Design Partner Ohio Mutual Shares Early Impact of Hi Marley’s Conversational FNOL™

First notice of loss (FNOL) is arguably the most crucial step in the claims process. Yet, current intake channels create frustration, inaccurate assignments and inefficient, repetitive workflows, leading to cycle time delays and poor customer experiences. Hi Marley is on a mission to change that with Conversational FNOL™.

Hi Marley’s Conversational FNOL is transforming the FNOL process to be faster, easier, and more efficient. In our latest webinar, Hi Marley’s Principal of Product Strategy, Alex Burgess, and Principal Product Manager, Nick Cook, spoke with Kate Dodson, Senior Project Manager at Ohio Mutual, who shared the carrier’s experience as a design partner for Conversational FNOL. Glenn Shapiro, retired President of Allstate, also provided insights on the evolving role of FNOL and how innovation is driving improvements.

Current State of FNOL: Inefficient, Inaccurate, Costly and Frustrating

In a recent survey of 800 people who filed an insurance claim in the past year, nearly 70 percent said they called their carrier or agent to report the claim. The data suggests that customers want to use their voice at FNOL, but long FNOL phone conversations are costly for carriers and require manual information gathering without an effective way to automate claim capture.

“Policyholders want to feel heard during that critical moment at first notice of loss,” said Nick Cook. “But the challenge for carriers is assignment accuracy. Today’s solutions do not help carriers obtain enough information to accurately assign a claim. And every time there’s a reassignment, it’s a poor customer experience, coupled with cost for the carrier.”

“Anytime you have to pick up the phone and talk to a customer, it costs money; that’s why FNOL is so important,” said Glenn Shapiro. “The first goal of FNOL is empathy: people feeling heard, like they got what they need, and responded to quickly. The second goal is accuracy. It doesn’t mean you have all the information at FNOL, but what you get must be accurate to properly assign the claim. You want to be able to collect the main documents and photographs and everything that’s critical in that moment, and then assign the claim as quickly as possible.”

Carriers can also run into quality issues during FNOL—call centers often deal with high turnover, adjuster absences and wait times. “And then on top of that, you’ve got these third parties that have come into the system for after hours or just overflow. And managing the quality of those claims and interactions is tough,” said Glenn.

Kate Dodson agreed that leveraging third parties for after-hours support can impact quality. “We’re trusting a third party to speak with our customers and handle things the way we want them to be handled. And that doesn’t always happen.”

Why Ohio Mutual Partnered with Hi Marley to Improve its FNOL Process

Ohio Mutual relied on third-party vendors for FNOL and phone intake. Recent catastrophic weather events combined with staffing challenges created extremely long hold times for customers reporting claims. “The experience was not at a level that we accept for anything with our customers,” said Kate.

Ohio Mutual offers several digital options for FNOL reporting, including through the website, customer portal and mobile app. And while there is some adoption, it’s not significant.

“Interestingly, data shows that customers often find our phone number via the mobile app, then call and report a claim, and proceed to use texting throughout the rest of the claim. I think that speaks to the fact that people prefer a conversation over a static reporting option,” said Kate. “A majority of claims are also reported either through our independent agents or over the phone.”

Ohio Mutual needed a more advanced FNOL solution that simplified the process while meeting policyholders where they are—on the phone.

“We wanted to find a new way to capture FNOL,” said Kate. “We asked, how can we speed up this process for customers who still want that conversational experience with first notice of loss? And how can we give them the opportunity to submit photos of everything that was damaged?”

She continued, “Ohio Mutual has loved our longtime partnership with Hi Marley. And we’re always looking for new opportunities to collaborate. Conversational FNOL came at a pivotal moment for our company and felt like a perfect step forward.”

How Ohio Mutual Implemented Hi Marley’s Conversational FNOL Solution

Together, Hi Marley and Ohio Mutual developed Conversational FNOL. With this solution, customers can explain what happened in their own words, and Ohio Mutual reps can gather critical information immediately. Any operator assigned to the Hi Marley case can access and reference the customer stories and data throughout the claim lifecycle.

