Future proof: what does it mean and how do we achieve it?

Wimpie van der Merwe (CEO, Global Choices and Claim Central Africa)

Deepening insights, reinventing process and reshaping services

Future proofing is a term that has been in circulation for many years. It is the conscious act of anticipating what could happen in the future and developing processes to minimise the negative impact of these predicted events. So how do we, as an industry, go about ensuring we are future proof?

To start with, insurance companies need to optimise their agility and efficiency. This means being equipped to face anticipated and unanticipated competitive moves using innovative technologies. This will most probably call for a total re-evaluation of your existing business models.

Insurers need to understand their customers better – independently and holistically – and always have a single view of their interactions and risk journeys.

There’s no doubt that insurers are committed to becoming more agile and quicker to react. Sadly, however, they often fall short because they tend to implement once-off initiatives in siloed units, ignoring the bigger picture. Gains from siloed efforts are generally disappointing and unsustainable.

Agility optimisation requires focus in the following areas:

●       Organisational agility – empowering frontline staff with multi-disciplinary skills for robust performance

●       Product agility – delivering new customised products efficiently and in a flexible manner

●       Process agility – responding rapidly with the conceptualisation, design and deployment of new products and services

●       Technological agility – responding quickly to business needs by using modern and modular digital and technical architecture

●       Data agility – accessing data whenever and wherever it is needed

Next-generation operational models require design thinking across the business to improve client experiences, delivered cost effectively.

Reshaping the customer experience

Insurtech is creating new pathways that challenge the traditional insurance customer experience. In this digital world, consumers expect simple and efficient, 24/7 access to online information on insurance products, including comparative pricing and options. Most insurance companies fall short of these expectations.

It’s important to remember that risk events do not keep office hours. Although technology is always on, people – who remain a key component of the value chain – need daily downtime. This presents a challenge for insurers, who now need to be available at any time of the day or night.

Digital insurance solutions must be seamless, from policy underwriting through onboarding and into the claim stage. To attract customers and keep them loyal, your insurance business needs to deliver flawless, mobile-friendly, automated digital interactions.

In a seamlessly connected economy, continuous business success requires digital optimisation. Silo optimisation alone is slow suicide.

I believe there are a number of ways insurance companies can ensure they stay on top of the frenetic pace of change in this new era of risk:

●       Adapt business and operating models to simultaneously support both cost-efficient, standard risk management and a knowledge-intensive, consultative interaction with clients.

●       Expand information and data-gathering networks to better anticipate and understand the new and emerging risks facing clients.

●       Get better at digitally collecting, integrating, analysing and communicating data to create actionable or proactive insights.

Reimagining and accommodating new expectations

Today’s insurance customer demands efficient and intuitive digital experiences and mobile journeys. Forms, for example, are everywhere in insurance. I believe the time has come to reimagine traditional forms by introducing interactive and mobile-friendly experiences, such as on-demand confirmation and other communications. This requires multi-channel support that, for example, enables customers to initiate and pause enrolment processes across all their digital devices, among other conveniences.

Consider the surging wave of millennial customers. Their expectations for social media, mobile devices and cloud channels from insurers will only grow as they transition from being a student, to single adult, to dual income and no children, to new parents, and so on. They will be among the fiercest critics of those insurance companies that do not adopt new models incorporating social media and mobile access to their insurance information. These models would allow them to connect, interact, buy and switch at will.

Risk mitigation wins

The common objective of all parties involved in insurance is the management and pricing of risk. No legitimate stakeholders in the insurance mix want claims against policies. To differentiate an offering in the industry, the ability and experience to advise clients on how to reduce risk is vital. Better prepared clients naturally mitigate a good portion of their own risk and enjoy enhanced peace of mind, which translates into brand loyalty.

Live visual engagement

Implementing a live-stream video solution that enables visual insurance claims has also emerged as a solution that can revolutionise the way insurance claims are processed and resolved. Customers can now transmit images and videos of their claims to contact centre agents for immediate incident assessment and case management.

Visuals have always been an important component of processing a claim. In most cases, a representative from the insurance company – such as an agent, assessor or adjustor –has to visit a site to collect visual evidence to solidify the company’s decisions. Digital visual claim support is revolutionising this process by enabling agents to access the full visual picture in real time without requiring them to leave their desks.

This results in a significantly shorter and more straightforward claims process. Shorter, because visual claims eliminate the requirement for a site visit and the lengthy back-and-forth email communication with the customer. More straightforward, because the adjustor has immediate access to real-time and objective visual information that, while perhaps temporary, may be critical to the case.

This information includes factors such as road conditions, position of the vehicle, damage to third-party objects and other telling pieces of relevant information. Any captured data can then be used at a later date to expedite and resolve disagreements when necessary. All this data is recorded and stored with date and time stamps and, critically, geolocation data records. All data is retained for a minimum of seven years or downloadable to legacy systems into the claim file if necessary.

The visual claim process itself is quick and easy. The adjustor simply establishes a live video connection with the customer (no app download required) in order to easily review and visually communicate through augmented reality tools.

For example, a customer whose car has been damaged in a road accident can show an insurance agent the location, cause and extent of the damage during a live call. Alternatively, in situations that are not time sensitive, a customer can choose the time-flexible option of uploading images and videos of the damage for rapid, accurate assessment without the need for costly field work.

 The advantages of visual insurance claims include:

●       Real-time validation and more accurate appraisals

●       Expedited claim settlements 

●       Increased levels of customer satisfaction 

●       Greater adjustor efficiency – reduced time in the field lowers overhead

●       Reduced fraud with secure, live video

The need to go digital is as vital as ever. Companies that cling to the traditional will soon be left behind. Differentiation will be tied to knowing your customers and how to facilitate their risk. Insurance companies must balance today’s operational cost with the investments they need to innovate differently in the future.

[END]