Thought Leadership

5 Reasons Why Insurers Should Modernize Their Claim Payment Process

TL;DRModern insurance providers are focused on accommodating the needs of changing demographics, improving customer service, streamlining claim payment processes, reducing manual disbursement methods, and increasing the speed of claim payment delivery. A digital payout solution can help support all 5 of these areas.

The insurance industry is under pressure to leverage and deliver digital capabilities across their entire claim payment process, especially in the last mile; the claim payout. The following are 5 reasons why digitizing and modernizing claim payments should be a central focus for your insurance organization.

1. Keep Up with Changing Demographics

According to The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2019, millennials now comprise 49% of the global workforce. Now that this Digital Native demographic is old enough to own cars, homes, and other insurable assets, insurers will need to develop new online and mobile channels to reach this segment, not to mention to digitize their entire claim process, from claim registration to final payment. Most millennials are not familiar with paper checks; if insurers want their services to resonate with this demographic, they’ll need to find ways to issue claim payments using more digital payment methods, such as PayPal or Venmo, in addition to direct to debit card and bank deposit in the US.

2. Improve Customer Satisfaction

With more insurers to choose from and more ways to buy insurance, companies need to find unique ways to differentiate themselves from competitors. Consumers today are accustomed to an exceptionally high level of customer service. Whether it’s snapping and uploading a photo of damages via a smartphone app, or video chatting with an agent, digital initiatives can have a huge impact on customer satisfaction, and thus, revenue generation.

The insurance claim process hinges on the fast, efficient distribution of funds. Improving this process is therefore one of the fastest ways to improve an insurer’s approval rating (Net Promoter Score). Not only is a digital claim payout process inherently faster than the manual distribution of checks, it can also help reduce claimant anxieties by increasing visibility into the payment transfer. Payout tracking tools and transfer notifications can go a long way to reassure claimants and improve their overall satisfaction with your services.

3. Streamline Claim Payout Processes and Operations

Insurance payout processes are often manual and include a great deal of paperwork, follow up correspondences, manual notifications, underwriting, and documentation. All of this administration takes time, and time is not something that today’s consumers are willing to waste. In order to kick operations into high gear, insurance companies need to focus their efforts on creating dynamic and interactive interactions with their policyholders, across all stages of the claim process.

Technology will be required to accomplish this interactivity, not only to automate the claim documentation process and assessment, but also the final claim payout. Payment disbursement platforms are designed to automate and streamline the payment process, as well as reduce the operating cost associated with payment disbursements.

4. Reduce Claim Expenses and Eliminate Checks

Insurers are looking at ways to eliminate any unnecessary steps from their claim process, including automating routine transactions and eliminating paper documents, most obviously, paper checks. Settling a claim by issuing checks is a slow and increasingly expensive payment method, not to mention checks can easily be lost in the mail, a problem that leads to costly reconciliation.

To mitigate the overall cost of a claim payment, insurers are turning to payout solutions that offer centralized treasury management tools capable of streamlining and optimizing their claim payment workflow. These payment platforms give policyholders the option to self-select their preferred claim payment method through web and mobile-first interfaces. While it may be difficult to remove checks entirely from your claim payment process, providing payout optionality can help your organization organically transition away from this payment method, and much of its associated costs.

5. Deliver Fast Claim Payment

With increased connectivity and the rise of instant gratification, it’s no surprise that technology has made policyholders increasingly impatient; whereas traditional forms of claim payouts can take weeks, today’s claimants want fast, if not, real-time resolutions. Digitized claim disbursement platforms speed up the payment process and provide today’s digital claimants increased visibility and transparency into the payment disbursement.

If you’re an insurer, now is the time to consider digitizing and automating your claim payment process. For more information on how Hyperwallet can help you tackle all of the above, and more, please contact us using our online insurance inquiry form.

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