Automation in Insurance Industry. Why Insurance Software Is So Important?

In the past, the insurance industry was slow and error-prone, which led to insurance customers dissatisfaction due to long claims processes and poor risk assessment. Automation has become the game changer in the insurance sector operating model by increasing efficiency, eliminating repetitive tasks and minimizing human error. 

Automation in the insurance business applies across multiple areas.

• Reducing manual interventions
• Improving data handling accuracy
• Increasing customer delight
• Moving from old ways of working to digital workflows

By embracing this technology, the insurance industry is set for big progress and innovation ahead.

Benefits of Automation in Insurance Industry

Implementing automation in insurance companies gives you a combination of benefits that includes increased efficiency, better customer experience and cost savings. 

Together, these change the operating model for agencies so they can refine their business processes and offer better service to those who buy insurance.

Increased Operational Efficiency

Automation allows insurance professionals to focus on more complex tasks by automating the simple ones, so overall efficiency improves. By 2030, AI-powered automation could boost productivity in insurance processes and reduce operational expenses by as much as 40%.

Some benefits of automation in insurance include:

• Eliminate manual data entry and get real-time information flowing through workflow automation insurance software.
• Analyze large volumes of data quickly with AI powered analytics.
• Make decisions faster with right insurance software solutions.

Robotic process automation (RPA) can:

• Provide audit trails.
• Process analytics.
• Faster customer response times.
• Reduced operational costs.

Better Customer Experience

Intelligent automation is changing the customer experience in insurance. AI-powered chatbots using natural language processing are answering customer queries quickly with immediate feedback and reducing the need for call center employees.

Automation has also improved personalization across the customer journey with insurers including during the onboarding process. 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems - insurance software - are now being connected to workflow automation platforms so customers have a single view of their data. This allows insurers to proactively contact customers with follow-ups, communication tracking, automatic notifications and custom messages about claim updates policy renewals and other important communications.

Mobile-friendly insurance solutions are making customers’ lives easier by giving them access to policy and manage claims information from anywhere on their devices.

The Insurance Software Help Cost Savings

Cost reduction is a big benefit of automation in insurance companies. By automating repetitive tasks and data entry insurers can reduce operational costs. 

One life insurance company reported saving 132,000 hours annually by automating 460 tasks across the company.

Automation means big cost benefits so insurers can grow sustainably in a competitive market.

Plus automation reduces errors and improves data security so insurers can:

• Save time and resources
• Focus on value-added activities and strategic initiatives
• Bottom line
• Future-proof themselves in a changing market.

Automation Use Cases in Insurance Operations

There are some automation use cases in insurance operations, particularly in claims, underwriting and policy management. These examples show how automation can transform processes by making them more efficient, accurate and customer-centric.

We will look at these in more detail.

Claims Processing Automation

The introduction of process automation in claims handling is a game changer for the insurance industry. It's a good example is claims claims-processing chatbot.

The impact is two fold: operational efficiency in insurance companies and end user experience. This is proof of how powerful these technologies can be in redefining what is possible in terms of doing business securely in a digital world.

Underwriting Automation

The underwriting process automation uses artificial intelligence (AI) and specialized insurance software to improve risk assessment and workflow. Predictive analytics and real-time data interpretation by AI improve operational efficiency by enhancing risk assessment and fraud detection. AI-powered workbenches allow underwriters to focus on more complex cases.

Send Underwriting Workbench is an API-enabled underwriting platform for agile insurers.  It is a one-stop desktop for commercial underwriters with data, documentation and decision points all in one place.

Send's Underwriting Workbench is a prime example of it as it offers:

• Single Platform Integration: Manages new business, renewals, and endorsements on a unified platform.
• AI-Powered Workflows: Automates admin-heavy tasks, reducing manual work.
• Data Processing and Integration: Ingests complex third-party data and unstructured information seamlessly.
• Standardized Underwriting Journeys: Standardizes processes and enables dynamic modeling.
• Task Automation: Reduces processing time by up to 50% and increases core work time by 30%.
• Real-time Decision Making: Provides contextual risk assessment and pricing in real-time.
• Workflow Visibility: Offers role-based workflows and user-focused dashboards.
• Scalability and Agility: Features a low-code microservice architecture for rapid deployment and scaling.
• Integration with Existing Systems: Integrates smoothly with legacy systems and data sources.
• Compliance and Audit Trail: Maintains a full audit trail for compliance and commercial confidence.

