mobile-logo

Business

Business Featured General Press Release

LenderDock Inc. is pleased to announce a broadened partnership with Allied Solutions that will further support P&C insurance providers with an all-digital solution that enables financial third parties to electronically verify and automate lien holder change requests in bulk. This enhanced collaboration will drastically improve the alignment primarily between the auto lending community and the insurance industry and deliver more innovation and operational efficiencies.

“The relationship with Allied represents a significant opportunity to accelerate the adoption of real-time data management and virtually eliminate the millions of hours of manual processing. Our companies’ combined efforts will help reinforce our web-services strategy to each of the respective insurance and mortgage banking segments,” said Frank Eubank, LenderDock’s CEO.

As the largest business process outsourcer (BPO) specializing in auto tracking and risk management, Allied Solutions manages all of their client’s auto and property-related policy verifications and lien holder change requests. Traditionally, most of that activity has been handled by hundreds of service agents via phone or notifications sent by physical mail.

Now through LenderDock’s Verifi™ API and dynamic Correxions™ volume updating solution, insurers are no longer required to service the 500+ million lender-made phone calls, emails, and mailed requests each year.

About Allied Solutions

Allied Solutions is a company that offers insurance, lending, risk management, and data-driven solutions to financial institutions in the US. They have technology-based solutions customized for 4,000 banks and credit unions. They offer a portfolio of innovative products and services from various providers and have multiple offices located strategically across the country. Allied Solutions is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, and is a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Securian Financial Group.

About LenderDock

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, LenderDock is the leading provider of online Property and Casualty Insurance policy verification and automated lien holder management services. The SaaS platform offers banks, lenders, and all financial third parties the ability to electronically verify, manage and update policy-related data in real-time.

June 1, 2023
Business Featured General Insurance

The Property and Casualty insurance industry is expected to grow, but insurers are encountering obstacles due to shifts in customer behavior, digital changes, regulations, and competition. To address these challenges, P&C insurers need to adjust their strategies and methods of operation. These challenges include managing low-interest rates, keeping up with technology, and achieving profitable growth in a constantly evolving market.

The insurance industry is facing several challenges due to the changing trends in property and casualty insurance.

Overview of challenges confronting the Property and Casualty Insurance industry

In this article, we will discuss the primary challenges faced by the P&C insurance industry and what things your company should be focused on soon.

1. Growing competition

In recent years, the amount of insurance coverage provided by P&C carriers has steadily increased. This increase in supply is expected to continue as more online insurance providers enter the market, leading to more intense competition based on pricing. The changes are leading insurers to expand into new areas and develop new products.

2. Technological progress

The insurance industry has the potential to profit from new digital technologies like augmented reality and networked devices. These technologies can offer fresh sources of revenue and help with industry operations. However, the industry’s slow adoption of new technology has become a major issue. The quick evolution of customer behavior and expectations is due to technological advancements. The insurance industry is struggling to keep up with these changes. To improve efficiency and reduce risk exposure, it is essential to invest in digital platforms and solutions.

3. Obsolete technology framework

The insurer’s growth and ability to regulate costs, meet business demands, and satisfy customers are being hindered using outdated policy and underwriting systems in P&C insurance. Moreover, the profit margins are being affected, and overall efficiency is lowering due to the maintenance and upkeep of these obsolete technologies and processes.

Insurance companies can adopt advanced technologies such as analytics and automation to improve their operational processes including sales and underwriting. This will enhance their capacity to adapt to sudden changes swiftly and reduce downtime, leading to a more resilient and scalable insurance business.

4. Increasing expenses of operations

Outdated software is causing operational costs to increase in the insurance industry. It is necessary to allocate additional resources for the task, which could be made more efficient by implementing a comprehensive modern system. Creating and reviewing mandatory audit reports is time-consuming and requires significant human resources. The use of an electronic system would streamline this process by generating reports quickly and allowing for review and sharing.

5. Enhancing customer interactions

It’s important to prioritize the needs of customers considering digital disruption. To engage customers better, the company should concentrate on improving its operations, processes, and employees. Moreover, it should aim to innovate its products and services while remaining agile and aligned as an organization. The company should also reconsider its business model and put greater emphasis on customers to offer a more personalized value proposition as the digital landscape evolves.

