Customer service

Insurance coverage will transition from Personal Lines (where people do the driving) to Commercial Lines (where the manufacturer is responsible for the safety and accuracy of the vehicle).

Insurers across business lines have money earmarked to improve rating systems, billing capabilities and customer portals – but there are key differences in some insurers’ priorities, according to Insurance technology analyst firm SMA’s 2015 Insurance Technology Priorities and Spending report, which polled 105 carriers in P&C and life/health.

Mobile, wearables and other tech enable the insurer to communicate better and more frequently with clients, build long-term relationships, and change the way policies are sold and serviced, and capital is pooled to manage risk.

Omni-channel capabilities are intended to unify online, mobile and contact-center channels and connect those channels with core insurance systems in real time, EIS Group said.

A process is also in the works to provide funds to homeowners who disputed insurance payments without suing.

With fewer recent CAT events, insurers have been applying lessons learned to managing non-catastrophic claims, according to a survey from J.D. Power, resulting in the third-consecutive year of higher customer claims satisfaction.

Deployment rates have grown in the year since Novarica’s last study on these topics.

Making policy information available to customers is table stakes for insurers. But there are other creative ways that carriers are leveraging the channel for increased engagement.

Seven Iowa insurers, including The Principal, Delta Dental, and Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance, are investors in the project, which provides capital and mentoring to six technology startups focusing on providing insurance-specific services.

The Des Moines-based Global Insurance Accelerator has selected the first six startups to receive funding and mentoring from seven local insurance companies. Each has received $40,000 in seed money from the pool and has to create a minimum viable product for demonstration at the Global Insurance Symposium at the end of May.

Former tablet and online banking leader Allison Landers will enhance digital experience for the insurers' group products.

The latest version enables ‘anywhere’ access and engagement, multiple language interfaces and a better view of information and relationships to offer more personalized customer experiences.

While brokers historically have owned the customer relationship, satisfaction rises when insurers are involved during service interactions, according to a study from J.D. Power.

The implementation began with a new customer documents communication strategy and the elimination of CSE’s internal print and mail operation.

Insurers should note that customers are more willing than ever to divulge personal information for the promise of a better deal, an enhanced experience and better service.

The costs to deal with the breach won’t hurt this year’s earnings outlook, in part because the company has its own insurance to cover such incidents.

Two of the state’s most-powerful lobbies, the insurance industry and trial lawyers, are gearing up for a fight over a push to ease penalties against companies that deny homeowners their hail-damage claims.

The information compromised includes names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, street and e-mail addresses and employee data, including income, Anthem said.

Next stage of the mobility revolution: stepping back from frantic rollouts and encouraging holistic enterprise offerings.

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