Robotic process automation (RPA) technology is embraced by enterprises globally for varied sectors. The global robotic process automation market is growing in size with a CAGR of 24.9% between 2020 to 2027 and is expected to touch USD 6.10 billion by 2027.
The insurance industry is still exploring ways to leverage its capabilities to their full potential, those who have managed to make inroads are already experiencing extraordinary benefits. Considering that insurance is now an integral part of our lives, the benefits received from the adoption of RPA in insurance are innumerable. As a heavily regulated sector, insurance comes with a lot of documentation and standardized processes. Be it minimizing errors in claim processing or speeding up fraud detection processes, there’s a lot RPA can do to empower the insurance sector.
In its 21st CEO Survey, PwC iterates the importance of organizations becoming ‘bionic’ to enable humans and machines to work together to blend emotional and technological capabilities. It further repeats the role of RPA in making them bionic, citing it as the key to this transition.
Each product line in the insurance industry varies in its degree of standardization. Needless to say, the potential for automation differs too. Yet, experts unanimously agree on the incredible benefits of RPA in helping insurance companies save time and money across critical insurance processes.
According to Mckinsey, RPA promises a 30-200% return on investment in the first year.
Current insurers are now combining RPA with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to handle bigger workloads and analyze large volumes of data to convert them into actionable insights for better decision-making and business outcomes.
RPA in insurance use cases
As you move forward with your RPA strategy, here are a few examples of how it can help increase productivity and reducing costs.
RPA in insurance underwriting and pricing
According to Accenture, an underwriter typically spends more than 50% of the day on core processing. The market for technologies facilitating underwriting improvements has been growing continuously, and it comes as no surprise that RPA and AI are providing a huge impetus. RPA helps in ensuring accurate data checks to understand the insurance history of customers.
A significant part of underwriting involves determining the right price taking into consideration the risks involved. Insurers depend on RPA, AI, and analytics to get information from connected devices, sensors, and wearables. This data in real-time provides useful insights into customer-specific risks while providing an opportunity for insurers to offer personalized services and customized covers.
The services they offer also include alerts, rewards, and messages that help them transcend their roles from being risk insurers to risk mitigators. RPA can also assess loss runs and provide pricing options based on customers’ claims insurance history.
Global insurer Zurich used RPA to free up its commercial underwriters to devote their time to more complex policies while boilerplate policies get handled by smart software.
Sales and Marketing
RPA helps insurers address the ‘advice gap’ from online portals that offer price and feature comparisons. Customers can now chat with their virtual insurance manager, convey their needs, and get the right advice and recommendations. RPA also enables insurers to mine non-traditional data that comes from social media, allowing them to upsell and cross-sell based on individual activities. For instance, those planning to travel may want additional coverage if they are going to participate in activities such as paragliding or skiing.
RPA helps agents find the information they need without having to wait for a sales representative to assist them. It also helps companies manage their brand persona online while ensuring compliance with rules and regulations.
Customer Service
A survey by TechSee confirms 39% of participants admitted to having canceled their contracts due to poor customer service. But with the foray of RPA, back-end processes are now linked to front-end service so perfectly that chatbots now identify the customer even before a call is answered.
Customer-facing chatbots can help customers with everything they need right from providing policy status and payment details to sending automated policy renewals and pre-loss warnings. RPA also takes care of reporting and compliance requirements so that records are readily available for quick reviews, reconciliations, and compliance checks.
UK-based leading insurance carrier, Swinton implemented RPA technology to provide agents with assistance in handling new processes and to guide them through customer journeys. This shortened calls by over 50 seconds each on average and the contact center capacity was increased to handle an extra 7,781 calls per month.
Claims and Fraud Detection
TechSee points out how customers absolutely expect 3-second claim payouts and will not think twice before taking their business elsewhere if their expectations are not met. This is where RPA comes in. It offers the much-needed speed and accuracy required in a claims journey and self-service options to induce transparency into the process further.
Digital interfaces are convenient and preferred, too, as insurers introduce novel ways to settle claims. Apps are also being used to enable customers to assess damage to their car in case of accidents with their smartphone cameras’ help. The apps offer repair cost estimates based on thousands of images they have been trained on. RPA also helps in fraud detection and identification of suspicious claims with predictive analytics and machine learning.
Policy Management and Regulatory Compliance
While it may be expensive to have dedicated policy administration software, RPA comes as a simple, safe, and scalable alternative to manage diverse policy activities. These include accounting, settlements, risk capture, credit control, regulatory compliance, etc., that need to be accurate but come with a high risk of errors if done manually.
US insurer Lemonade set a world record in paying a claim within 3 seconds of receiving details. The customers can explain the situation via their phone camera and submit it without paperwork. The Lemonade claim bot then runs algorithms on the details to validate any fraud. Post that payouts are instant.
RPA has proved to be a game-changer for the insurance industry, especially during the pandemic when the entire world has been forced to go digital. As Cliff Justice, a Principal in KPMG’s Innovation and Enterprise Solutions team rightly points out, “At this point in time, it’s not a question of whether you should or should not adopt RPA. You risk remaining relevant if you don’t. The question should be: ‘What’s the best way for your firm to employ RPA and AI.”
Automate Your Business with Trigent
In an ever-evolving world of innovations, we help you tide over diverse business challenges with automation solutions like RPA. Our extensive experience in the insurance sector gives us an edge in helping you transform your business. We will help you attain operational excellence while ensuring a faster ROI, all with the power of RPA.
Allow us to assess your business environment and tell you why RPA is the perfect fit for your business. Call us today.