6. Intelligent business insights

Businesses need to use data intelligently to meet customer demands and gain a competitive edge. Extracting valuable insights from large amounts of data – known as business intelligence – is therefore essential. The latest approach to business intelligence is customer-centric and involves using data to inform strategic decisions.

Data is valuable but managing it with outdated methods or technologies is insufficient. By collecting data from different digital sources, carriers can improve underwriting, pricing, and customer experience while reducing losses.

Summary recap

The P&C insurance industry has several challenges such as rising competition, high operational costs, decreased customer engagement, and insufficient business intelligence. Fortunately, many of these problems can be addressed with technology. Insurance companies equipped with the proper tools, platforms, and technology can achieve sustainable growth and overcome obstacles.

May 30, 2023
Business Featured General Insurance

A recent report by McKinsey Global Insurance Pool shows that the P&C insurance industry is doing well, with gross written premiums exceeding $1.5 trillion 5 years ago, representing a 5.1% increase from the previous year. Despite facing natural catastrophes, insurance carriers are still financially strong.

Insurance executives have not been idle. Instead, they have been reviewing their existing strategies and preparing for changes in the future. While they are concerned about the effects of digital advancements, this is just one aspect of their conversations. Three topics that have been discussed by P&C CEOs are outlined below, along with potential outcomes for future trends.

1. What transformations will technology bring to the value chain of the insurance business?

The insurance business system involves several stakeholders who each have a distinct role. The process flows from the customer to the retailer or wholesale broker, to the underwriter, to the service agent, and finally to the balance sheet and reinsurance company.

P&C executives are considering using artificial intelligence or automation to create new business models by examining each link in the value chain. For instance, carriers may opt to establish a shared-services organization for tasks such as claims. Additionally, vertical integration is being considered as an option.

Insurance companies are observing the evolving value chain and trying to predict when it will change and what factors will drive the change. Technology has already reshaped personal lines, and it is expected that small businesses will also follow this trend in the next few years. However, it may take up to a decade for mid-sized and large corporate segments to modernize.

2. What impact will smart homes and the future of mobility have on carriers that primarily emphasize personal lines?

Advancements in technology are reducing the potential dangers of home and auto products. With the increasing use of sensors in smart homes, appliances, and equipment can identify issues and alert owners beforehand, preventing damage.

The auto insurance industry is experiencing a major technological disruption, especially regarding the coverage of autonomous vehicles. There are around 1,000 property and casualty insurance carriers in the US, and over 75% of them rely on auto insurance revenue to sustain their business. Currently, ride-sharing services have already impacted the industry, but with autonomous vehicles, the risk of accidents and ownership will decrease, which means the risk will shift from individual owners to commercial owners. This and other factors will significantly reduce the amount of money that insurance companies will be paid for premiums.

Several options are available for carriers that rely on personal auto. They could opt for consolidation like the seven largest P&C insurers. Alternatively, they could diversify by expanding into home, commercial, or specialty products. Finally, they could explore opportunities that involve new types of risks.

The second option requires figuring out how technology will change the risk and how to manage it. For instance, with transportation being more of a mobility service, what risks should be insured and how? Likewise, in houses equipped with sensors, if a flood happens because of a faulty water heater, who is responsible? Addressing these questions could result in fresh possibilities.

3. Can the existing profit distribution be maintained over time, and what factors could influence its equilibrium?

In the past, distributors have received most of the profits in the industry. Currently, brokers have a return on equity of over 25 percent, while insurers typically see a return of around 8 percent.

What makes distributors so advantageous is that they have a strong connection with the customers, allowing them to establish better relationships and enhance loyalty. Furthermore, the manufacturing and distribution balance favors distribution because manufacturing lacks the level of individualization that services offer.

To gain a stronger position, carriers can work on becoming the preferred choice for customers. This can be achieved by offering products that are likely to keep customers loyal. By doing this, carriers can establish a direct relationship with their customers, bypassing any middlemen in the process.

Changes in the industry offer chances for development and innovative business strategies. P&C insurance providers do not need predictive abilities, but rather a realistic understanding of where the potential for success exists.

