Summary:  Claims handling has come a long way, particularly in the past decade with almost continuous advancements in technology helping to shift the way claims are reported, managed and processed. As technology continues to make advancements and reduce inefficiencies in the process, let's take a look at whether these advancements have produced any savings for the industry and/or have resulted in increased customer satisfaction.

The Move to Digitization

Traditionally, insurance companies were organized into several distinct and separate operating functions: product and underwriting, sales/marketing, claims, finance and investment. Adding to the complexity, the property and casualty segment of the industry was further divided into personal auto and home, commercial auto, property and liability, specialty lines and workers' compensation. As such, the vast amount of information needed to enable digital transformation resided on a wide variety of separate platforms and storage systems.

Those insurers leading the efforts to digitization required vast amounts of capital and well-informed, visionary leadership committed to leading teams and managing staff through the disruptions, battles and costs to bring together all of the platforms and systems into an enterprise strategy. At the same time, digital transformation was continuing to emerge from Silicon Valley and beyond, further complicating the effort to design and implement an enterprise strategy. As carriers would incorporate a new technology into the enterprise, it would be superseded by a newer, better and more effective solution, and that process would continue over and over.