Connected Claims USA 2023: Three Emerging Themes

Recently, I attended the Connected Claims USA conference in Austin, Texas, representing Hi Marley and joining other insurance professionals to check out the latest in claims technology and hear perspectives from a range of industry experts.

The conversations and presentations at Connected Claims USA did not disappoint, with claims leaders sharing their views on claims management, the evolution of the customer experience, the use of AI in the claims process, and so much more. Here are the three main themes I took away from the event.

1. The adjuster shortage has been addressed, resulting in less experienced adjusters.

During the pandemic, claim volume plummeted, and fewer adjusters were needed. Many experienced adjusters retired, were laid off or left the industry. What followed was a labor shortage that has largely been resolved, albeit with less seasoned adjusters. And with less experience comes a longer time-to-value.

As a result, insurance carriers are looking for ways to train adjusters and help them bring value faster. Here, the importance of coaching comes into play.

Thoughtful onboarding and coaching will help new adjusters develop skills that are critical to addressing customers’ needs, including prioritization, empathy, and communication. In turn, these skills enable adjusters to deliver exceptional customer experiences with increased efficiency.

2. Technology is needed to close the gap between customer expectations and reality.

As they’ve come to count on in other facets of their lives, insurance customers expect greater transparency and more frequent carrier communication. They expect their claims will be resolved faster and that communication with their adjuster will be lightning quick – and they expect to communicate in the ways that work best for them.

Simultaneously, historical supply chain issues persist, causing repairs to take longer than they did previously. This creates friction between customer expectations and the realities of the auto repair process.

As Paul Measley, Chief Claims Officer, Plymouth Rock Assurance, said at Hi Marley’s total loss webinar in September, “If you don’t set an expectation with the customer, then they will set it for you. You have to keep them informed about what’s going on.”

Customers want to be kept updated on their claims status and whether someone has been assigned to their case. They want to know what’s happening in the body shop, information on their rental car and when they’ll be paid.

Policyholders are expecting insurance carriers to leverage technology to add transparency to the claims process and improve communications. This has created a sense of urgency for carriers to find the best ways to meet these expectations, and to do it quickly.

3. Communication automation is a crucial investment.

Carriers have the information they need to keep customers informed in their core claims system. But for most carriers, keeping a customer informed means an adjuster has to pick up a phone to call the customer, or worse, the customer has to call them for an update—and phone tag ensues. Ideally, carriers will be able to communicate status changes on a claim through integration using event triggers that automatically notify customers about changes in claim status.

Automation presents a real opportunity to address many of the pressures insurance carriers are facing and significantly ease, if not solve, the challenges of communicating with customers.

It was validating to hear that these prominent themes from Connected Claims can be improved and even solved with Hi Marley.

• The platform gives supervisors the ability to view conversations between adjusters and customers and coach adjusters accordingly as part of their onboarding and training processes, enabling them to quickly boost adjustor productivity and improve customer interactions.
• Embedded AI and analytics can help supervisors understand what’s working, what’s not working—and why.
• Templated and automated text messages keep customers informed every step of the way.
• Questions are asked and answered quickly through SMS.
• Hi Marley integrates with the most popular core insurance systems of record.

To learn more about Hi Marley and our approach to improving the conversation in insurance, check out our white paper, “Deliver a Better Claim Experience by Uncovering Frequently Asked Questions”.