May 24, 2023
Business Featured General Insurance Press Release

LenderDock Inc., the leading provider of online Property and Casualty Insurance policy verification and automated lienholder process management services, announced a new partnership with Oklahoma Farm Bureau Insurance.

“LenderDock is thrilled to be partnered with Oklahoma Farm Bureau.  They are committed to optimizing and improving their internal business workflows through technology in order to serve their customers and members better.  Doubling down on process automation is going to assure their ability to meet the growing demands for operational efficiency,” said Frank Eubank, LenderDock’s CEO.

Oklahoma Farm will take full advantage of LenderDock’s Verifi™, Correxions™, and LenderDocs™ solutions.

Verifi™ is a real-time insurance policy verification system designed for verifiers and lenders. With Verifi™, phone calls for policy verification are a thing of the past, making the process faster and more efficient.

The second tool, Correxions™, automates the process of updating policy information by allowing lenders to submit corrections directly to the carrier. This enables carriers or providers to process the updates efficiently according to their own procedures.

Finally, LenderDocs™ provides electronic and real-time access to important policy-related documents such as EOIs, Certificates, and others to financial third parties. This helps streamline the process of obtaining and sharing these documents, making it easier for business partners to manage their policy information.

“As Oklahoma Farm Bureau Insurance continues to strive toward optimal operational efficiency, LenderDock provides an important component to streamline customer service in the area of policy additional interests,” said Erin Gillespie, Business Analyst at Oklahoma Farm Bureau.

He added, “Enhancing data accuracy will improve additional interest communication including timeliness of payments for accounts receivable. But the primary benefit is the time freed up for our staff that can be funneled into other initiatives for policy administration and an improved overall customer service experience.”

About Oklahoma Farm Bureau

The Oklahoma Farm Bureau was organized in 1942 by Oklahoma farm and ranch families. Soon after, many members of the Bureau realized auto insurance was a service many of the state’s farmers and ranchers needed most. In 1957, they became affiliated with what is today known as Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company to offer life insurance products to Oklahoma Farm Bureau members. Today, OKFB has offices in all 77 counties in the Sooner State.

About LenderDock Inc.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, LenderDock Inc. is the leading provider of online Property and Casualty Insurance policy verification and automated lien holder process management services. The policy verification-as-a-service (VaaS) platform offers banks, lenders, and financial third parties the ability to digitally verify and correct home and auto policy-related data in real-time.

May 11, 2023
Automation Business Featured General

Why are insurance companies and brokers being inundated with requests for evidence of homeowner’s insurance?

It is complicated to keep track of homeowners insurance coverage for mortgage loans. This is because mortgage servicers frequently change, which makes it hard for insurers to maintain accurate records. Homeowners may have more than one loan, insurance coverage of different types, and different insurance providers. Specialized risks like flood coverage may be impacted by legal requirements modifications. Sharing insurance data for monitoring purposes currently involves high expenses and long waiting periods. However, automating these information exchanges can improve the overall customer experience and save costs.

The information below explains the technology that is advancing the industry of insurance.

What is the significance of homeowners insurance in the mortgage process?

Having insurance coverage is important when getting a mortgage as the mortgage company wants to protect their financial interest in the property. To do this, they transfer the risk of loss for all the properties they have loans on to a lender-placed insurance provider. The provider needs to monitor homeowners’ insurance coverage to manage their financial exposure.

What is the process for verifying insurance?

To verify insurance, there are different methods available including Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), phone, website, U.S. mail, and email. However, if evidence of insurance is missing, the homeowner, agent, or insurance company of record must be contacted to obtain the information. This can result in a high volume of disruptive phone calls. For example, in 2021, Assurant made 1.9 million calls to agents and carriers to obtain evidence of insurance.

Regarding EDI, what should be considered?

EDI is a popular standard in the industry that allows for batch exchange of information. However, it has not undergone significant changes in the 50 years it has existed. EDI only allows for one-way exchange of information and the process can be problematic due to incomplete coverage and policy number information, making it difficult to verify coverage. Up to 80% of the time, there is missing information that needs validation. Using technology can simplify tedious tasks and enhance the experiences of the agent, policyholder, and carrier by optimizing outdated processes.