Importantly, Decerto is a Partner of Send to deliver Send’s underwriting platform to commercial and specialty insurers in Europe and North America.

Read more: Decerto is expanding collaboration with Send Technology

Policy Management Automation

Policy management automation improves the speed and accuracy of issuing, renewing and amending policies. Machine learning is used in these automation insurance systems to identify and manage incoming changes from multiple sources so updates and changes to policies can be streamlined.

By reducing manual handling and minimizing errors automated insurance solutions ensure policy management processes are efficient and accurate.

Insurance Fraud Detection

Insurance fraud is a $308,6 billion deal just in United States. In Europe it's $13 billion. Experts estimate for a total of 3-4% global insurance claims being fraudulent. 

Automation can help your employees combat frauds with:

• Real-time Detection: Automated insurance systems monitor transactions continuously, identifying and preventing fraudulent activities as they occur.
• Pattern Recognition: AI and machine learning analyze large datasets to detect unusual patterns and anomalies indicative of fraud.
• Reduced False Positives: Advanced algorithms improve accuracy, reducing the number of legitimate transactions flagged as fraudulent.
• Seamless Integration: Automation tools compare data across different systems to identify inconsistencies, such as matching employee and vendor information.
• Dynamic Risk Scoring: Insurance systems assign risk scores to transactions, automating responses based on the level of risk.
• Case Management: Routine tasks like data collection and reporting are automated, allowing fraud analysts to focus on complex cases.
• Cost Savings: Automation reduces manual labor and operational costs associated with fraud detection.
• Enhanced Customer Experience: By minimizing false declines, automated insurance systems ensure smoother processing of legitimate transactions.

Insurance Software: Tools for Automation

Robotic process automation (RPA), business rules engines and specialized solutions like Decerto’s Agent Portal are the technologies that power insurance automation. These software solutions are designed to make insurance operations more efficient by integrating with existing systems to centralize, validate and consolidate insurance data in one place.

Insurance Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the foundation of insurance automation, linking systems together with minimal coding and speed. RPA bots can talk to old and new systems, migrate data and ensure data quality. This makes RPA a cheaper alternative to APIs for integrating old systems, faster to deploy and no need to build custom APIs.

RPA accelerates claims settlement by automating data extraction and form filling, reducing errors and enhancing overall efficiency. Combining RPA with AI can save up to 75% of the time on claims processing.

RPA solutions often come with drag and drop for building bots, so no deep software development knowledge required for deployment. AI and machine learning enhance RPA by enabling data driven decisions and fast turnaround times without compromising quality. The combination of AI and RPA is driving hyperautomation in insurance, making things smarter and more efficient.

Business Rules Engines

Automation tools like business rules engines (an example Decerto's Higson) help in decision-making within insurance companies by handling processes that follow rules. This automation gives you:

• Consistency and compliance within insurance processes.
• Oversight of complex insurance operations.
• Process simplification for compliance
• Conformity to industry regulations and standards.

In 2021, nearly 25% of all insurance carriers were subject to regulatory exams, with states collecting nearly $208 million in fines and penalties. On average, one-off costs for complying with new legislation account for between 13% and 19% of the total budget for one-off investments in insurance companies.

By implementing these automated insurance systems you will be compliant. Partially automating manual tasks will optimize business processes all over insurance organizations.

Agent Portal by Decerto

The Agent Portal by Decerto is a one-stop shop (insurance CRM) for agents to manage customer interactions, policies and claims. It has real-time updates and analytics to help insurance agents make informed decisions and improve customer service.

This portal improves workflow and productivity by providing centralized messaging and collaborative tools to streamline communication.

Summary

Insurance automation software is now key to data collection, data accuracy, customer onboarding, or reviewing large volumes of documents quickly. This allows staff to reduce manual processes and focus on more complex tasks and be more productive while ensuring accuracy in document management.

Do you need a smooth implementation of automation in your insurance business? Do you seek to streamline operations, and analyze data in a blink of an eye for improved customer satisfaction? Contact us with your use case.

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