The US insurance\nmarket is experiencing transformation at a rate faster than one expects. Over\nthe years, the transformation has been induced by fast changing customer demands,\nproliferation of requirements, improved connectivity etc. These factors have\nalways remained a constant and with each passing year have assumed new and\ncomplex dimensions. In 2020, these factors will once again have a major bearing\non the trends.<\/p>
This year, like\nevery other year, the insurance industry will take new strides to explore\nopportunities to grow and at the same time offer greater convenience to people.\nWhile on the one hand it will embrace new technologies like Intelligence\nProcess Automation (IPA) to make processes leaner and fast on the other it will\nseek to grow leveraging new age connectivity solutions like micromobility. <\/p>
Over the last few years industry trends in the insurance industry have primarily been driven by Data Analytics and Automation. These technologies have now evolved to give way to a more advanced form of automated technology called Intelligence Process Automation (IPA). This year, most insurers will be exploring the possibilities of streamlining their business with this technology. <\/p>
The technology comprises handling major processes with bots equipped with computer vision and other cognitive capabilities like Natural Language Processing (NLP). These highly advanced bots are capable of improving process turnaround times by 20 times thus helping insurers get rid of backlogs and process related delays once and for all.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>
Why IPA Will Be the Cornerstone of Insurance Technology <\/strong><\/h3>
- Smart Workflows: <\/strong>IPA benefits critical\nbusiness processes such as claims automation by importing customer data from\nCRM systems to validate and archive them. IPA bots can scan and digitize\ncustomer information and contract terms of an insurance policy. Their ability\nto distinguish between claims and route them to the correct repository is the\nnew advantage that will make a huge difference to claims quality and turnaround\ntimes.<\/li><\/ul>
- Cost Reduction: <\/strong> The added ability\nof IPA bots to discern from different documents gives it the ability to\nautomate more than one process at a time. This is a stark contrast to the\nlinear nature of RPA that could handle only single pre-programmed tasks. The\nimprovement in the overall operational efficiency of the insurance claims\nprocess helps insurers reduce costs in the long run.<\/li><\/ul>
- Process Diversity: <\/strong>The learning abilities of\nIPA software suites enable insurers to automate more advanced tasks such as\nmaking the decision to send out emails to the customer after validating the\nsubscription information of their insurance policy. The same bot would also\nnotify internal employees to follow up with the said customer for policy\nrenewal.<\/li><\/ul>
MicroMobility:\nA New Opportunity for Insurers to Grow in 2020<\/strong><\/h2>
Micromobility is an industry that is driven by disruptive technology. Conventional insurance businesses do not provide coverage for users of electric scooters for insurance. There has been much to discuss who pays for damages caused by these new modes of transport.<\/p>
Since micromobility users are susceptible to the same risks that vehicles covered by automotive insurance, and that the industry would continue to evolve and attract customers at an exponential rate, the need for insurance has been established. Therefore, in 2020, insurers will focus on managing the insurance requirements of the new age industry.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>
Why Insurers will\nTap into Micromobility in 2020:<\/strong><\/h3>
- New Opportunity from a New Market:<\/strong> With micro mobility insurers have a brand-new opportunity to grow their business. Electric Vehicles (EV) are the future and sooner or later insurers have to be ready to provide coverage for all forms of micromobility vehicles. In 2020 insurers will come with new policies to target this section. <\/li>
- Large and Growing Volumes: <\/strong>The number of micro mobility users is growing by the thousands. Insurance companies have the option to diversify their business by providing coverage for a swiftly growing vehicular segment. Therefore, vehicle insurance is all set to grow this year.<\/li><\/ul>
- Opportunity to Emerge as Market Leader:<\/strong> Not\nmany insurance companies have tested this new market. Insurers who offer great\ncoverage with equally good customer service can cement their reputation as a\npioneer in the segment. With this in mind competition to attract micromobility\ncustomers is likely to increase.<\/li><\/ul>
In 2020, the\nInsurance Industry will Embrace Telematics to Reduce Losses<\/strong><\/h2>
TELEMATICS is a\nmethod of monitoring a vehicle like a car, truck, heavy equipment, or even ship\nby using GPS and onboard diagnostics. In 2020 the insurance industry will go\nall out to embrace this technology. By using telematics, automotive insurance\nproviders can monitor the driving habits and vehicle condition of a customer. As\ntelematics leverages a blend of information technology and telecommunications\nto track vehicular activity, insurance companies will make use of this data to\nprofile the risks associated with an individual. Although it is a radical new\nconcept that requires the cooperation of the policy holder, it has a lucrative\ncost incentive associated with it. <\/p>
Why Telematics Will be a Driving Trend in 2020<\/strong><\/h3>
- Reduces the Costs of Owning Insurance:<\/strong>\nAutomotive insurance policies issued to drivers accountable for road safety\nhave to pay very less premium for their insurance. If more customers adapt this\nnew insurance trend, it will significantly increase policy sales. Likewise, it\nwill help insurance companies reduce possible losses by not issuing out\npolicies to risky drivers<\/li><\/ul>
- Gives Safe Drivers an Incentive: \n<\/strong>Drivers who are committed to road safety can\nearn huge savings in auto insurance costs. This serves as an incentive for them\nto remain committed to safe driving habits.<\/li><\/ul>
- Promotes Safety: <\/strong>Vehicle drivers are always\nseeking good insurance policy at cheaper rates. Since drivers have to establish\ntheir risk profile in real time by consenting to insurers, it promotes over all\nroad safety and reduces payments that need to be made due to accidents.<\/li><\/ul>
In 2020 Drones\nwill Add a New Dimension to Claims and Loss Run Validation<\/strong><\/h2>
