Three ways the insurance industry can use technology to stay ahead – Global Banking And Finance Review

Jay Chitnis, Senior Business Consultant at Endava, shows how the insurance industry can embrace the technology used by others to put customer experience first.

Insurance is a necessity, not a luxury. Whether it’s for our car, pet, home or holiday, it’s something we have to have — in some cases by law — and for that reason, it’s an industry that doesn’t always have the best reputation or relationship with its customers. We feel obligated in order to buy cover, rather than a desire to possess it, and it often feels like an one-way transaction — especially considering it’s something we usually hope we never have got to use.

That’s not helped by the fact that the industry has stayed somewhat stagnant when it comes to meeting client needs, compared to industries around this. Legacy technology is still the norm, meaning the customer experience is usually lagging behind when it comes to documentation processing, payments and claims. In order to remain current and to improve the relationship with its clients, the insurance industry needs to consider how deploying the right technology could help in order to revolutionise its processes. The fact is, there are plenty of other sectors out there offering the latest technologies and features for insurance coverage to take inspiration from which put the consumer experience at the forefront. Here are just three ways in which the industry can do the particular same:

1. Easier obligations

The retail industry has pushed forward in improving payments and in particular, by embedding payment options right into the shopping experience. Giving people options like Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) and integrating services such as Apple plus Google Pay has made it easy to complete a transaction without ever leaving the particular page or even mobile app. Making this process easy and straightforward not only encourages customers to spend more easily with your brand, the simplicity also improves customer satisfaction, builds brand loyalty and encourages them to return.  

If insurance policy took motivation from this particular and embedded payments into their flow, it would not only make buying their insurance policies easier, but might also create for a quicker, smoother claims process. Getting the particular right solutions in place is key, so hiring a Head of Payments to handle implementation plus management associated with payments could be an option for insurance plan businesses.

2. Go virtual

While the full possibilities and potential of the metaverse remain to be seen, virtual plus extended reality systems are usually creating huge opportunities across a range of industrial sectors. Whether you look to art galleries, providing people in-person experiences from the comfort of their own homes, or estate agents offering virtual house tours during the pandemic — car companies have even been able to “build” a car in digital reality, having engineers through all over the world working on designs for a prototype without actually leaving their particular homes.

VR technologies can simplify working process within insurance for both insurers and claimants. From the get-go, items could be assessed for value using virtual modelling because digital twins, and within the event associated with a claim, damage could be assessed virtually as well. This would be particularly useful in the event of a breakdown of expensive machinery in the hard-to-reach place. Rather than carrying out a physical inspection at great cost and risk delaying the statements process, an assessor can do it practically, cutting down the particular time in order to claim. It would furthermore mean that repairs could be planned virtually before contractors are engaged, shortening a potentially lengthy procedure.    

3. Bring insurance to the customer

We possess very quickly got used to getting everything all of us want in one seamless transaction, thanks to embedded experiences. Now, whenever we buy online we don’t expect in order to have to go to a list of different websites to book, pay, add extras and everything in between. That means whenever we are usually booking a holiday, we often prefer to use a site that allows us in order to book the flight, hotel and hire a car all in one.

This provides the smoother plus more convenient customer encounter. It also increases the likelihood of a customer adding extra services on top. By sneaking in insurance in the point associated with sale — right when you’re buying a car, phone or dog — it takes away the particular precarious step of leaving the customer to go and find this for themselves. Not to mention the richer data sets this provides to insurance companies, for deeper analysis in to buying trends and promises down the particular line.  

While the insurance business has shown plenty of willing in taking technology styles on board and ensuring the right systems are in location, there is a lot more it can do to truly get ahead. In order to change perceptions and make customer relationships that last, it requirements to prove it is genuinely a customer-centric industry. Using technology such as the examples above to put the client experience 1st, will go a long way to ensuring it succeeds in getting ahead.