So what can claims managers do?

Tech-based solutions

They can turn to modern, technology-based solutions.

Instead of relying on the same old cost-cutting methods (e.g., trying to reduce vendor fees, cutting corners and asking staff to do more with less), they can adopt modern technology that lets them unify the claims process by integrating all its vital components into one platform. Adjusters now have a wealth of data at their fingertips, allowing them to settle claims faster and more accurately. In turn, this helps them deliver better customer experiences — experiences that will encourage more customers to renew their policies.

Adopting the new platforms will require claims managers to adopt a different mindset, one that focuses on measurable, long-term outcomes instead of short-term “phantom savings.”

Caveat: Tech solutions must be intelligently applied

Although new technologies can improve both the accuracy and efficiency of adjusters, it's important to realize that the technologies themselves are not a panacea. In fact, dispatching them as cost-cutting cure-alls can produce truly disastrous results.

For example, some auto insurers are aggressively using self-service mobile apps in ways that are completely inappropriate for this method of inspection (MOI). (The apps allow vehicle owners to take their own photos of vehicle damage. Estimates are then written in-house or by an outsourced vendor.) Self-service and photo estimating solutions have their place, but using them without regard to accident severity or claim facts is guaranteed to produce bad results. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that some insurers have been drowned by tidal waves of supplements after writing almost every damage estimate from vehicle owners' photos. This is an example of why technology must be intelligently applied given the inherent inaccuracies of a photo estimate beyond simple niche type losses.

Sooner or later, every claims manager will need to embrace a modern unified claims platform. By integrating systems such as ACD's AutoLink®, auto insurers gain the ability to intelligently dispatch and route claims efficiently. Through easy-to-use modern technology, ACD is able to connect clients with the proper MOI for each claim to achieve the best outcome — every time.

It is the intelligent application of these visionary platforms that makes them such powerful cost-containment tools. And unlike the quick fixes of yesteryear, their benefits are immediate and long lasting.

Ernie Bray is the CEO of ACD.