“With our core texting product, Hi Marley serves as the end-to-end conversation in a claim, and we’re excited to add FNOL— perhaps the most important part of a claim and critical moment of truth for insurance— to that conversation,” said Alex Burgess.

“With Conversational FNOL, we thought a lot about the policyholder experience and want to make them feel heard,” said Nick. “First, we allow them to tell their story in a free-form way. Then, we replay that summary to show them what we’re using. We expedite the FNOL process by not asking follow-up questions for information they already gave us. Then, we make sure that story travels with the claim, so anyone who jumps in that thread to communicate with the customer can access the claim details and act with the appropriate empathy.”

How Conversational FNOL Works:

1. Call to Carrier – Customers call their carrier to report an incident.
2. Tell the Story – A recording prompts the policyholder to verbally tell their uninterrupted story.
3. Call-to-Text Transfer – Hi Marley records and transcribes the story, then initiates texting.
4. Image Collection – Policyholders text in photos, videos and other media of the incident.
5. Story and Photo Analysis – AI extracts relevant FNOL data needed for claim creation.
6. Follow-Up and Verification – Missing information is gathered via text, starting with a policy verification.
7. FNOL Completion and Claim Creation – A claim is automatically created in the carrier’s claims system.
8. First Contact and Beyond – The assigned adjuster promptly jumps into the existing, trusted text thread for further claims communication.

Hi Marley’s Conversational FNOL also supports Ohio Mutual workflows even after hours, on the weekends, and during high-demand events. By thoroughly capturing customer stories at FNOL, adjusters can rely on accurately documented details and avoid repetitive follow-up.

Ohio Mutual’s Early Results with Conversational FNOL

Without any marketing or promotion, over 15 percent of customers choose the Conversational FNOL option when reporting a claim. This call deflection reduces carrier costs and shows customers’ natural preference for this method.

Collecting Photos and Videos

A critical part of the FNOL process is collecting photos and other media needed to process the claim.

“With Conversational FNOL, customers can easily submit photos by text,” said Kate. “It’s much simpler than transferring photos to a computer and uploading them online. With text, customers can send pictures of the damage directly to the claim rep from their phone, just like they would to friends.”

“The most powerful thing is meeting people where they are,” said Glenn. “Everyone has mobile devices. Everybody can text and upload the photos they took in real time. As a result, carriers can capture information without forcing the customer to repeat details and respond faster to their needs.”

With Conversational FNOL, 75 percent of claims reported to Ohio Mutual have photos attached, providing critical details and support for triaging.

Triaging CAT Claims

Conversational FNOL is especially helpful for catastrophic claims, where triaging has historically been challenging for Ohio Mutual.

“During a CAT period, we need to determine what claims to give our experienced property adjusters and what claims can be handled by the claim reps supporting our property adjusters,” said Kate. “When we have these pictures, we can quickly assign the right person to the claim.”

Ohio Mutual’s customers love the ease of Conversational FNOL, too.  “More than 90 percent of customers say that this was a super easy process for them, which is exactly what we’re looking for,” said Kate.

“I have to commend Ohio Mutual’s innovative mindset and their openness to trying new things,” said Alex. “It’s been fantastic working with and learning from them. The feedback loop has just been tremendous; it has allowed us to make the product so much better. When carriers and vendors can partner that way, it drives much faster innovation.”

The Future of an Improved FNOL Experience

Looking forward, Hi Marley is focused on enhancing the FNOL experience and expanding Conversational FNOL use cases.

As more carriers adopt the Conversational FNOL solution, Glenn says FNOL can become an even more meaningful moment of truth.

“If you get to the point where the customer can avoid repetition and ensure the case is in the right hands at the right time, you can elevate and make more of FNOL’s moment of truth,” said Glenn. “For instance, if somebody mentions a fatality, a catastrophic injury, or a total house fire during their report and the carrier captures that information and instantly engages, that’s a way to show up and show how quickly you respond to a customer in need, I think that it’s a stronger moment of truth than you have otherwise.”