2004 Top Insurance Business/Technology Issues
Every year there are some trends, economic shifts and technologies that seem to stand out from the rest. For many years, e-commerce and CRM were the top-of-mind concerns for many insurance companies. Recently, Web services, compliance and XML have taken center stage. In 2004, some trends will displace others in importance. This special report from Insurance & Technology takes a look at some of the top business issues that insurance carriers will face this year and how technology can help make their challenges easier
Good Claims Processing Means Customer Retention
Retention is the name of the game when it comes to claims processing. But what specifically can carriers do to beef up their strategies?
According to Jamie Bisker, director, insurance practice, TowerGroup (Needham, Mass.), an informed customer is a happy customer. "As carriers look to provide better claims service they know from experience that claimants want to be kept up to date on the progress of their claims," relates Bisker. "Even if policyholders have to wait for one reason or another, they at least want to be informed so they can continue to plan around not having a car or make arrangements to have work done on their house."
Bisker suggests Web-based claims self-service and interactive voice response (IVR) phone systems for getting accurate information to customers. He also advises carriers to consider accepting deductible payments online or via the phone, but warns that synchronization-no matter the delivery channel-is a necessity.
As part of its claims processing model, The Hartford (Hartford, $188.7 billion) employs the use of analytic tools that allow producers and commercial lines policyholders to project claims value, according to Mark Stergio, vice president of claims information technology. Additionally, "we're constantly enhancing our claims systems," says Stergio. "The applications we use need to be flexible so that they can be modified along with the business model."
For carriers striving for enhanced claims systems, such as The Hartford, Bisker suggests leveraging some aspect of a geographic information system (GIS) for use in agency or service provider location services for call center customer service reps and for Web site locator functions. Also, GIS can be used for catastrophe planning and analysis. "The industry is underutilizing this technology to a great extent," says Bisker. "They could be controlling costs and providing better service if they would consider a GIS or location-based information strategy instead of simple point solutions."
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