Today, is there an improved alternative option available?

The technology based on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) has effectively simplified the exchange of information. LenderDock has utilized this technology to create their Verifi™ platform, which acts as a connection between systems, removing the need for manual interfaces. This real-time solution offers functions such as easy search and review of policies and updates of mortgagee clauses. As a result, agents and carriers experience fewer complications.

What advantages can be gained?

LenderDock has observed that when a carrier adopts API technology, there is typically a 60-70% decrease in the need for manual data exchanges (like phone calls and paper) within the initial 30 days. The reduction of manual data exchanges can have positive downstream effects, including:

  • An enhanced experience for policyholders
  • Improved precision of data
  • Savings in carrier costs
  • Agents dedicating more time to customer service and less time to insurance verification requests
  • By using less paper, you can feel good about making a positive environmental impact and conserving resources such as trees, water, and electricity.

What are the results for carriers?

“LenderDock has been an absolute game-changer. We’re not only saving thousands of dollars in manual resources but have been able to refocus my entire team’s efforts around our service and client retention goals. It exceeded our highest expectations,” says Debbie England, Manager of Customer Service & Support at Indiana Farm Bureau.

“The amount of calls in our Customer Service Department has decreased by about 40%. The amount of paper changes we receive is almost down to zero after just 8 months with LenderDock,” said Stacey Manzo, AVP Customer Service & Corporate Secretary at The Philadelphia Contributionship.

Learn more about how LenderDock can help your business at lenderdock.com.

May 10, 2023
Automation Business Featured General Insurance

To keep up with rapidly advancing technologies and customer expectations, insurance companies must enhance the capabilities of their conversational AI systems.

While chatbots may be confusing and not always helpful, they are still popular among consumers because they are available 24/7. A study has shown that 81% of people prefer self-service options when doing business online.

Although ChatGPT is a promising solution, chatbots are generally not very intelligent. Meeting customer demands will require exploring other methods of enhancing artificial intelligence.

To improve chatbots, your organization should implement three strategies. These strategies can help to increase customer satisfaction, provide more opportunities for business growth, and enhance your reputation.

Assist them in discovering additional solutions

Typically, chatbots have difficulty remembering previous conversations and may not be able to keep up with the context. They rely on a decision tree system that recognizes certain keywords in the user’s input to generate a response, which may not be sufficient. While most customers expect customer service to have access to their previous interactions, only about 15% do.

A major challenge in quickly getting accurate information is connecting the internal record systems that contain valuable data to address customer inquiries and demands. To overcome this, companies can use intelligent process automation to integrate business systems, access important information such as previous orders, payment plans, or insurance claims, and efficiently supply the details through the chat app designed for customer interaction.

Insurance companies offer a chatbot feature that enables users to monitor the status of their insurance claims. Besides, this feature can also assist with more complex inquiries, such as “What are the remaining documents I need to provide?” As chatbots grow more sophisticated, there is an opportunity to combine intelligent automation with conversational AI.

Improve their cognitive skills

If we want to develop a digital assistant that can talk like a human, we need to do more than just connect data to customer chat bubbles. It’s essential to train chatbots to process unstructured data so that they can communicate like humans, rather than forcing humans to communicate like computers.

To enhance enterprise systems, you need expertise in document AI, which can harness capabilities such as intelligent document processing to analyze, interpret, and comprehend unstructured data. This enables you to make better decisions, provide more precise and complete responses to inquiries, and expedite request processing.

Our IDP technology incorporates machine learning to enhance the learning and development of your chatbots over time. By leveraging ML, your customers will avoid repeated frustrations arising from incorrect responses or options. The chatbot stores past conversations and learns from mistakes to make accurate choices in the future. Additionally, these interactions reveal vital information such as customer pain points, leading to improvements in the overall customer experience by evaluating the popularity of services.

Currently, it’s possible to improve your chatbots by adding “brains” through low-code/no-code IDP products. This process doesn’t need significant IT resources and is a simple “plug and play” way to upgrade your digital customer service representative.

