it can be done extremely accurately but also with minimal effort, while still servicing the policyholder carefully, is a priority for carriers. The more that can be done up front will absolutely make it easier throughout the entire process until resolution or settlement is achieved. The trick lies in finding ways to do more at that critical stage, while also decreasing the time and effort involved to do it.
Symbility sees this happening now with carriers making use of data and technology partners that can easily access databases securely to provide information about properties or that can use tech to quickly gather the necessary information. Some types of data that we see currently being used include underwriting data, real estate data that can be tapped into, weather data, and existing aerial imagery. With this type of information at hand inside staff can quickly disseminate it to the people that need it most. We’re also seeing a large shift to carriers exploring virtual adjusting solutions that would allow frontline staff to gather more information about a claim without having to send adjusters out into the field. Symbility is exploring tools that allow policyholders to self-report claim information through the use of mobile applications (but we’ll tell you more about that at a later date).
Claims Adjusting:
As we noted above, the ability to easily capture and share data needed for a claim through third-party technology and data vendors is something that we at Symbility enable, because carriers rely heavily on them to make their processes more efficient. PWC does not see this trend slowing down at all. Instead, they see it expanding to do more and in easier ways. They say that “12 years worth of improved, targeted data capture will mean that more elements of claims can be processed without claims handlers’ intervention through improved business logic.”
This means that technologies that carriers use today to assess claims will just get better and easier to use as we move forward. And as this part of the claim becomes more automated, it will allow carriers to put more focus on other aspects of the claim like “allowing for more time to be invested in the customer experience.”
The team at PWC goes on to affirm that the road we’ve started heading down here at Symbility in terms of making integrations with third-party partners as easy as possible is the right direction forward. They say “Vendors and third parties’ systems will be more integrated with insurers systems, not only increasing the speed of resolving claims but improving the experience for the customer.”
Claim Resolution:
Digital payments as settlement for a claim is already becoming more common. Everytime that a carrier needs to cut a physical check and mail it out, it costs them significant money and costs the policyholder time and frustration in receiving the money they need to make proper repairs. PWC says:
“In 2030, most claims payments will be received quickly and with little to no intervention being required by a claims handler or finance team. Claimants (or third parties) will receive payments direct to their account, with enhanced fraud checks being in-built into the process.”
While some carriers have already embraced digital settlements, there is a good chance that many more will follow suit long before 12 years down the road in 2030. While digital payments themselves won’t be much of an advancement, when bound into the larger ecosystem that is becoming automated, they will play a beneficial role. Soon, policyholders will be able to take advantage of all the automated process that carriers put in place to submit a claim, have it assessed and adjusted digitally without needing someone on site, and then paid out all within a few hours. Or maybe even minutes.
Imagine being able to go through the entire claim process within minutes of FNOL!
This is where PWC sees the industry headed, and thankfully this is also how Symbility has seen it as well. We’ve spent the last 12 years helping to bring the property claims industry into the world of digital and we plan on using the next 12 to continuously improve on what we’ve already started. Symbility’s goal is to develop technology to make the process faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more efficient for everyone. This report from PWC just reaffirms that our goal is still the right one to strive for.
Now that we know we’re headed in the right direction from a technology standpoint, part 3 of this series will look at what all these advances and changes are going to mean for the claims workforce of 2030.
Come back next week to find out!