# Walking the tightrope in insurance
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2021-11-30
Category: INSURANCE
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/insurance
Meta Title: How Hyper-Automation Enhances Customer Satisfaction and
Meta Description: Discover how insurers can delight customers, control costs, and improve the claims process through hyper-automation. Transform your insurance customer
URL: https://financedigest.com/walking-the-tightrope-in-insurancehtml

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_By_ **_Adam Goldsmith,_** _Insurance Specialist,_ [_SAS UK & Ireland_](https://www.sas.com/en_gb/home.html)

Insurers have the near-impossible task of keeping customers satisfied with the service they’re given whilst ensuring costs are controlled to ensure profitability. At the point a customer makes a claim, it’s often at a point of high stress and emotion, but it can also open up an insurer to a process that is more costly than necessary. However, with the help of hyper-automation within the claims process, [insurers](https://www.financedigest.com/different-countries-different-insurance-cultures-how-insurers-can-adapt-their-products.html "insurers") can get the best of both worlds; delighting customers and controlling costs.

**Automating the claims process**

Customers [expect digital solutions and channels](https://www.financedigest.com/british-pm-sunak-expected-to-shelve-plans-to-privatise-channel-4-ft.html "British PM Sunak expected to shelve plans to privatise Channel 4 -FT"). For example, [customers buy](https://www.financedigest.com/should-insurers-buy-data-direct-from-their-customers.html "Should insurers buy data direct from their customers?") groceries online, fix their computers through online chatbots, and “visit” their GP on zoom. So, it’s not a surprise that customers are looking for the same [digital communication strategy from their insurance](https://www.financedigest.com/insurers-beware-fraudsters-love-digital.html "INSURERS BEWARE: FRAUDSTERS LOVE DIGITAL!") company. In fact the move online has been further driven by the [global pandemic](https://www.financedigest.com/outbreak-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-is-expected-to-severely-affect-the-global-packaging-and-labelling-services-market.html "Outbreak of The COVID-19 Pandemic is Expected To Severely Affect The Global Packaging And Labelling Services Market ").

By integrating digital tools into the customer journey, [insurers can save time when a customer](https://www.financedigest.com/5-ways-a-ccm-platform-can-help-improve-customer-engagement-in-insurance.html "5 Ways a CCM platform can help improve customer engagement in insurance") makes a claim. Customers typically have to [call and talk](https://www.financedigest.com/stellantis-ceo-calls-for-talks-to-soften-eus-2035-fossil-fuel-car-ban.html "Stellantis CEO calls for talks to soften EU’s 2035 fossil-fuel car ban") to a claims handler on the phone. But, with modern insurers, the initial [communication is done via](https://www.financedigest.com/teach-first-reaps-the-benefits-of-joined-up-communications-with-via-voice.html "Teach first reaps the benefits of joined-up communications with via voice ") an app; the customer fills in all of the common questions that a handler would ask and uploads photos of the claim. Before automation, a [witness statement could take more than a week to collect, but the witness can now enter the incident report within hours using a digital](https://www.financedigest.com/the-astrovirus-infection-treatment-market-to-witness-a-digitized-steeple.html "The Astrovirus Infection Treatment Market to witness a digitized steeple") tool. [Insurers with modern digital solutions help speed up the initial claims process and improve the customer](https://www.financedigest.com/how-artificial-intelligence-can-help-improvethe-customer-journey-in-insurance.html "How Artificial Intelligence can help improve the customer journey in Insurance") experience. The faster turnaround time saves labour costs and ensures the [customer has a better experience](https://www.financedigest.com/psd2-and-personalising-customer-experience.html "PSD2 and Personalising Customer Experience").

The more advanced insurance companies have implemented a digital coach to increase conversion and [cut costs](https://www.financedigest.com/gms-cruise-to-focus-on-cost-cuts-as-it-ramps-up-robotaxis.html "GM’s Cruise to focus on cost cuts as it ramps up robotaxis"), such as Ella, a Digital Coach implemented by Canada Life. This is a great example of how the creation of a friendly and [personable interactive digital](https://www.financedigest.com/personalized-digitization-to-drive-the-antiseptic-bathing-market.html "Personalized digitization to drive the Antiseptic Bathing Market") coach that provides tips, nudges, and personalised information to Sun Life customers, can increase value for both Sun Life clients and Sun Life itself. It helped [boost the net](https://www.financedigest.com/recruiter-hays-boosted-by-record-net-fees-but-cautious-on-outlook.html "Recruiter Hays boosted by record net fees, but cautious on outlook") promoter score (NPS) by 14% and client engagement by 50%, helping it become ‘ **Winner** **of the 2020 Celent Model Insurer Award for Customer Experience Transformation’.**

