With the advent of the Internet in the early 90s, the insurance industry also took big steps towards digital insurance. However, digitalisation strategies were always thwarted because paper-based processes were preferred. Millennials and Generation Z grew up in the midst of digitalisation and now want their insurance to fit their digital lifestyle. Be it concluding and signing an insurance contract without paper, communicating with the insurance company via digital channels, or digitally submitting damage reports in a claim. However, although many insured people want digital processes – there are still many organisations who do not provide a complete digital service. So how can insurance companies pursue the wishes of their insured persons and make it easier to submit claims reports digitally? In this blog article, you will learn how your insurance company can automate damage reports in 5 steps and speed up the flow of information – without writing a line of code.
Claims reporting process
When we talk about automating claims reports, we have to distinguish between 2 storylines. 1. The actions carried out by the insured and 2. the subsequent activities of the insurance company. In order to sustainably improve the customer experience, it is important that the process of a claim is automated, and not just for insurance. It must be carried out digitally, from the detection of damage to the insured person through to the insured person’s documentation in your insurance company.
Compliance & Co.
The compliance regulations of the insurance industry are particularly important when recording and processing damage reports. Damage reports contain sensitive customer data that needs to be protected and are therefore subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR ). Software can be a tool to ensure the protection of personal data by processing and storing it in your insurance. Be it audit-proof storage , encrypted sending of insurance documents or storing insurance data in data centers.
When using software solutions as a tool for digital and legally compliant work in your insurance, especially when purchasing from third parties, the PRA and FCA (Insurance Supervisory Requirements for IT) also apply. The goal is to ensure the secure design of IT systems in insurance companies, as well as the associated processes and requirements for IT governance. The main focus being IT risk management and the management of IT resources.
If you are thinking about digitising damage reports in your insurance company, you should definitely take these compliance regulations into account.
5 steps to an automated damage report
To ensure that not only part of the chain (e.g. archiving damage reports to your insurance company) runs digitally, you should also review and assess the entire damage report process. Fortunately, the process for reporting a claim is usually the same. It can therefore be standardised and mapped using a workflow. A workflow is an automatic process plan and is used to simplify business processes, a clearly defined starting point, process and end point. In this way, you can digitally map every part of the process chain. Enabling you to simplify the flow of information in your insurance process, whilst assessing and making improvements in your customer experience. The following steps will highlight how you can automate this process in just 5 steps.
1. Planning/arrangement with experts
Before you automate the claim reporting process, it is crucial to consult experts from your own specialist departments, who work on a day-to-day basis with current processes. Together you can define the requirements for the resulting workflow, understand the processes and identify possible gaps and obstacles.
2. Design/Blueprint
Once you have a detailed understanding of requirements and have collected all the information you need, you can start structuring the process. Create a blueprint for automating the claims process that lays out the exact steps from start to finish. You should also consider the integration of existing systems. This way you can ensure that all relevant information is recorded in a structured manner. By the way, you don’t have to record this blueprint on paper; it can also be sketched using no-code software in the d.velop process studio.
3. Technical implementation
The blueprint has been finalised and approved by the relevant employees? Now it’s time for the technical implementation. Consult experts from the IT department to connect databases and interfaces and to map the automation process in the software. If you have already created the blueprint in the d.velop process studio, it will be easy for your IT administrator to implement it. All he has to do is use the necessary information from your insurance company’s third-party systems in the appropriate places.
4. Testing
Before you put the automated damage reporting into production, it is important to carry out extensive tests. Make sure that you have validated of all the steps in the process and that they work correctly. Ensure that data is processed correctly and that no errors occur on either, external or internal connectivity.
5. Monitoring & Optimisation
After implementation and successful testing, it is essential to continuously monitor the automated process. You can also conduct surveys among employees and insured persons to obtain specific feedback on the new, automated claims reporting process. This allows you to utilise further optimisation potential and continually improve the customer experience.
Process digitalisation without IT skills, is that possible?
With the help of workflow software such as the d.velop process studio, analog business processes are digitised and automated with IT support. In this way, you can automate recurring processes and relieve employees in your insurance company of monotonous tasks. Not only can more human resources be allocated to value-adding tasks, but the data quality of your insurance company is also improved. This enables insurance companies to improve their customer satisfaction and make informed decisions.
When it comes to process digitalisation, it is critical to involve employees. They are the ones who have to work the organisations systems on a daily basis. With the no-code approach of the d.velop process studio, it is possible for employees from specialist departments to model processes independently. This video shows using a simple approval process:
The use of workflows is an increasingly important part of competitive insurance. Insured people want simple, standardised and digital processes. By automating damage reports, you can reduce processing times in your insurance, minimise sources of error and avoid media disruptions. You can also improve the customer orientation of your insurance company, whilst increasing the customer experience of your insured clients.