Handling insurance claims is a costly affair. The longer it takes to settle a claim with your customer, the higher the costs for you. In fact, claims management amounted to 28.5% of total operating costs for European property and casualty insurers. There is, in other words, a lot to be gained from digitising your claims management process.
But dealing with claims means interacting with human beings. Especially in personal injury and casualty, human contact is still vital to making any claims process work. As an insurer, you’re facing a double challenge: you need to optimise processes to stay ahead of competitors, and at the same time you have to protect the personal touch with clients, in order to remain relevant for the modern-day consumer.
So how do you increase the efficiency of your claims management, while also keeping your clients happy? Video calling is a solution. In this article, learn how to use video for handling insurance claims.
Use cases of video calling for the claims process
Video calling can bring great business results to claims management. When your customers become the victim of personal injuries or suffer losses to their home and other property, it’s your job to provide the best possible service. Moreover, it’s an opportunity to establish trust and strengthen the relationship with a customer.
There are 3 use cases for the insurance claims process where video calling is a real benefit:
1. Personal injury claims
Use video calling to allow insurance agents and adjusters to go over a claimant's injury together in a digital yet personal conversation. Managing personal injury claims is one of the use cases for which insurer Achmea has implemented video customer contact.
Video calls are likely to be most effective for injury claims in personal insurance - for B2C customers. However, commercial insurance for B2B clients constitutes a relevant use case, too.
2. Property and mobility claims
The same use case for video calling applies to property claims in both personal and commercial insurance: the claims adjuster can be shown the damage via video, instead of having to visit B2C or B2B clients on-site.
Video calling is especially useful for managing property claims when it not only functions on desktop, but also on mobile devices and tablets. When a car or house sustains damage, customers benefit from a fast and personal conversation with a claims expert. That way, they know what to expect later in the claims process. Video calling enables customers to talk to the expert, share visual context through their mobile camera and get a fast assessment of the damage.
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Discover more use cases of video calling for Insurance here >
3. Health insurance claims
Health care represents a huge use case for video calling in general. And for health insurance claims, too, video calls have the potential to streamline the claims process significantly. For handling simple and straightforward health insurance claims, you can follow your standard process. However, for more complex claims management, video calls offer great opportunities.
Agents and clients can discuss a client’s official diagnose together via video. Video calling brings value to claims handling especially in the case of more severe illnesses - both physical and mental - or costly, large-figure treatments.
Video calls provide room for dialogue: they’re a personal communication channel which allows both the agent/adjuster and the client/claimant to ask questions and give answers. Plus, such a personal dialogue can take place without having to meet physically - a big benefit to clients struggling with their health, for whom meeting in-person can be problematic.
The benefits of using video calls in claims processing
Big insurers are already using video calls to offer immediate help to customers and instantly assess damage right after an incident took place. In case of injuries or loss, personal contact and a fast service really make a difference - and a human touch and speed are exactly what video offers for managing claims.
Other benefits? Video calling speeds up the insurance process, enabling agents to analyse more claims in one working day and hence lowering costs for the insurer. At the same time video helps you to offer better service to the claimant, thanks to a faster and more personal experience.
And as a result of allowing you to interact with claimants directly and personally, video could help you cut even more costs by eliminating the need for an intermediary to manage the claims process on behalf of customers.
Like to see how video calling could impact your business KPIs? Measure your ROI here >
The key business results of video calling
+ Increase the efficiency of your claims processes
Integrate video calls smoothly into your customer journey, marketing proposition and employees’ working processes, in order to increase employee adoption and minimise the number of customer touchpoints needed.
+ Save handling time & reduce costs
Video allows for more visual guidance in conversations about claims. It is easier for the agent to explain complex insurance contents, and also for the claimant to understand the agent. This in turn results both in shorter conversations about claims, and in fewer follow-up meetings (or calls, emails) needed to settle one claim.
On top of that, by saving travel time, agents can greatly increase the number of claims handled per day.
+ Provide faster service
Video calling minimises the number of contact moments with every customer. You can either call a claimant back right after they’ve filed a claim, or your customers can schedule a video call with a claims adjuster immediately after suffering an injury, damage or loss. No need for a separate email or phone call just to schedule a claim conversation.
Research found that the longer it takes to settle a claim, the less satisfied clients will be with their insurance service. So by making your claims process faster, you will also improve customer satisfaction.
A case in point is our client Achmea, who increased NPS to +60 and +78 with video calls in B2B and B2C claims management. Learn how insurer Achmea manages claims via video here >
+ Create more sales opportunities
As a personal yet efficient way of communicating, video calls have been proven to increase both cross-selling and upselling, and to boost conversation rates.
To conclude - if you're interested in using video calls for insurance claims, look critically at your claims processes. Then see where video calling fits in for the best possible customer experience, and for optimal time and cost saving.
To measure how video calling could impact your KPIs, use our ROI calculator. Measure the ROI of video calling on your business here >
Case study: how insurer Achmea scored a +78 NPS for personal injury claims
Insurance client Achmea uses video calling to handle personal injury claims - increasing CSAT customer satisfaction scores to 9,3/10 and NPS to +78. Download the case study to learn how:
