Time becomes a precious commodity following a loss occurrence. The policyholder, insurer's first notice of loss reps, agents, adjusters, and repair firms must communicate and exchange accurate, clear information and data. Time becomes a precious commodity following a loss occurrence. The policyholder, insurer's first notice of loss reps, agents, adjusters, and repair firms must communicate and exchange accurate, clear information and data. (Photo: terovesalainen/Adobe Stock)

The insurer's handling of a claim can often turn into the moment of truth for the policyholder — prompting the policyholder to stay with the insurer or seek out competing offerings. The absence of a quality claims experience is the surest way to drive the policyholder to a competitor.

A low-friction engagement between the policyholder and the insurer that is underpinned by timely, transparent, and clear communications can facilitate future renewals. In providing this level of service, insurers can ensure insureds receive the personalization that will make them loyal customers for years to come.

Countering disjointed communications with personalized experiences

Time becomes a precious commodity following a loss occurrence. The policyholder, insurer's first notice of loss reps, agents, adjusters, and repair firms/shops must communicate and exchange accurate, clear information and data. In this stressful environment, communication between the various stakeholders is a challenge by any measure.

Fortunately, intelligent communications platforms in the cloud bring coherence and timeliness to the multi-stakeholder dialog. When integrated into an insurer's core system, an omni-party communication hub allows authorized claims stakeholders to communicate with each other in ways that lower friction and bring new meaning to the phrase "personalize the claims experience." Intelligent communication platforms offer noticeable improvements to claims performance.

Personalization via intelligent communication platforms

These platforms, when integrated with the insurer's core system, offer solutions that aim to personalize one or more engagements, such as sales, service, and claims between the policyholder and the insurer. Personalization can take various forms (as described below), and every stakeholder derives unique value relevant to the responsibilities held.

Offering value to claims stakeholders

  • Integration with insurer claims core system — integration via APIs allows supervisors and leaders at insurers to retrieve and view communications between a policyholder and other claims stakeholders, such as adjusters and claims agents at any time.
  • Text-based communication — connects all relevant claims stakeholders in a seamless connection.
  • Multi-channel, bi-directional communication — stakeholders can communicate over their channels of choice such as SMS, mobile apps, websites and others.
  • Multi-party — messages to targeted individuals or groups.
  • Insurance workflows — guide adjusters/claims agents on the next steps in the claims process.
  • Communication templates — claims agent/adjuster can use these as-is or they can be modified to communicate information accurately and empathetically to policyholders.
  • Automated message scheduling — the adjuster can trigger actions and share information at the right time.
  • Built-in compliance tools — opt-ins offer choice to policyholders and auto-generated transcripts offer claims supervisors rapid evaluation of claim information.
  • Dashboards, reports and KPIs — help insurance executives assess claims performance quickly and take remedial action.
  • Other value drivers — sentiment analysis, language translations, chatbots.

Benefits for adjusters and claims agents

  • Greater job satisfaction for adjusters and claims agents because of higher efficiency throughout the claims cycle.
  • Adjusters and claims agents can plan a more efficient workday with flexible scheduling of communications.
  • Claims leaders and supervisors can take quick action on claims issues with instant access to claims engagement history.

Technology provides the opportunity to work smarter and faster without losing personal interactions, and sometimes, it can even enhance the communication process, and clear communication is always a good thing.

Andy Yohn is the vice president of product management and co-founder of Duck Creek Technologies. Contact him at andrew.k.yohn@duckcreek.com. Opinions expressed are the author's.

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