What’s New in Insurance Claims Innovation?

Just like the rest of the P&C insurance industry, the world of claims is rapidly evolving. Here’s a quick look at recent insurance claims developments.

Reconsider contents restoration

Contents restoration has been a sticky issue for many insurers, because cleaning and restoring damaged belongings is often more trouble than it’s worth. But for customers, it remains a valuable offering. “The trauma of finding precious possessions ruined by smoke or water damage is severe for customers,” said Charlie Horn at Claims Journal.

Now, “innovative technology and a new network of affiliated service providers” may give new legs to contents restoration: including ultrasonic cleaning systems, automated hydraulic washers, and better inventory software.

Prevent water damage claims

This month Roost, a leader in home telematics for property insurers, announced a partnership with Erie Insurance, which will be testing customer engagement on the company’s Smart Water Leak and Freeze Detector. It’s a sensor notification platform that sends smartphone alerts to homeowners when it detects a leak, so they can address the problem before damages occur. If it’s successful, it’ll reduce claims and potentially boost satisfaction, too.

Better data, pre- and post-loss

There are a lot of innovations in this area. Let’s look at three of them.

• Matterport delivers virtual 3D floor plans of homes and factories before and after a loss occurs, so adjusters can assess damages more accurately
• Binary Formations makes it easy for policyholders to itemize everything in their home, even if they’re frequent shoppers, and share that data with their insurer
• TRUEPIC determines whether or not the photos provided by a customer have been digitally altered, while confirming their date, time and location while it’s at it – cutting down on fraud

Making insurance inclusive

According to the Center for Financial Inclusion, it’s becoming more and more common for insurers to use insurtech innovations to reach and serve lower-income customers, both here in the United States and around the world.

More data, less fraud

Insurers are leaning on data analytics to bring fraud down. According to Michael Skiba, Ph.D., VP of counter fraud strategies for the Germany-based software company Inform, analytics equips carriers to maximize fraud detection with less effort.

What else to expect?

We’ll leave you with a few predictions for 2018. One thing is for sure, insurers will need agile policy administration and claims systems to keep pace with rapid change. If you’re shopping for new policy administration software, download Part 1 of our Policy Administration System Buying Guide.