AI impacts claims for insureds and insurers alike

Using AI for claims functions has the potential to transform policyholder experiences along with the way insurance professionals handle claims, carriers’ claims technology executives say.

Don Jones, senior vice president, claims design and delivery at Allstate.

AI is an opportunity for the insurance industry to change everything from sales and retention to claims and underwriting, according to Don Jones, senior vice president, claims design and delivery at Allstate. The insurer is focused on re-platforming systems to bring new products to market faster, he said, “and create consistently great experiences for our customers that are affordable, simple and connected.” That means enabling customers to do a lot on their own, including choosing products, changing policies and filing claims.

To accomplish this, insurers have to show their employees that AI will enhance their careers through upskilling, according to Gwen Larkin, director of claims operations at American Family Insurance Group. This means giving them a stake in the changes AI will create, by letting them test its functions before implementation. “That’s part of what we’ve done at our company, really giving them this thing that we’re introducing and letting them just play with it,” she said. “How would they use it to enhance day to day work? So it feels less forced on them.”

Gwen Larkin, director of claims operations at American Family Insurance Group.

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Instilling empathy is a big part of this, Larkin added, saying that using AI to remove manual tasks for claims professionals will allow them to engage in more partnerships with their customers, for a variety of functions.

Insurers should make their staff part of the process of adopting AI to ensure it goes well, stated Charlie Wendland, vice president and head of claims at Branch. Wendland called this an even bigger concern than making sure the AI technology itself works.

Insurers should also have processes and governance in place to ensure that the use of AI to make decisions about coverage is fair, Larkin stated. That also includes working with regulators to make sure the use of AI complies with their guidance for standards and ethics, she said.