Transform them into a detective

Confirming the identity of customers is a major challenge for chatbots. This involves verifying relevant documents like proof of address or identification due to the high rate of identity theft in the United States. However, this verification process should not cause too much inconvenience for users, who may not desire to switch between screens or use a camera to validate their passwords.

AI technology can be used to instantly verify people’s identities by scanning their faces in live videos and photos and comparing them to their official ID photos. This enhances security and improves customer service. Additionally, machine learning technology can quickly identify security issues in documents such as utility bills, tax forms, or earnings statements, making it easy to spot any tampered documents. Gartner predicts that 85% of organizations will use document-centered identity-proofing technology for onboarding procedures by next year. This technology is integrated into your chatbot platform, working like a human brain and quickly adapting to new input, resembling a mini forensics lab.

Get ready to be more personal

According to Forrester analysts, 90% of customer service leaders believe that personalization is essential for the future of automation. Nonetheless, their efforts to transform are being held back by the limitations of current chatbot technology. These leaders acknowledge that improving interactions with digital assistants is crucial as more and more conversations take place online. They also realize that their chatbot must be available constantly across all channels since people now prefer to engage through mobile devices.

OpenAI has released a new chatbot known as ChatGPT, which showcases the capabilities of artificial intelligence in creating personalized experiences. Though there are risks involved, such as potential biases, the technology provides significant benefits to customer interactions. As we previously mentioned, ChatGPT is a highly advanced chatbot that offers sophisticated responses, utilizing AI for optimization. Microsoft is going to add ChatGPT function to its Microsoft 365 suite, connecting it to intelligent document processing. This will improve the chatbot’s capability to comprehend data and offer personalized responses. Right now, ChatGPT requires human oversight for responsible use. However, with additional training and integration with other forms of intelligent automation, it’s expected to change the way chatbots are used in customer service.

To offer an exceptional digital customer experience, utilizing AI-powered technology is essential.

May 3, 2023
Business Featured General Insurance Press Release

SALT LAKE CITY – LenderDock Inc., the leading provider of online Property and Casualty Insurance policy verification and automated lienholder process management services, announced a new partnership with North Carolina Farm Bureau.

“We are proud to be working with North Carolina Farm Bureau. They are a carrier that continues to focus on improving how they serve its customers and partners. Their commitment to efficiencies and operational effectiveness is to be admired,” said Frank Eubank, LenderDock’s CEO.

NC Farm Bureau has partnered with LenderDock to provide additional tools for their clients. The first tool, Correxions™, automates the process of updating policy information by allowing lenders to submit corrections directly to the carrier. This enables carriers or providers to process the updates efficiently according to their own procedures.

The second tool, Verifi™, is a real-time insurance policy verification system designed for trackers and servicers. With Verifi™, phone calls for policy verification are a thing of the past, making the process faster and more efficient.

Finally, LenderDocs™ provides electronic and real-time access to critical policy-related documents such as Evidence of Insurability (EOI), Certificates, and others to financial third parties. This helps streamline the process of obtaining and sharing these documents, making it easier for business partners to manage policy information.

About North Carolina Farm Bureau

The North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation was formed in 1936 as a non-profit general farm organization to serve farmers and provide a unified voice for the interests and needs of the farming community. Today, North Carolina Farm Bureau serves as an advocate for our members at the local, state, national, and international levels – providing educational, economic, public affairs, marketing, and various other services to our members.

Over the years, the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation has grown into the largest general farm organization in the state with more than 500,000 member families.

About LenderDock Inc.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, LenderDock Inc. is the leading provider of online Property and Casualty Insurance policy verification and automated lien holder process management services. The policy verification-as-a-service (VaaS) platform offers banks, lenders, and financial third parties the ability to digitally verify and correct home and auto policy-related data in real-time.

May 2, 2023
Automation Business Featured General Insurance

There is currently a significant rise in inflation across the world due to various factors, including disrupted supply chains, increased consumer demand, lack of available labor, the effects of the global pandemic, a few natural disasters, and war. This has been identified as the most severe inflation witnessed in over two decades, according to experts.

Our discussion will focus on how the insurance industry is impacted by high inflation rates and how industry leaders can use technology to lessen these effects. While all industries are affected by inflation, we will concentrate specifically on the insurance industry.

