How motor insurance claims processing is evolving for customers on the go

Technology now impacts all aspects of our daily lives. Similarly, there are technologies that have already changed the face of many businesses and have made a big difference in the lives of their customers.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses across sectors were pushed to change the way they operate, including the insurance sector. For the insurance industry, companies had to depend heavily on their digital architecture starting from the selling of new policies to settling claims.

Parthanil Ghosh, President, Motor Business, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, says, “For the general insurance industry being high in transactions, it is imperative that we invest in technology to ensure efficiency in service and achieve customer delight in both policy issuance as well as claims servicing.” In an exclusive interview with Priyadarshini Maji, he explains how insurance companies have been widely implementing technology and how the customers could benefit from it.

How does HDFC ERGO’s IDEAS (Intelligent Damage detection Estimation and Assessment Solution) for motor claim settlements work?

Whenever claims arise, we try to pay the right amount at the earliest possible time to the policyholder. This is what led us to launch IDEAS (Intelligent Damage detection Estimation and Assessment Solution) an AI-powered digital tool to enrich our motor claims process.

IDEAS is trained with more than 400,000 images and uses a neural network, image processing, computer vision analytics and machine learning that supports instant damage detection. The tool provides the right assessment in a consistent manner considering the past trends in an extremely consistent manner.

The General Insurance industry being high in transactions, it is imperative that we invest in technology to ensure efficiency in service and achieve customer delight in both policy issuance as well as claims servicing.

What is the claim process of HDFC ERGO’s IDEAS, the Motor Self Inspection app?

The AI-powered digital tool’s launch along with the digital inspection for the company comes as an advantage for the surveyors, partner workshops as well as policyholders amidst the ongoing pandemic.

IDEAS supports surveyors in motor claims settlement in real-time. With this new tool, while the surveyors will be able to check the accurateness of their assessment, the claims will also be settled in an expeditious manner.

How does the digital tool’s module help minimize the risk of fraudulent claims?

IDEAS has in-built metadata capturing latitude and longitude of the vehicle as well as steps taken by the surveyor to take photographs of the damaged sections. This enables the module to check whether the photographs of the relevant vehicle are being uploaded and no process breach is undertaken.

If any non-standard issue is identified, then the IDEAS system alerts the surveyor, which thereby prevents approval of any fraudulent claim.

How has technology influenced people in the insurance sector?

The general insurance industry deals with a large number of transactions and that is one of the reasons we, as an industry, have been going digital at a faster pace. The sudden lockdown due to the pandemic has been our litmus test to prove our digital credentials and the results in the last one year has shown that we have been able to build quite a mature and robust system to serve our customers and partners on a 24X7 basis.

How are policyholders benefiting from digital solutions in the insurance sector?

Some of the customer centric ‘Digital First’ initiatives by HDFC ERGO includes Digital service channels like the website self-service portal and mobile app; Digital Value Added Services (VAS) that encourages digital payments, motor Self-inspection, etc.; Digital Claims Experience such as online submission of claim documents, Pre-repaid motor claim settlement, and Claim registration on WhatsApp Business.

These ensure that the policyholders get seamless service. For instance, relaxation has been given to customers with regards to the documentation required and also, the claims are being settled on basis of submission of scanned copies of the documents, uploaded by customers on the website or mobile app.

Similarly, in case a car is damaged during the lockdown, the customer can share the photos of the damage and the amount of the claim will be paid directly to the customer in his/her bank account.

Source: Financial Express