How is technology streamlining the claims process at your company and, in your opinion, in the industry as a whole?
Ken Tolson, Crawford & Co.: The most significant impact that technology has is that it shortens the lifespan of a claim—everything from contact to inspection to settlement time frames. It makes information more readily available to those who need it, including field adjusters, managers, and clients. And it makes the claims process very transparent. The client has the ability to track progress on a claim; they can walk along the process with the adjuster. With better, more available data, we can escalate issues much more quickly and make sure we are meeting our clients' performance requirements. This is not unique to us; it's happening everywhere in the industry.
Are certain technologies becoming more crucial than others? Can you quantify gains in terms of percentages or other figures (efficiency, productivity, cost savings, accuracy, etc.)?
Tolson: Our clients are always looking for faster and more efficient ways to adjust claims, and mobile and tablet technologies are becoming crucial to meeting those needs. We are piloting those technologies in our field operations to determine how to integrate them into our current processes. However, it's too early for us to quantify gains at this time.
Are these technologies changing the way adjusters do their jobs? Are adjusters focusing their attention/time on different tasks as a result?
Tolson: When it comes to technology, the adjusting role started to change when we shifted from doing our work on paper to using claims systems. Mobile applications will continue that trend, and adjusters definitely spend more time entering data than they used to. However, their essential role as an interface between an incident and the ultimate resolution of it remains the same. Technology is not a replacement for the understanding of the insurance process; it's just an enabler.
Is the role of the adjuster changing with your company? Are there issues the industry needs to face concerning the quality and experience of adjusters?
Tolson: The industry as a whole is dealing with the serious issue of senior adjuster retirements, the difficulty of passing along expertise, and recruiting new adjusters into the profession. Mentoring plays a larger role today than ever before in that process, and so does technology. For example, our KMC On Demand product offers capabilities that allow companies to collect searchable information into a database, so new adjusters can tap into the knowledge of experienced adjusters.
Technology also enables us to handle the lowest-severity claims in a much more efficient manner. Adjusters of the future will need to be much better qualified and educated to handle larger, more complex claims, and we're focused on providing more educational opportunities for them.
Has there been a fundamental shift in regard to the value insurers attach to mobile technologies or the way in which these tools are used?
Tolson: Judging by our experience with insurers, they clearly understand that mobile technologies both for field staff as well as the end consumer are critical. They are interested in keeping their clients informed and making them a contributor, as opposed to a bystander, in the adjusting process, and that is a big shift in the business.
Do mobile technologies affect case assignment, including FNOL, location, and routing? How so? Is it a conduit between various departments within the company or other liaisons?
Tolson: Mobile technologies affect case assignment in a number of ways. They allow you to pinpoint the location of your people resources and assign cases accordingly. They also give you the ability to accept cases both from the consumer and the insurer. And they give you information about the consumer you're dealing with. A person who wants deal with a claim through email or their mobile application is different from someone who wants to hear from you on the telephone. This population is very adept with technology and accepting of the self-service environment and is rapidly growing. I believe we're seeing just the beginning of the self-service market in the claims business.
What kind of feedback do you receive concerning customer satisfaction with the claims process?
Tolson: By and large, our customers are most interested in reducing time in process while at the same time producing high-quality outcomes.
Do you monitor social media in terms of customer satisfaction? What steps can you take—if any—to deal with unfavorable publicity about a claim?
Tolson: We do monitor social media regularly and have established a protocol to evaluate postings to determine whether we might want to comment on a post or start a dialogue with an insured individual.
How satisfied are you with your claims administration system? What areas work best?
Tolson: Our claims system meets current needs, but I believe an organization that says they are satisfied with their system is in danger of becoming obsolete. Good claims administration systems are forever-evolving, and we devote a tremendous amount of resources to continual enhancements based on feedback from all users. There are always going to be new developments to adopt, such as mobile applications. If your claims system is static and you don't have a process in place to keep it updated, you're in trouble.
What inroads are you making in the area of self service for claimants?
Tolson: We are building our mobile infrastructure to support self-service applications, but as I said before, we are in the pilot phase of developing those capabilities.
How often do you reexamine your processes to determine their quality? Any examples of changes you have made recently?
Tolson: We meet with our business units and client advisory council regularly to discuss our quality programs, talk about what and how we measure and make sure we are looking at the areas that are most important to our clients. Sometimes the meetings result in minor tweaks to our processes, and at other times we might need to make a major change to processes if our clients' needs have changed.
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