The influence of inflation on the insurance sector

Although often thought of as immune to economic downturns, the insurance industry is not impervious to market shifts such as inflation. Inflation can lead to an increase in claim costs, a phenomenon known as social inflation. This means that during times of high inflation, insurance companies may find it challenging to fulfill their main responsibility of settling claims.

The insurance industry adopts a method called “hardening the market” to prevent bankruptcy in response to inflation. Presently, the insurance industry is facing prolonged hard market circumstances due to factors such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in climate and weather-related catastrophes.

What does the term ‘hard market’ mean in the insurance industry?

In the insurance industry, a situation called a hard market occurs when the demand for insurance rises, but there are fewer insurance products available. This causes customers to face higher premiums, tougher underwriting standards, and limited risk coverage opportunities. Consequently, during a hard market, customers may have to pay more for insurance renewals and might be left with fewer choices for covering risks.

What is the impact of a hard market on important insurance industry participants?

The insurance industry is being affected by a hard market, which is impacting everyone involved in the distribution process. This includes clients, agents, carriers, and underwriters who all need to adjust their approach to the insurance business. Hard market conditions have significant real-world consequences.

The begins with underwriters who implement rigorous standards and policies to minimize losses. This results in market hardening, leading to an increase in insurance rates and potentially making it unfeasible for carriers to offer certain types of coverage.

Insurance customers are relying more on their agents to help them find coverage that fits their needs and budget as coverage options become more limited. Additionally, carriers that offer certain coverages can raise their rates without fear of losing customers to competitors because of the lack of options.

Utilizing technology solutions for adapting to a challenging market environment

During a challenging market, policyholders rely heavily on their agents to find the best coverage for their unique risks. Therefore, it’s crucial for agents to connect clients with appropriate insurance carriers. To stay valuable to both clients and carriers, agents should leverage technological advancements to automate processes, reduce risks, and improve data collection.

Streamline operations with automation

Insurance agencies and carriers are looking for ways to manage costs and protect their profits due to inflation. They can do this by using tech solutions that employ automation to simplify operations and make producer workflows more efficient.

Digital solutions can help agencies and carriers cut down on operational costs by getting rid of manual tasks such as form filling and license renewal tracking. This can result in a more efficient bottom line while also allowing agents and support staff to concentrate on helping clients and building stronger relationships. Ultimately, this helps insurance customers during a challenging market.

Assistance in mitigating risks

In an insurance hard market, companies are less willing to assume risk, so they focus on risk prevention. To help their clients prevent risks, insurance companies can use predictive technologies and advanced tools for product and service visualization to evaluate possible risks in the present and future.

Insurance professionals can use technology solutions to accurately predict risks for different types of coverage. This is particularly important in a difficult insurance market to ensure the survival of an insurance carrier. For example, advanced weather forecasting software can help agents understand their clients’ flood insurance needs and digital twins can replicate important equipment to give insurers a complete picture of potential issues and maintenance requirements before they become a problem.

Earning a client’s trust as a producer involves helping them reduce risk during a tough market where insurance options are limited. Additionally, agents who understand their client’s risk well can establish better relationships with underwriters, giving them an advantage because underwriters are less likely to insure higher-risk proposals.

Enhance the process of gathering information

In challenging market conditions, it’s important for agents to build a good relationship with their carrier partners. While looking for higher commission carriers may be helpful during a market downturn, it’s no longer a useful strategy when the market is on the rise.

When the client needs specific coverage that only a limited number of carriers provide, it’s important for agents to have several dependable carriers to work with. To strengthen the relationship between producers and carriers, agencies can utilize data collection tools that ease the workload for carriers.

Agencies are advised to find a technological solution that can improve the accuracy of their data and simplify their data collection process. By using technology, agents can provide carriers with higher-quality data in a shorter amount of time. This will ultimately lead to increased satisfaction for both carriers and agents, allowing them to focus more on delivering excellent service to their clients.

Advancing ahead

The insurance market experiences cycles, indicating changes in market conditions over a period. A hard market, which is currently challenging due to unstable inflation rates and carriers’ reluctance to take risks, will eventually become easier once inflation stabilizes and carriers become more willing to take risks. During this time, agencies and producers can improve their relationships with clients and carriers to benefit from the existing hard market.

