No customer wants to make an insurance claim, but if you have to, what you really want is to have the claim resolved immediately, and then move on as if it never happened.
In the past, the fastest way to get your claim resolved was to speak to someone. It might take a long phone call in the middle of the day, followed by completing forms and sending documentary evidence by email, waiting for someone to make a decision on whether the claim was covered, and repeat a few times whilst answering calls from people saying they’ve been asked to contact me but don’t have any information about my claim, so would I mind repeating myself? Unless I give up (and many do, or worse not even bother to start a process they paid an insurance premium for), the best I can hope for is for my claim to be settled in weeks, possibly months.
Strange then that insurers will point to surveys (asked once, after the claim has settled) saying that customers are satisfied with this service. Really? My gut tells me those surveys have been designed as simple tick-box exercises and sent after the claim has been settled and I’ve had time to calm down. Being an Englishman to a tee, I’m generous enough to rate the service as satisfactory if all the insurer did was pick up the phone when I happened to call, but ask me what I really think about the claims experience as a whole, and it’s probably the worst retail experience going. Be honest, can you think of any other sector that is worse than insurance? Ping me at hello@claimtechnology.co.uk.
Contrast this to my (non-insurance) claims experience where one of my recent Amazon orders failed to show-up. It was difficult to find, but when I did, the Amazon Chatbot knew which order I was concerned about, knew that delivery might be re-attempted tomorrow and then suggested I make contact the next day if the item still hadn’t arrived. When I contacted the chatbot the next day, it immediately offered to refund my card there and then as the missing item was no longer in stock and couldn’t be re-ordered. It took all of 60 seconds to resolve my claim and I didn’t speak to anyone. Bliss.
It’s unfortunate that insurers have dug themselves into a hole, pointing to satisfaction surveys as evidence that everyone wants to talk to them, and that somehow a digital claims solution and claims handlers are in competition with each other. It doesn’t need to be this way. Like Amazon, the fastest way to solve a claim is now using a combination of general automation technologies combined with industry-specific solutions designed to automate complex claims decisions (e.g. indemnity, liability, valuation, settlement). This is exactly what Claim Technology’s automation platform and insurtech marketplace is designed to offer, enabling insurers to create zero-touch claims experiences, but without prejudice to customers being able to choose to speak to you when they feel the need. Digital processes and claims handlers aren’t binary alternatives. Combining the two is the key to genuine customer satisfaction.
