Changing Customer Expectations

The insurance industry is at an inflection point. It must lead the digital transformation in delivery of services and new customer value or it risks leaving the door open to disruption by more digitally native companies.

A study among 750 US and Canadian auto, home or technology insurance customers who filed a claim in the past 12 months* reveals that insurance companies have an opportunity to improve customer engagement. Only 51% of people surveyed indicated that they are “very satisfied” with their insurance company, with Millennials only 44% indicating they are “very satisfied.” Even more worrisome is that only 53% of Millennials are “very likely to renew” and once gone, it may be challenging to get them back.

Furthermore, the claim process, shows deeper frustration with almost half of the respondents (47%) agreeing that they were not “very satisfied” with their last claim process. Many of those dissatisfied, (43%) said their dissatisfaction stems from the claim process not meeting their expectations of speed or transparency. Despite the importance of speedy resolutions, only 18% of claims were resolved within 1-2 days, with 32% taking more than 1 week for resolution.

The Digital Evolution is Underway

Technology is changing the way companies engage with their customers across every industry, driving more real-time interactions, multi-channel conversations, and the need for faster resolution. This can be seen in innovations like in-vehicle telematics that better capture driver risk, or end-user apps that put more information at the end customer's finger tips, or fully digital onboarding processes for new customers. These are all examples of utilizing technology to engage with consumers, to achieve better and faster results.

The data shows us that the claims process is critical to a great customer experience, so there is an opportunity to improve it through technology. And consumers are already comfortable with using digital means to contact their insurance company for a claim, outside of just calling.

72% customers feel comfortable using smart devices to gather info needed during the claim process
77% feel comfortable using the company's app to make or track their claim
Faster claim resolution within the critical 1st week (72% vs. 64% for those that just called)

Taking the Lead from Social

It is often good to look at other industries for perspective on the evolution in technology trends and much can be learned from consumer trends in social networks. Users today prefer the rich and real-time interaction of video that started on Vine and has grown to Facebook Live and Snapchat video. Consumers are accustomed to sharing, and consuming, information via a video feed which opens the door to a much richer level of interaction.

This can be seen in action through a project at Endsleigh, the UK's leading provider of insurance for students, graduates, and young professionals. Just as the research showed, they have found that one area of priority for customers is the time taken to settle genuine claims. The validating and settling of claims is cumbersome and often requires the customer to send in photos or receipt evidence to a Loss Adjuster.

The team at Endsleigh wanted a faster and more immediate process for addressing customer claims. They leveraged Rescue Lens by LogMeIn to provide an interactive video session between a claims handler and the customer. Endsleigh could settle certain low-value claims at First Notification of Loss, a 'one touch & settle' process, and securely capturing evidence required to validate claims. This significantly speeds up their process as fewer visits are needed to customers' homes.

Utilizing a product like Rescue Lens has proved a real win-win for both Endsleigh, and more importantly, the end customer. As Simon Powell Claims Operations Manager for Endsleigh states, “Rescue Lens is a really smart but simple piece of technology that claims handlers like and customers are happy to use as they can process their claims immediately without delays.”

There is further good news for those insurance companies that lead this digital transformation. The study found that customers are more than willing to pay more to insurance companies that offer solutions that make the claim process easier and speeds up time to resolution:

52% of people would be willing to pay more for faster claim resolution
More than half would be willing to pay more for one-call resolution
62% of Millennials would be willing to pay more for faster resolution

The market is telling us it is ready for live video engagement, the question is who will be the leaders in this transformation?

Special Reports /

Leveraging Broader Video Trends for Improving Customer Satisfaction

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