Insurers who specialize in land and agriculture deal with high stakes. They are liable to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in case of a claim. This calls for a concerted effort that begins with an examination of the land or property. Farmers insurance is a fine example of how unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) can be used to assess risks.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>
To counter this, Insurance\ncompanies will increasingly seek the help of private drone pilots or aviation\ncompanies to assess property damage dimensions and determine the premium amount\nfor the customer. This would give them a good understanding of the costs\nassociated with property development and maintenance.<\/p>
How Drones Will Change the way the Insurance Industry\nOperates<\/strong><\/h3>
Safety: <\/strong>The federal laws of many\nstates in the United States require periodic inspection of boilers. Some\nindustrial boilers are several stories high. Their sheer size makes them\ndifficult to inspect them adequately. With the help of drones, insurance\ncompanies can find an ideal way to inspect these structures safely and in full\nmeasure.<\/p>
Fraud Detection: <\/strong>Property insurance providers are no strangers to fraudulent attempts to\nclaim a policy. In the event of a natural calamity it is difficult to assess\nthe validity of the claim. The property for which claims are initiated may have\nsustained damage before. Any drone videos of the locality and of the property\nbefore the calamity would vastly help insurance companies detect such frauds.<\/p>
Cheap:<\/strong> The use of drones greatly\nreduces inspection costs. This is because, a proper aerial view of the\nstructure is good enough to have a comprehensive assessment of the structure.\nIt costs a lot less to have a drone fly and examine a property than have an\nagent make an onsite inspection of the property.<\/p>
In 2020 Industry Will Rely More on Voice Based Personal Assistant for Enhanced Customer Experience<\/strong><\/h2>
Siri and Google\npersonal assistant gave mobile phone users a fun and highly interactive tool to\nlook for information on the internet. Insurance companies will leverage such\ninteractive features along with their existing communication channels such as\nemail and customer portals to enhance the customer experience. <\/p>
In 2020 most insurance companies will integrate voice assistant APIs to their communication platforms. These features can range from support for voice-based queries to full-fledged personal assistants that can act as a virtual receptionist when a customer calls to the insurer’s customer care number.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>
How Voice\nAssistants Will Give Payers an Edge<\/strong><\/h2>
Interaction that Feels Natural: <\/strong> Google’s personal assistant is capable of\ntaking appointments from customers on behalf of a reception desk. It does this\nflawlessly without the caller realizing that it is actually a voice assistant\non the other side. This impressive technology will be embedded by insurance\ncompanies into their mobile apps and online portals to provide customers a\nmemorable and a smooth interaction about services and queries.<\/p>
Faster Service Time:<\/strong> Voice\nassistants can work more efficiently than humans do. It is precisely because of\nthis that most insurance companies will go all out to adopt voice assistants in\n2020, irrespective of the huge costs involved. Payors who have started adopting\nvoice assistants in 2019 have made the life of their customers a lot easy. They\nno longer have to keep customer calls on hold to speak to a customer support\nexecutive.<\/p>
Stepped Up Efforts to Automate Claims Processing, Loss Run Renewal and Policy Checking<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>
Insurance companies spend a considerable amount of time and money in checking policies and processing claims<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. Every time a customer changes carrier, the new insurer runs a loss run report which details the number of claims made by them in the past. The loss run report is vital tool to determine the premium for a customer. <\/p>
Insurers have been trying to reduce the efforts required by these processes for many years now. Their goal was to automate sizable chunks of these mundane tasks to speed up the process without compromising on the accuracy of the processes. <\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>
The year 2020 is set to introduce the following important trends to this long-standing goal of insurers:<\/strong><\/p>
Use of Centralized Loss History Database:<\/strong> Most insurers will start tapping into community-based data entry to\nvalidate loss run reports. It primarily involves running a software through a\ncentralized resource that records loss history based on entries made by\nindividual contributors. <\/p>
In exchange for\ntheir efforts, every contributor gets access to the repository on demand. Such\na set up helps underwriters and insurance agents validate the loss history\nwithout having to resort to the traditional, manual method of loss history\ncollection mostly with the help of third-party agencies. <\/p>
Automated Organization of Unstructured Data:<\/strong> Data validation and data storage are two of the biggest challenges\nthat insurers encounter with automation. The process of using RPA bots and\nsoftware suites with text reading technology such as Optical Character\nRecognition (OCR) to automate date entry already exists.<\/p>
The challenge lies in making them more efficient and accurate enough to decide on their own. Newer automation models that involve neural networks to recognize customer and insurance data to make decision will be central to insurance automation in 2020. With advancements in big data analytics frameworks and data storage hardware, bots that are already automating policy checking and claims processing<\/em><\/strong><\/a> will get smarter.<\/p>
Cognitive Excellence: <\/strong>Technologies\nsuch as Predictive Analytics and Natural Language Processing have opened the\ndoors for cognitive functions. While these technologies have been experimented\ntime and again in the industry, this year Insurers will go all out to\nincorporate these technologies to aid important functions such as policy\nchecking. Insurers will strive to develop self-learning systems to program the\nsystem to distinguish customer policies that need renewal from the ones that\nneed an upgrade or fresh subscription. Further Insurers will explore the\npossibility of using cognitive functions to enhance and streamline insurance\npolicy generation process.<\/p>
To sum it up, in 2020, the insurance industry’s roadmap to growth will be largely designed by preventative, protective as well as pro-active measures to expand and stay relevant with time.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>
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