**The [digital customer](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-maintain-customer-loyalty-and-trust-in-the-face-of-a-pandemic-and-digital-competition.html "How to maintain customer loyalty and trust in the face of a pandemic and digital competition") journey**

When a customer is making a claim, they are often in a highly emotive moment and under a lot of stress.  So, [communication is vital](https://www.financedigest.com/why-is-communication-vital-in-the-event-of-a-cyber-attack.html "WHY IS COMMUNICATION VITAL IN THE EVENT OF A CYBER-ATTACK?") at this moment. When a customer contacts the claims handler either by [phone or digital](https://www.financedigest.com/snap-happy-79-of-brits-ditch-digital-cameras-in-favour-of-phone-photos.html "Snap Happy: 79% of Brits ditch digital cameras in favour of phone photos") channel, the communication strategy should be personalised to the individual customer’s needs and sensitive to any associated stress. For example, when a customer has a road traffic accident, the first instinct should be to ask if everyone in the car is ok and then proceed with details about the claim. It is a moment in the [customer journey that could even determine whether a customer is retained](https://www.financedigest.com/retaining-insurance-customers-in-a-post-pandemic-environment.html "Retaining insurance customers in a post-pandemic environment") or not. Therefore it’s essential that [insurers understand the customer context](https://www.financedigest.com/managing-trade-credit-and-insurance-in-the-context-of-international-commerce-expansion.html "Managing trade credit and insurance in the context of international commerce expansion ") when they make contact. For example, being able to follow the [‘breadcrumb trail’](https://www.financedigest.com/how-a-trail-of-breadcrumbs-is-leading-straight-to-financial-infrastructure.html "How a trail of breadcrumbs is leading straight to financial infrastructure") of the customers’ digital activity can give guidance on how best to serve that customer, and ensure all available context is given to making the optimal decision.

The claims process should be [customer-centric and recognise each customer](https://www.financedigest.com/the-value-of-customer-centricity-to-c-suite-financial-strategy.html "The value of customer-centricity to C-Suite financial strategy") individually.  With a digitally [enhanced solution it becomes possible to continually refine and improve personalisation and the customer experience](https://www.financedigest.com/enhancing-the-guest-experience-in-hospitality.html "Enhancing the guest experience in hospitality"). [Insurance claims handlers can track customer behaviours and needs](https://www.financedigest.com/breaking-down-the-types-of-insurance-you-need.html "Breaking Down the Types of Insurance You Need") as well as follow past experiences with the customer in order to answer their claims questions more accurately and effectively. [Insurers can also learn from existing customers to make more informed decisions and strengthen their communication strategies in the future](https://www.financedigest.com/insuring-themselves-for-the-future.html "Insuring themselves for the future").

Insurers can [save time](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-use-algorithms-to-save-time-and-make-money-when-trading-currency-crypto-shares-etc.html "How to use algorithms to save time and make money when trading (currency, crypto, shares etc)") and, therefore, money by making intelligent decisions throughout the claims process. By being smarter about this process, claims handlers can [spend less time](https://www.financedigest.com/its-time-for-banks-to-spend-on-digital-mortgage-journeys.html "It’s time for banks to spend on digital mortgage journeys") on repetitive tasks and focus on complex claims, making insurers are more efficient. Perhaps more importantly, understanding customers better and [improving retention rates will help modern insurers](https://www.financedigest.com/improving-online-visibility-for-insurers.html "IMPROVING ONLINE VISIBILITY FOR INSURERS") compete in the evolving customer-centric insurance industry. Whilst all of this is important, we need to remember that these intelligent decision tools are just that; they are still just tools and are there to support claims handlers without losing the [human touch](https://www.financedigest.com/putting-the-human-touch-back-into-banking-magazine.html "“Putting the human touch back into banking”-Magazine").

If you want to learn more about the digital claims journey and the future of Insurance go to watch the [Digital claims – the final frontier on Demand](https://www.sas.com/en_gb/webinars/digital-claims-the-final-frontier.html).


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