Investing in technology during a hard market can lead insurance professionals to experience better workflow efficiency and greater value to clients, even as the market becomes softer. Additionally, agencies, carriers, or MGAs that perform strongly in a hard market are likely to continue seeing positive outcomes in a soft market.

April 28, 2023
Automation Business Featured General Insurance

The industries of health insurance and employee benefits are experiencing a shift in attitude that is like other industries. Consumers now expect more when it comes to researching, selecting, and acquiring products because of advanced digital experiences offered by companies like Amazon and Netflix.

Due to the pandemic, employers must now provide competitive benefit programs to attract and retain top employees. This has led everyone involved in the industry – including brokers, agents, insurers, benefits providers, and technology platforms – to work remotely and discover better ways to remain relevant. The insurance industry must adapt due to demographic, social, and technological shifts, which present both opportunities and risks.

Although the healthcare industry is a lucrative market worth billions of dollars, it tends to be sluggish in integrating new technologies. Health insurance brokers face challenges in managing data and processes across multiple parties, including carriers, brokers, employers, and clients. For instance, when initiating a new plan, data must be gathered from diverse sources and entered into the system manually. This task is time-consuming and may result in inaccuracies. Processing claims, checking eligibility, and communicating with carrier partners and customers usually involves exchanging several emails, which can lead to inefficiency.

The process of enrolling a group of employees with a carrier can take a while. It involves various steps like requesting a proposal, comparing quotes, providing plan consulting, and receiving routine service. However, exchanging a large amount of data in PDF files via email can make this process more difficult. This may result in mistakes, delays, and problems with ensuring quality control.

A better approach

The healthcare industry is struggling with old and costly systems that are hard to update or replace. Additionally, regulatory requirements must be followed. Implementing new solutions improperly could lead to serious financial and reputational harm. Compared to other industries, the healthcare industry is less flexible, which means that it does not innovate or advance as quickly to meet the demands of consumers.

APIs can help health insurance brokers to integrate different systems and simplify their procedures, leading to savings in time and money, increased precision, and enhanced communication. APIs provide a set of protocols that enable various software applications to communicate effectively. As a result, the customer experience is improved. APIs facilitate easy data exchange between different systems, eliminating manual data entry and reducing the chances of errors. By using APIs, health insurance brokers can link their systems with those of their carrier partners, leading to seamless transfer of data and automating a range of procedures.

APIs can be beneficial for health insurance brokers in many ways. One advantage is that they can eliminate the need for manual data entry and emails, thereby saving brokers a considerable amount of time. This time savings could equate to thousands of hours annually, allowing brokers to focus on valuable tasks such as building customer relationships, improving service, and expanding their business. Additionally, APIs can speed up setting up new plans and checking eligibility, enabling brokers to provide efficient and fast service to meet customer needs.

Using APIs can prevent errors that may happen during manual data entry, like missing data, typos, or incorrect information. Such errors can cause legal problems, delays, and extra expenses. By contrast, APIs enable immediate data transfer and automatic data validation, guaranteeing that the information remains accurate and current. This greatly improves customer service quality and reduces the possibility of errors.

APIs can improve communication efficiency, particularly for health insurance brokers who can communicate in real time with their carrier partners and customers. This enables a prompt response time, as APIs can quickly transmit information such as claims details to the partner’s system. This facilitates faster and more efficient claim handling, leading to reduced waiting times for customers to receive reimbursement.

APIs in the P&C Insurance Sector

APIs have become increasingly popular in the P&C (Property and Casualty) Insurance industry due to their ability to enable communication and data sharing between different systems and applications. Here are some ways APIs are being used in the P&C insurance industry:

1. Streamlining Claims Processing: Claims processing involves multiple parties such as insurers, adjusters, and third-party vendors. APIs can be used to automate and streamline the claims process, reducing the time and costs associated with manual processes.

2. Enhancing Customer Experience: APIs can be used to integrate insurance applications with customer-facing channels such as mobile apps, chatbots, and websites. This enables customers to access their policy information, file claims, and receive updates in real-time, enhancing their overall experience.

