Veronica Grigg, President, Asia, on how the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of Crawford’s technology-driven value proposition in Asia.
“Claims management is all about evolving to drive and enable better claim outcomes,”
says Veronica, reflecting on 18 months of widespread technology adoption in Asia.
While the Asian insurance industry has historically been relatively slow to adopt new technologies, COVID-19 was a catalyst that accelerated the acceptance of new tools to enable remote service amid widespread lockdown restrictions. “It also gave us the opportunity to evolve our value proposition with technology at its core,” Veronica explains.
During the pandemic, Crawford introduced a variety of tools and apps, including:
Video conferencing and walkthroughs using 3D imaging and virtual reality, allowing adjusters to discuss and review claims remotely and augment the experience by walking policyholders through photos, videos and other information needed to adjust the claim.
YouGoLook, the self-service smartphone application unique to Crawford that provides end-to-end remote claims management, guiding users step-by-step as they capture the images and information required to document their claims using their smartphones.
Drones, allowing Crawford’s team to expedite claim resolutions by quickly and affordably deploying on-demand resources to gather and validate information anytime, anywhere.
“These tools enabled us to not just maintain a business-as-usual service through the pandemic, but actually increase the mobilisation and reach of our adjusters while improving turnaround times and servicing for our customers,” Veronica says.
“Despite the restrictions, many countries are doing very well, proving that technology gives us all the tools we need to deliver quality solutions while also keeping our adjusters safe.”
More broadly speaking, technology is revolutionising claims management on several key fronts. Robotic process automation, for example, enables workflows and repetitive tasks to be automated, simplifying the claims process from first notice of loss (FNOL) to resolution. This improves the claim journey for the insured, reducing claim cycles dramatically and enabling customer-centric, 24/7 claims service.
Automation also delivers significant operational benefits by eliminating unnecessary processes, saving time, effort and energy, and reducing human errors in the field – which in turn drives cost benefits for insurers and restoration firms by improving accuracy in the estimate review process, Veronica points out.
Data, analytics and data visualisation tools are also improving claims performance, risk management and decision-making throughout the insurance value chain.
“Data has never been a more important enterprise asset than it is today, and the increasing quality and volume of data at our fingertips enables us to identify issues, generate deeper claim insights, design better solutions and maximize margins,”
Veronica explains.
Data visualisation tools and improving analytics capabilities allow users to ingest, analyse and represent large amounts of data for decision-making. Claims data also generates valuable risk insights that allow insureds and their insurers to identify loss trends, mitigate common causes and design appropriate coverages. Claims data analysis can, for example, help insurers improve their understanding of portfolios and profitability to unearth underwriting sweet spots, improve product design and refine policy wordings.
Meanwhile, automated data capture, data quality and governance enables real-time decision-making to deliver faster results and push new services, Veronica adds, while portals and API integrations allow claims managers and insurers to exchange data and access third-party data seamlessly and in real-time, driving further efficiency in the claims journey.
“Though we might not like to admit it, we already rely heavily on technology. There are tools we didn’t even have ten years ago that we would already feel uneasy without today,” says Veronica. “Technology and insurance are interconnected in so many ways. That’s why data and technology will remain at the heart of our value proposition in Asia going forward.”
The investment and rapid adoption of technology to meet the unprecedented challenges presented by the pandemic saw Crawford awarded with the Insurance Business Asia’s Five-Star Insurance Innovator Award.
