The digital transformation of the insurance sector means that work is getting done more effectively and with better customer service outcomes. Robot Process Automation (RPA), a software application that automates manual processes, is among the leading technological advances. RPA makes it possible to perform a wide range of tasks, such as gathering external data, automating repetitive tasks, and extracting information from documents. Using RPA to reliably perform manual tasks frees up time for a lot of other accomplishments by your team. For insurance companies, there are some very manually intensive tasks to populate all of the various platforms used to serve customers.
Robotic process automation for insurance companies allows key players to focus more on the customer experience by freeing up time and resources. Let's take a closer look at insurance RPA use cases and how they help streamline and improve current processes.
1. Reducing Manual Data Entry Processes
There is a lot of information collected about each insurance customer that needs to be stored in a customer record, as well as used by various team members to do their jobs. Countless claims and quotes are entered daily, which is certainly tedious and time-consuming. And, as you may already know, manual data entry comes with many potential problems, such as inconsistencies and human error. Not to mention, it's costly to pay employees to accomplish these tasks, and much of their workday ends up being centered on data entry.
RPA is an excellent solution for manual data entry processes. It helps to streamline the workflow so that it’s done quickly and consistently. RPA can be set up to accomplish thousands of manual tasks in a fraction of the time. It can also extract information from documents and store the data digitally in each of the internal systems that need to be updated.
Learn more about the benefits of implementing automations for insurance companies in our blog: How to Use RPA for Insurance Process Automation.
2. Coordinating Multiple Legacy Systems with New Software
Most insurance companies rely on legacy systems for processing business functions. However, over time there is usually the need to incorporate new systems for better functionality. It can feel overwhelming to transition to a new application, and sometimes new applications simply can't integrate with legacy systems. One of the most effective insurance RPA use cases in the insurance industry is effectively integrating systems so that they can communicate with one another, allowing for an automatic data flow between each application. This RPA ability means that all data is consistent across the various systems in use, causing fewer errors and a better customer experience.
3. Simplifying Policy Management
People change their address, their credit card, their policies and their coverage every day. Whether the data comes from the customer directly through an online data entry system, through an agent, or a customer service representative, there’s room for error when it comes to making sure every system is updated, as they need to be. But with RPA, you can connect the data entry points to the various systems internally. This means that the information is updated right away for everyone to access in your company.
4. Ensuring Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory compliance is another effective insurance robotic process automation use case. Insurance companies must adhere to regulations such as tax laws, PCI standards and other internal compliance requirements. These regulations change over time, which traditionally required a lot of training for the team to remember to react to situations using these new rules so that the company remains compliant.
By implementing robotic process automations, populating data in new places or generating new forms can be done automatically once the business rules are set. This requires a lot less time for a manager to monitor both changes and how well the team is abiding by them. Plus, there are fewer (or no) errors than before because the system is pre-set to follow specific rules.
5. Creating the Desired Self-Serve Customer Service Experience
Customers expect some level of self-service when it comes to updating their personal information, requesting a quote, submitting claims and other general account changes. People prefer not to have to call every time they need to make a simple update. While quality customer service will always be necessary, there is a lot of information that can be gathered directly from the customer through online systems or apps. These need to tie into the insurance company’s internal systems, including the CRM and other policy management software.
Another important automation feature for customer service is the chat bot. Not only is it a nice-to-have, most customers expect this as an option for communication. The bot is added to your website for quick answers to questions, any time of day. Visitors to your website can get answers outside of regular working hours. If a live-chat is needed to address the visitor’s questions, it can be handed off to a customer service representative or it can take their information so that you can contact them during business hours.
This on-demand assistance results in both faster responses to customer questions and a higher level of customer service.
6. Using RPA for Underwriting
Underwriting is a data-filled activity requiring information from a lot of different sources to determine risk and pricing. In fact, according to Accenture, more than 50% of the average carrier underwriter's day is spent on core processing and repetitive tasks instead of higher-value work. Pulling all of the information together that’s needed to make these decisions takes a lot of time and data mining, unless RPA has been set up to create the data set that the underwriter needs.
The time and money spent in setting up RPA for underwriting often has a very short return on investment. Adding automation to your underwriting process will allow underwriters to work more efficiently, producing more revenue-generating policies at a faster pace.
Learn more about automated underwriting in our blog.
7. Processing Insurance Claims With the Help of RPA
Insurance claims processing is one of the key insurance RPA use cases to consider. It's common knowledge that claims are always document and data-heavy, time-consuming, and tedious, typically requiring data-gathering from multiple sources. RPA can pull and distribute data for multiple sources (both customer and adjuster) faster and more accurately. It can also be set up to help detect fraudulent claims, potentially saving your company thousands of dollars. Read more about automated claims processing in our blog entitled: How to Use RPA for Automated Claims Processing.
Integratz for Insurance Process Automation Using RPA
If you’re considering starting a digital transformation, or you’ve started and you’re ready to expand on it, it’s a good idea to put an automation strategic plan in place - at Integratz, we call this your Automation Roadmap. If you don’t have one, it’s not too late. Let’s talk to see what works best for your 1-year, 3-year and 5-year automation goals. Contact us today to request a consultation.
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