3. Risk Assessment: APIs can be used to collect and analyze data from various sources such as social media, weather, and IoT devices to assess risk accurately. This can help insurers identify potential claims and prevent fraudulent claims.

4. Product Development: APIs can help insurers collaborate with insurtech startups and other third-party vendors to develop innovative insurance products. This enables insurers to leverage emerging technologies and stay ahead of the competition.

5. Legacy System Modernization: APIs can be used to integrate legacy systems with new applications, making it easier for insurers to modernize their IT infrastructure and improve efficiency.

Overall, APIs have the potential to transform the P&C insurance industry by improving efficiency, enhancing customer experience, and driving innovation.

Facilitating the connection between people and technology

Although the healthcare industry has been improving with tools such as virtual reality for patients and health data apps, the pandemic has highlighted a necessity for standardization in data and customer interfaces throughout the industry. To genuinely enhance healthcare, we require a comprehensive strategy that involves data, APIs for connecting information from various organizations, and professionals who can effectively utilize the outcomes.

Using APIs is crucial for insurance brokers who want to succeed in today’s market. APIs offer modern and efficient solutions that help brokers improve their data management and streamline operations. By integrating APIs with their carrier partners, brokers can enhance service quality, improve communication accuracy, and focus on essential tasks. This ultimately creates a better customer experience and keeps the brokers competitive in a market where customers demand immediate results.

April 26, 2023
Business Featured General Insurance

The P&C industry invested heavily in digital tools with the intention of cutting costs, settling claims quickly, and maximizing customer satisfaction. However, due to inflationary pressures as well as supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic, policyholders have become skeptical of these digital solutions and are increasingly favoring direct one-on-one interactions with their insurers.

An eye-opening survey from J.D. Power discovered a vast surge in policyholders consulting their insurer for guidance, while digital claims reporting usage has unexpectedly dropped for the first time in history.

Despite the $700 billion property and casualty industry investing a whopping $8 billion in digital transformation over just 18 months, research has found that only 40% of claimants had positive experiences.

According to the recently released J.D. Power 2023 U.S Property Claims Satisfaction StudySM, 2022 was an incredibly challenging year financially for homeowners’ insurance providers because of increasing severity in events, expenses, and longer processing times— all of which have severely impaired customer satisfaction and tested the capabilities of digital tools meant to facilitate quicker resolutions and more efficient outcomes.

Digital technology cannot provide personalized support

Navigating the claims process can be daunting without a human representative to provide assurance and guidance. People often feel overwhelmed when they are struggling with delays, yet need reassurance that their issue will eventually be resolved. Digital alone simply cannot offer this level of support and understanding.

The 2023 study yielded some significant discoveries, including:

Repairs are taking longer to finish than before: Claim resolution time has been extended by four days since the previous year, and a full week longer than what was reported in the 2021 survey. On average, it now takes 22 days from claim reporting to completion of repairs.

The performance of insurance companies is inconsistent: The industry has improved by 3 points on the 1,000-point scale. However, out of the 17 ranked insurers, 8 declined in customer satisfaction while 9 showed progress year over year. Those that experienced significant improvements have been able to restrict their customers from having to contact them for information– which is an essential distinction between brands with higher or lower scores.

Proactively managing client expectations is paramount: While repair cycles of three weeks or longer can make customers feel dissatisfied, insurers can ameliorate customer satisfaction during lengthier and more intricate repairs by taking a couple of simple steps, including:

• Providing different ways for customers to stay informed about their repair status

• Establishing accurate estimates for claim duration

• Curbing customer requests for information

• Ensuring swift customer service is accessible

Pushing digital options on customers that prefer a call puts an undue burden on customer satisfaction: Customers who prefer to communicate with their insurer via more traditional channels, such as phone or in-person meetings, often report lower levels of satisfaction if they’re forced to use digital platforms for key parts of the claim process.

According to the research conducted, Erie Insurance ranked first regarding property insurance claims experience with a remarkable score of 912. Following suit was Amica in second place, scoring 903, and Nationwide trailing behind at 884.

April 20, 2023
« Previous Page — Next Page »