Key considerations when digitizing accident management

As insurers work to eliminate every last inefficiency from the claims process and deliver a better policyholder experience, the ability to improve accident management, including dispatch, vehicle handling, storage, and reporting — while delivering shorter cycle time and reduced adjusting expense — presents a tremendous business opportunity.

Accident management is typically an expensive process, but digital and cloud strategies can improve efficiency and responsiveness. More importantly, digitization can enable insurers to remain nimble and agile, quickly and easily ramping up accident-related services, and allowing them to focus more effort on other aspects of the business.

When done right, digitization can save insurers millions of dollars in claims loss costs annually.

In short, digitizing the accident management process can significantly improve the auto claims life-cycle, delivering customer resolutions in days rather than weeks through an expedited tow process, dramatically reducing or eliminating the expense of storage and streamlining secondary tows for the insurer. The potential savings are dramatic: our research has found that digitization can deliver a potential $500-$800 in claims cost reduction. Digitization efforts further the impact of this loss cost reduction — driving ease of use, adherence and maximizing the utilization of the accident management program.

For those insurers looking to capitalize on this opportunity, here are five key features to consider:

No. 1: Cloud-based, digital-first design

Insurers looking to digitize accident management should start by ensuring any platform they select uses cloud-based, modern architecture and tools, allowing for omni-channel customer interaction, such as SMS messaging, and support for a digital-first strategy. A digital dashboard or REST API integrations can provide transparency to all authorized employees, allowing them to conduct self-service activities such as reporting, status checks, entering a new accident claim case, etc.

Other important features and functionality to look for include multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, GPS customer vehicle tracking, and publish/subscribe status notification.

The ability for agents to digitally request an accident tow, either a primary tow from the accident scene or a secondary tow from storage, will also greatly reduce reliance on oftentimes lengthy logistical calls with contact center agents.

No. 2: Tight integrations with existing applications

Providing employees with a streamlined experience that allows them to stay in the company’s native ecosystem of claims applications as much as possible is ideal. Decision makers should look for platforms with open APIs that can integrate with existing claims platforms, such Guidewire Claims Center, for example, enabling agents to send requests for cases directly from within their current environment. By enabling agents to request and collect claims data as part of their standard workflow, they can then push that transaction to the accident management solution far more easily.

Absent this level of integration, claims professionals would first have to add the case details into their portal or dashboard, and then again in the accident management solution (or make a phone call to their accident management partner). By staying within their own environment to initiate the digital workflow, however, insurers eliminate duplicate data entry and further reduce the need for time-intensive phone calls. Our research has found this workflow digitization alone can potentially save up to 24 call center minutes per claims case.

No. 3: Crash detection and notification assistance

Rapid FNOL and quick emergency dispatch are an increasing focus for insurers. A solution that enables seamless integrations with major embedded telematics, connected vehicle and crash detection solutions is increasingly critical in allowing for the rapid intake of accident notification and crash information and swift initiation of post-accident emergency notifications and safety protocols. In tandem, an important post-accident safety protocol to look for in a solution is one that offers highly trained emergency assistance associates who can both contact the driver to provide support and dispatch rescue and tow services, as well as dispatch out to 911. These capabilities not only offer policyholders peace of mind but create efficiencies in starting the claims and vehicle handling process, avoiding further cycle time, loss cost, and expense caused by delays.

No. 4: Vehicle handling and storage expertise

Negotiating the release of a vehicle from a storage lot requires significant knowledge about local regulations, processes and market rates. An often-overlooked element of accident management digitization that insurers should consider is the system’s augmentation by a dedicated team of agents — armed with robust data — that are experienced at identifying opportunities to negotiate and decrease vehicle storage fees. These agents should be able to manage every aspect of the release process, including reducing checkpoint and approval calls, conducting cost-trend analysis, handling payments directly with the storage yard, and managing tow-out service.

By minimizing vehicle storage times and reducing administrative fees and other unnecessary costs (such as rentals and advance charges) throughout the entire vehicle recovery lifecycle, an ideal accident management solution should get vehicles back to policyholders more quickly, thus improving customer satisfaction. In fact, a digitized offering with proven protocols should be able to facilitate the fast and efficient release and transport of a stored vehicle from impound to preferred repair facility or other location. The right systems should facilitate release in just one day, compared to the industry average of days to weeks.

No. 5: Fast digital deployment

One final key function of digitizing accident management is giving insurers the ability to pilot digital transactions before committing to integration with existing claims management systems. The advantage here is the ability to get up and running immediately, resulting in a faster turnaround time to get programs into the market. Moreover, departments in larger organizations — such as subrogation — that need accident claims records but do not have internal claims system access permissions could immediately deploy and begin using the new system, as appropriate.

The accident claims process can be a significant moment of truth for any insurer, which is why so much time, resources and attention is focused on wringing out inefficiencies in the process to resolve policyholder claims more quickly. Accident management represents a significant portion of the cost and time invested in that claims process. Those insurers looking to digitize accident management are the companies that stand to reap the benefits of saving time, frustration and money.

Mubbin Rabbani (ageroconnect@agero.com) is senior director of Product Management, Accident Management, at Agero. He is Agero’s business owner for the Accident Management product offering, responsible for delivering innovative solutions that address critical financial levers in the auto claims value chain. He comes from a P&C background, and is passionate about the intersection of process, technology and organizational enablement of the claims experience.

Also by this contributor: Simplifying accident scene management complexity to drive down claims costs