Florida’s second-largest home insurer, Security First Insurance faced more than 3,000 claims in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael earlier this year. It was the perfect time to deploy a new tool to help manage the load: A new chatbot servicing affected policyholders.
The chatbot was developed just in time to aid policyholders before Michael hit, according to Marissa Buckley, Security First Insurance’s VP of marketing and brand experience. After 2017’s Hurricane Irma, Security First wanted a better and more effective way to assist members.
“Our priority is to achieve scalability and offer the best experience possible, as well as an experience tailored to what the customer wants and needs,” shared Buckley. “We added the new chatbot service for this storm and 25% of all claims were successfully submitted solely using our chatbot’s first notice of loss service.”
In addition to meeting the goal of finding a quick solution to file claims after tragic events, the chatbot results in a personalized experience that allows the insurer to contact members in affected areas. Security First and InsurBot.AI designed the chatbot as a voice-only experience to assist members through the automated process avoiding long wait times while in crisis. Claims are verified for every customer through a documented email summarizing their claim and another email describing the process and what to expect next.
Before the storm, all residents in areas expected to be affected were given the opinion of the bot. Four in 10 customers chose the option. In addition to the traditional way to report a claim (over the phone through the call center), claims were reported digital via the company’s mobile app and customer and agents portals. However, only 13% of claims came through these channels.
After its success, Security First says use of the chatbot will expand and be developed to assist in all causes of loss for policyholders.
