Roundtable: How can data enrich the property claims journey from FNOL to payments?

Data enrichment has been used in the property underwriting process to calculate and influence how risks are assessed and priced. However, this is not necessarily the case when it comes to claims.

What datasets are people using to manage their property claims?

Charles Bush: We have EFNOL portals tailored as you go through the question: Is your claim a home insurance claim for buildings or contents? If it is buildings, then the question set is a lot more detailed in terms of what has happened and what has gone wrong, and if it is contents, it’s a lot shorter and briefer.

Regarding the datasets, we can’t say this is what we are capturing. It is very much tailored to the claim that person has experienced to enable us to make quicker, more informed decisions to get that customer back to where they want to be.

Sophie Ward: At Pen, we use our data in terms of times to settle claims in the claims team. For our lower value claims – a big chunk of the claims we get – the time to settle compared to the higher volume claims was probably at a similar level. And we thought, ‘there is something we can do there to try and reduce that’. There’s lots of work on our fast-lane process, tailored towards claims under £5000 with set criteria to say; you can get this, this, and this. If it’s fine and there are no fraud concerns, we can ultimately settle your claim on day one.

Since launching, we have seen a considerable change in settling time, which we continue to monitor.

Philippa Pentland: We have put in place different processes for direct and reinsurance business. We also work with our group companies, to gather the data, and to put together a service level agreement as to how we gather this data, setting out parameters to guarantee an efficient service, and to ensure we are all aligned.

How are you bringing things like photography and video into your claims process?

Robert Hopkins: Video is essential in a couple of ways. It helps with sustainability. If we can clearly understand the damage’s extent with a claim without having to send someone out and put boots on the ground, that would benefit the footprint cost. It also helps the customer when we are putting ourselves in the customer’s shoes and see the damage through our customer’s eyes. It breeds confidence, and it brings trust that the insurer truly understands what’s going on.

If we can clearly understand the damage’s extent with a claim without having to send someone out and put boots on the ground, that would benefit the footprint cost. It also helps the customer when we are putting ourselves in the customer’s shoes and see the damage through our customer’s eyes. It breeds confidence, and it brings trust that the insurer truly understands what’s going on."

Robert Hopkins

Bush: Within Zurich, we have a tool called HelloZurich. It is live video conferencing between our agent behind the desk and the customer at the end of the telephone, on their smartphone, showing us the damage. We can say to someone, ‘I’m going to send you a link; tap the link, and we will be able to see you in the room, and we can see the damage’. It has a considerable fraud benefit because suddenly gone are the days you submit a standard Google image of paint spilt on the carpet.

It also has a significant impact from a vulnerable customer perspective. We have seen people on the telephone say, ‘we’ve got this leaking water claim’. ‘Is it serious?’ ‘Not really’ and we send them a link, and suddenly, you realise it is severe. But equally, it works where someone is trying to expedite a claim with the view that it is incredibly serious, but it is not too bad.

Neil Grimes: It is almost expected as we live in an age where videoing with our phones is second nature. People are so used to it. The only thing is ensuring they record the right things for their pictures. Also, ensuring the people looking at it on the other side understand what they are looking at.

Kajal Vakas: We see in motor that platforms can take that image and turn it into structured data to feed an algorithm. Does the same thing happen in home damage claims to be able to understand the types of claims being seen?

Nick Hill: That is starting to evolve. At the front end, we are introducing more multi-media data capture with the notification process. So getting photos and videos – whether it is the damage or the customer speaking about the damage – and starting to layer in the analytics behind that, the metadata or geotagging, or analytics on speech patterns, whatever it may be. I don’t think it’s mainstream yet.

Will we ever get away from manual notification in property claims?

Bush: Every claim is slightly different, so we won’t fully get away from an element of manual involvement. But manual involvement should be around the things humans can do better rather than doing things that are best done by machines.

Every claim is slightly different, so we won’t fully get away from an element of manual involvement. But manual involvement should be around the things humans can do better rather than doing things that are best done by machines.”

Charles Bush

The only area where I would challenge some of that thinking is around possessions claims, whether a mobile phone, an iPad, a laptop or a camera. There’s no need for a human to be involved here. But as soon as you get into the building or more significant contents claims, humans need to fill the role.

