Harsha V. Agadi, CEO and president of Crawford & Company, was featured on AM BestTV, a streaming video service that provides unique coverage of the insurance industry. Showcasing exclusive reports and interviews, AM BestTV presents targeted topics and key developments in the global insurance industry.
Watch the full interview here or read on for highlights.
In his interview, which took place at RIMS 2019, Agadi discussed his views on how he sees the claims process changing. The first topic was virtual reality training. Crawford & Company adjusters come to the support center in Atlanta and go through training modules through virtual reality as though they are actually looking at and assessing property damage. “It is also used for underwriters because [virtual reality] increases the accuracy of what the underwriter is doing,” said Agadi. “And, therefore, eventually reduces the loss or helps the carrier protect risk. Virtual reality is happening today. I’m pleased to say that we are on the leading edge.”
Crawford & Company is also leveraging the on-demand workforce through its acquisition of WeGoLook. “What we have is 46,000 independent contractors called ‘Lookers’ that are credentialed in the United States,” shared Agadi. “They’re spread throughout the country, and they’re typically 10 to 15 minutes away from the scene of the claim or accident.” Once activated, they show up at the scene and take photos and documentation of the claim.
Then, there is the self-service app that WeGoLook offers called YouGoLook. The app empowers anyone to be an inspector. It’s an entirely new business solution that opens a world of possibilities for WeGoLook customers. With the YouGoLook self-service app, businesses can leverage the eyes and ears of anyone when deploying a Looker isn’t needed. The app allows insurance policyholders to submit their own damage photos when filing auto or property claims.
Beyond insurance, the app has a wide range of uses including enabling auto owners to submit photos and information needed to secure accurate trade-in values; deploying employees to complete audits of vehicle fleets; validating compliance with corporate policies across widely-distributed organizations; gathering any type of in-house documentation across a distributed enterprise; and more.
Agadi also mentioned RENOVO as a transformative force in the ever-changing industry. “RENOVO is the ultimate tool for rapidly deploying adjusters in fierce hurricanes and other catastrophic events,” said Agadi. RENOVO is a mobile app that was developed from the ground up to reduce fulfillment time while increasing engagement with adjusters, giving Crawford & Company’s response team a comprehensive tool for a successful deployment.
Finally, Agadi discussed the use of drones by recounting a story. “I was sitting in a board meeting of a hotel company, and the hurricanes hit two islands in the Caribbean, one in Saint Martin, the other one in Anguilla. The properties were destroyed. These were large loss claims in that example. Nobody could get on the island because there were riots breaking out post-hurricane,” said Agadi.
“We were able to initiate from my iPad, right into WeGoLook, drones that got activated off a boat that took video footage as well as a tremendous number of photographs inside and outside the hotel property and sent it back to Crawford & Company., that was adjusting the claim, as well as central to the carrier so we could start that process immediately,” said Agadi. “I'm happy to say, those hotels are back up and running. The carriers were truly impressed at the speed we could move to help the adjusting process.”
Affectionately referring to the tools he discussed as “Star Wars,” Agadi was quick to point out that the need for adjusters will not go away. Instead, they will leverage these tools to increase the accuracy of their work and process a larger number of claims in a rapid manner.
