Enabling touchless claims since 2020

“Low-touch and no-touch experiences are an up-and-coming differentiator for WOW factor customer experiences,” according to The World Insurance Report 2021. 

In fact, delays in claims handling is the second most common complaint among customers of the top 10 insurance companies in the United States, according to complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. People complained more about delays in processing than about having a claim denied altogether. 

Delays can be drastically reduced and even eliminated by automated claims. Accordingly, faster claims settlement was one of the main benefits people pointed out in describing the advantages of automation.in the 2021 Future of Claims Study by LexisNexis.

On that basis, LexisNexis offers insurers three pointers for boosting customer satisfaction:

1. Reduce the amount of time it takes to file a claim.
2. Reduce the number of touchpoints in the claims process.
3. Improve technology with more user-friendly features. 

You get three out of three when you implement STP, which speeds up transaction processing by streamlining data sharing across multiple points without the need for any manual intervention. It benefits everyone involved in claims – insurers, their customers, and the repairers. 

STP makes it possible to achieve true efficiency at scale, accelerating the claims process for more customers. This results in an efficient process with more consistent business results that diminishes the main cause of dissatisfied customers – extended periods of uncertainty. 

STP for efficiency and better use of human resources

All insurers deal with a variety of claims, some more complex than others. While adjusters have to manually review all of them, they still have to devote a good chunk of their days to processing low-damage claims (often called fender-benders) that could be easily automated. 

For insurers who integrate an advanced AI solution like Tractable’s, though, it becomes possible to achieve STP to manges these types of claims at scale. They can then become truly touchless or involve only the single touch of the initial call placed by the policyholder at FNOL. 

When the adjusters no longer have to devote so many hours of their day to these simple claims, they can draw on their more advanced skills and focus on processing more complex and higher-dollar claims, which can increase productivity by 30%.

How Tractable made STP a reality in 2020

That kind of sophisticated AI was beyond the reach of insurtech until just over a year ago. That’s when insurers who worked with Tractable’s advanced AI were able to start to see STP put to the test with real claims. Since then, Tractable’s AI has generated thousands of touchless estimates around the world. Tractable’s AI is being used for estimating by major insurers in the US, Japan, UK, Spain and Italy to name a few.

Per Pablo Mellado, Claims Service Manager, Admiral Seguros, attests to having achieved the promise of STP already in the fall of 2020 through a partnership with Tractable: 

“With the right combination of the right technologies, and the right partners, it’s not an expectation – I would say it’s a reality – to have real-time claims settlements.” 

He confirmed, “For fender benders, it can be done within minutes.”

“Our focus is on quick payments,” Mellado explained. To tackle “those small fender-benders” through automation, the key was to “cut down processing to different small pieces” and then tying them together by working with the right partner.

From virtual to touchless

Mellado described Tractable’s role in the process. When the customers put in the claim, they get a link on their smartphones that they click to get guidance for capturing the photos of damage on their phones. 

This kind of activation convenience for customers is becoming the norm rather than the exception. According to the LexisNexis report, over 50% of carriers interviewed offer their customers aText/SMS solution at FNOL to initiate a claim and upload photos. However, that kind of digital activation does not necessarily translate into truly touchless claims. 

For many carriers, digital imagery is only used for reference by an adjuster to carry out a virtual claim without having to see car damage in person. In contrast, a touchless claim allows an insurer using Tractable’s products to process claims with no human intervention from FNOL through approval and even payment, particularly for undisputed cash settlements. 

That’s what Tractable’s solution makes possible. It applies AI to assess the damage on the spot.

“Tractable does the damage estimation for us,” Mellado said. As a result of the seamless integration, with Tractable’s AI, “We see the estimate in almost real time.”

Thanks to having selected “the right partner,” he added, both the insurer and their customers enjoy a “very smooth” experience.

Looking back and looking forward

Tractable’s CEO, Alex Dalyac, has described the journey to full automation in this way: “Every AI has an automation journey from heavy manual QA to 100% automation. We know how to travel all the way down to 100%, as illustrated by the 10,000s of cars we appraise every day at 100% automation with AI.”

It is by following this proven path to automation that Tractable has been able to achieve true touchless claims back in 2020 and is set to scale that up in the next couple of years. Whereas the insurance industry is expected to achieve full automation for 50% of claims not involving injury only by 2025, according to LexisNexis, Tractable is on track to arrive at that point by the end of this year, according to Dalyac. 

“The next goal for the company is to get all AI Estimating customers to 90% touchless automation by the end of next year,” Dalyac added. That would mean that Tractable would have arrived at a point in 2022 far ahead of what is expected for others in 2025.

If you’re interested in how Tractable and STP can help your business, request a demo here.

Further reading: STP is the claim experience policy holders expect