How RPA can transform your insurance company

Institutions in the banking and financial services space often perform several repetitive tasks.

In fact, they hire quite a number of executives to execute these tasks which, and as a result, incur a huge cost.

In the past decade, in a bid to streamline these tasks, financial institutions have consolidated these operations and packaged them into a back office unit in an offshore location.

However, with more recent advancements in technology, it is possible to eliminate these tasks, re-focusing efforts on more strategic duties such as studying the customer’s needs and improving their experience.

One of the recent advancements in technology that makes this possible is robotic process automation (RPA).

According to EY, RPA involves the use of virtual workers, or software robots, to perform business tasks similar to human users. The main appeal for insurers is the ability to handle high-volume and complex data actions at exponentially greater speed than in the past.

One of the reasons RPA is a great solution for insurers is because the initial investment into RPA is generally low compared with other technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT).

Implementation specialists also suggest that it is possible to unlock many benefits without largescale process re-engineering which could end up disrupting business as usual (BAU) practices, causing financial and reputational losses.

According to EY, here are five ways RPA can help insurers:

#1 | Streamlining vendor applications and estimating

Most current estimating processes require adjusters or others to type in data from one form or system to
another.

RPA in combination with technologies such as optical character recognition (OCR) can eliminate that duplication effort and streamline tasks. It can also reduce human errors.

#2 | Capturing and managing claimant data

RPA can be on the receiving end of claims submissions, especially those that typically include photos from
customers.

Robots can ensure that only the correct information makes its way into the systems and that the pictures are attached to the right claims.

This can also benefit customers who prefer self-service kiosks when it comes to filing insurance claims.

#3 | Streamlining, automating and enhancing communications

Claimant communication remains a largely manual undertaking, requiring adjusters or other claims staff to
initiate and, in some cases, monitor the process.

RPA can help operationalize smart rules so the right letter or notice (e.g., those required to be sent 30 days after a loss is reported) reaches the right claimant at the right time through the right channel.

#4 | Scanning, indexing and converting forms and data

RPA has proven especially proficient at pulling data from standard fields on medical bills, from claimant name
and address, to provide information to coding details.

Standard in name only, these forms are a common source of errors, according to EY.

#5 | Customer-facing enhancements

RPA can also alleviate the need for time-consuming and costly adjuster input by supporting customer-friendly apps
that capture photos of fender-bender car accidents and submit all claims forms with just a few clicks.

Chatbots, another automation tool easily integrated with RPA, are already handling many routine communications tasks, including notifications of settlements and customer inquiries into claim status.