How do we get humans completely out of the equation in high-risk processes ?” he asks .
“ This has translated to focusing on areas where people are involved in manipulating data , such as a process to transform it for a consumption by another system or downstream process , or to investigate exceptions .”
He says that , while strides have been made in presenting data integrity issues to users , the next step and where insurers are seeing significant interest is for machine learning technology to reduce repetitive tasks by suggesting or carrying out next steps automatically based on past actions by a user .
Martyn Mathews , Senior Director , Personal Lines , Insurance , UK and Ireland , LexisNexis Risk Solutions says the greatest strides have been made in the car insurance sector , where it ' s not wholly unlikely to expect the duration between opening a claim and receiving a payment to be as little as 30 minutes .
“ My customers talk to me about how we can pay a total loss claim in 30 minutes which seems quite fanciful and seems like a long way away . But actually the insurance market is on its way to doing that by using technology from the vehicle as well ,” he says .
“ And by 2030 all vehicles that leave the production line will have sufficient technology to be connected vehicles . The richness of data that ' s now available to insurance companies means they can automate and make faster decisions for the benefit of the customer .
Automation and profitability But whether the changeover has been challenging and or expensive , is a moot point when it comes to progress . The wave of automation within the insurance industry is unstoppable – and this is mainly because it makes companies more profitable in the foreseeable future . But Mathews says that ultimately , the desire to offer the customer the kind of service they are coming to expect is the driving force behind automation – and not profitability .
“ I think it ' s all intrinsically linked , but I don ' t think that profitability is the first thing thought of as a measure from an insurance company when they consider automation . Rather , from my experience , profitability is one of the outcomes , but this is mainly because automation leads to a better customer experience .
“ Good customer service leads to trust , which leads them to customer retention , which ultimately then can result in increased levels of profitability .”
“ Ultimately ,” says Mathews , “ legacy systems are cumbersome and can let the customer
“Insurance companies have massive troves of data managed by many legacy systems ”
CHRISTIAN NENTWICH , CEO , DUCO
68 July 2021