Insurance claims in a digital age
- February 14, 2019
- Posted by: Simon Wait
- Category: IBIS News
After a welcome from IBIS CEO Jason Moseley, Ian Thompson, chief claims officer, Zurich insurance, kicked off IBIS USA’s first session titled ‘insurance claims in a digital age.’
Ian began by overviewing the fourth industrial revolution, and how it is global and inescapable. This led to his discussion of how technology is innovating insurance.
Ian stated, ‘The customer sits at the heart of Zurich insurance.’ Social media and conglomerates give customers a new level of power and transparency. The feedback and reviews, for example on Amazon and TripAdvisor, determine if the consumer will purchase or not.
Ian expressed the importance of customers’ needs, ‘It’s about anticipating a need and being ahead of that to deliver to a customer. We need to simplify the way we operate.’ This can be accomplished through progressive technology. Technology enables companies to simplify claims management and enhance propositions, Ian explained.
‘It’s about thinking about the customer experience, simplifying the experience and leveraging technology to do that,’ Ian generalised for the future of insurance companies to be successful.
Ian next discussed the importance of service ecosystems, and how they are evolving to meet customers’ broader needs. ‘Mobility is essential, but owning a car is not – this is part of the ecosystem we now operate in,’ Ian stated.
Insurance is moving to preventing losses and accidents, rather than benefiting from them, Ian explained. Technology can help with this prevention by providing real-time data about the vehicle.
Furthermore, Ian explained the importance of new business paradigms which will demand new partnerships. To do this, insurance organisations will need to rethink the way we work with partners. ‘We need to think ‘how do you leverage expertise with the people we work with, rather than seeing them as competition?’ This is critical to the ecosystem of claims.’
To conclude, Ian summarised the importance of skills and staff retention, ‘technology is just an enabler, it is about people.’ By attempting to look to the future, companies can determine what skillets they will need in the next five to 10 years and hire staff appropriately. By constantly evolving knowledge, the obstacle of skill retention can be overcome.
IBIS USA partner were 3M, Axalta, Solera Audatex, BETAG Innovation, Symach, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Fix Network World, Mitchell International, PPG, RSG, Verifacts, CARSTAR, Caliber Collision, Chief Automotive, I-CAR, OE Connection, and PartsTrader LLC.
