The one thing you need to know about claims in 2020
This year is when the 'future of claims' becomes a reality.
I’ve been working in claims for a long time. I’ve listened to countless pitches about automating the claims process. Attended untold sessions about creating end-to-end digital experiences. Heard the promises about the claims innovations to come. After all this time, here’s what I’ve learned: Everyone is engaged in a digital transformation. They’re working to maximize the ROI on their digital assets. They’re building digital experiences designed to engage consumers, who expect the same level of polish, simplicity, and ease as they get with Amazon, Starbucks, and Google. The problem has been making it real.
2020 is going to make it real.
But before we get to how, let’s run through three key areas that will unlock claims automation, deliver improved operating results, and create a better customer experience.
1. Collect enough data
The first area is perhaps the most fundamental: collect enough of the right data to fuel the future of claims. The problem has always been where to get the data. Connected cars have enormous potential, but the average age of vehicles on the road is 11-plus years. It will take time before connected vehicle technology is available in large numbers.
Data exchanges, with their connected car and hardware data, face the same problem — not enough crash data (and not enough scale).
What about smartphones? Smartphones have shown great promise for collecting claims data; they remove friction from nearly every step in the process. There are no shipping logistics to consider, no hardware costs to factor in, no wonky consumer experiences to dance around. Here’s a good use case to consider: In the past few weeks, TrueMotion launched a consumer app called Openroad that detects severe crashes and gets people help from emergency services. Even though the program just started, we’ve already detected crashes and sent emergency services to people. Thankfully, they were ok.
The peace of mind a product like Openroad can give an insurer’s policyholders is tremendous. It helps carriers deliver on the core promise made to policyholders: Be there for them in their time of need, get them back on their feet quickly, and help them protect what is most valuable to them: life.
If you’ve been following the developments of UBI and telematics over the past few years, these data trends will look familiar. Hardware helped prove that UBI works for insurers and consumers. But hardware doesn’t scale easily. Connected cars have a ton of potential; we will see more of them over the next 5-10 years. Until then, smartphones are a great option to deliver peace of mind through better digital experiences that scale to millions of drivers.
2. Drive digital adoption
The second area is digital transformation. The carriers that provide more compelling value propositions for customers to download and engage with their core app will deliver more ROI on digital investments and accelerate digital adoption. These effects will unlock a multitude of downstream benefits for claims organizations and the customer.
But getting people to download apps today can be hard without a strong value-driven experience. UBI apps provide a clear value: download this app and save up to 30% on your auto insurance. Insurers’ core apps have valuable features like being able to pay your bill, get your insurance card or contact your agent, but they lack that must-have feature. This limits digital adoption.
3. Unlock automation
The third area is to unlock more automation in claims and increase the percentage of claims that are processed straight-thru with fewer touches per claim. The holy grail is to start with the crash experience and end with the adjuster accessing that data — to focus more on delivering empathy, setting expectations that help the customer get what they need faster and more efficiently.
But getting there is hard. The app experience needs to be exceptional, with minimal friction for the user. The data pipes need to connect to the insurer’s systems to give access to the adjusters. The adjusters need a portal where they can get accident notifications and review crash reports, so they know what happened in a crash even before they call the customer.
The future arrives in 2020
2020 is when these three goals stop being the “future of claims” — they become real.
The tech is ready and available today. Smartphone crash detection is live in-market, protecting thousands of people. And it’s not just apps like TrueMotion’s Openroad. Insurers will use this same technology to offer crash detection services to their customers on their core apps. They’ll make crash detection available to millions of drivers and save lives in the process. Insurance will transform from a service that customers think about once a year to a relationship where an insurer could save their life and the lives of their friends and family.
With a must-have feature like crash detection on core insurance apps, digital adoption will accelerate, digital engagement will improve, and more automated end-to-end processes will become the norm. Consumers will submit their claims through their insurer’s app. Adjusters will get the claims data on the backend and focus on helping the customer in a time of need.
2020 is the year all this starts to happen at scale — when we make it real. And we finally deliver on the promises the industry has been making for years.
Cornelius Young is vice president of claims at TrueMotion, where he leads the strategic planning, development, and deployment of the company’s claims solutions. Prior to TrueMotion, he spent more than a decade with Liberty Mutual Insurance in leadership roles, most recently as the VP and manager of auto claims product and analytics. The opinions expressed here are the author’s own.
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