Grimes: It is tough to get claims staff. I fear there will be a skills drain in our area. Computers and technology can do one bit but look at fraud triggers. I trust my gut over a computer on a claim any day. You will not get people to come into the industry with that level of experience. They must start somewhere and build it up. You must have that manual element so we can bring on the next generation of claims staff. Otherwise, we are going to have a big problem with succession planning.

Pentland: I still don’t think you can take away the personal interaction. We can get all the information from better risk writing but still need that personal touch.

Hopkins: That comes back to those emotionally complex claims. It might not be a complex claim, but there is emotion involved in doing that. That is where handlers are critical. But the technology and the data augment that process. It assists the handler in finding the right way.

Ward: Personal touch is important, especially on property claims. That’s peoples’ homes, peoples’ businesses. They have worked hard for it. Something so small could be so big for them.

One of the reasons people like to talk to their insurers is there is a trust gap between the policyholder and the insurer. People go into a claim ready to fight; therefore, you want to rely on something other than technology.”

Kajal Vakas

Vakas: One of the reasons people like to talk to their insurers is there is a trust gap between the policyholder and the insurer. People go into a claim ready to fight; therefore, you want to rely on something other than technology.

How do you manage the relationship with third parties so that the customers don’t have to give out the same information multiple times?

Hopkins: When bringing on suppliers, it is about looking at their systems to see if they are API-ready to build a data bridge to avoid giving out the same information multiple times. Exchanging data – live data – that any party on that claim can see and can use. You might want to put certain filters around what can be seen at times, but a hub of data must be shared.

Bush: We have several contract renewals next year, and this is at the heart of the question we are asking our suppliers about what tools are being used. Are they on the same platforms as we are? Do they have that connectivity? It is essential.

This is equally as relevant within your organisation. We ask for this information at the point of underwriting. How can we reuse and repurpose the data without having to ask for it again and again?

Hill: The more you can leverage the application of the data in driving those consistent and accurate decisions or faster decisions or processes, the more it is going to drive the need to connect up a wider set of data from what across property is quite a fragmented end-to-end process where other suppliers are involved.

As the application of that data becomes mainstream, it will drive more connected APIs and integration of data throughout that supply chain. And the platforms everybody works off will become more and more pertinent to that.”

Nick Hill

As the application of that data becomes mainstream, it will drive more connected APIs and integration of data throughout that supply chain. And the platforms everybody works off will become more and more pertinent.

What data sources would you like to have managing property claims?

Hill: One source that doesn’t exist yet is flood mapping around surface water flooding, which we see as a much more prevalent risk. It is much harder to predict. The models developed use a much more predictable approach than satellite image approaches. This works better with coastal flooding to understand where the risks will come in so we can give customers a reasonably accurate warning of what might be coming.

Bush: One other source of data that would be great to harness is connected homes and leak detection robotics and heat sensors. We say that fridges will inform us when they overheat or when a pipe starts to have vibrations above a specific measure, allowing us to switch things off before they cause more damage. I am yet to find someone who can do this. At the moment, there need to be more homes connected in this way for it to be hugely valuable.

Hopkins: It is, as an industry, something we have been talking about for a long time. The stumbling block is who pays for those devices to go into homes and who benefits? It might be something for the customer, but if insurers pay for that, that customer is likely to move. There is an opportunity for the insurer to write the policy that gives the benefit to the customer to have these devices installed at their home, but it is how you get over that initial cost.

Where are we going with the use of data in the property claims journey in the short-to-medium term?

Bush: Data is going to become more advanced. It is going to accelerate. We are on a journey to make the most of unstructured data. We will move into an area where we start to look at things like NLP and voice recognition to identify the tone of a voice in terms of understanding how to deal with a set of circumstances from a customer experience point of view.

Pentland: I agree that data collection and allowances through the use of parametrics will grow and grow and grow. The claims are going to be more efficient. The pricing on the underwriting side will become more efficient because it maps the trends as it goes along.

Grimes: For the first time, you will have a proper joined-up approach between the claims and underwriting departments. This is the opportunity for this data and technology to work together. 

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