Non-life insurers see 'appification' of claims, sales

The non-life insurance segment is now increasingly seeing an ‘appification’ of the underwriting and the claims especially in the retail segment. While ICICI Lombard and Bajaj Allianz already have apps to process claims through mobile or tablet apps, Liberty Videocon General Insurance is the latest to launch a tab-based claims surveyor application for faster motor claims processing.  Roopam Asthana, CEO and whole-time director, Liberty Videocon General Insurance, said this would enable any motor claim surveyor to perform key functions such as loss assessment, estimation and communication from various remote locations, in a cost-effective manner. This app, called LiVClaims, will ensure quicker approvals to garages, resulting in better productivity and customer service.

On an average, the claims process for motor own-damage policies would take about eight hours since the surveyor has to first look at the vehicle, assess the claims, get back to office for documentation and later deal with the garage for final claim payments. With this app, the process has been cut to 2.5 hours.

Asthana said they would extend it to customers and garages so that the claim payment process can be seamless and even quicker. A conventional claims processing model involves surveyor appointment, surveys at garages, manual assessments by garage and surveyors, surveyors’ approval to certain parts, claim approval and final discharge of claims. Due to this, the whole process becomes very lengthy.

Here, any claim can be seen by the surveyor through the app as soon as the customer intimates the company's call centre about the incident. Photos can be uploaded via the application itself.

Other insurance companies also have processes to ensure claims are settled faster by use of technology. M Ravichandran, president-insurance at Tata AIG General Insurance, said for auto claims, they use technology to ensure faster turnaround time. The whole cycle including inspection by surveyors to final payment by cheque has been faster by use of technology.

Similarly, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance has a tab-based claim registration module. This facility is geared to allow the user to register low-intensity claims and upload photographs of the accidental vehicle, thus providing quicker claim settlements.

The mobile and tablet-based applications are not only for sales. In July 2015, ICICI Lombard introduced the ‘photo quote’ feature on its mobile phone app. The feature empowers customers wanting to purchase ICICI Lombard’s motor insurance policy to obtain an insurance quote by simply providing a picture of their existing motor insurance policy, using the insurer’s mobile app.

Within a few minutes of the customer submitting the picture, he or she will receive an automated message from ICICI Lombard containing a detailed quote along with customer and vehicle information. If the customer agrees to purchase the policy, he simply has to pay the quote amount, since all details pertaining to the proposal are already given. This feature facilitates easy transactions enhancing the customer’s purchase experience.

Apart from the ‘photo quote’ feature available on the mobile app, customers can use a host of other features installed in the app. They can purchase or renew health, motor and travel insurance policies. They can also locate the nearest network hospitals and pathology labs. Customers can locate the nearest garage in case of a vehicle breakdown. They can also track the status of claims across health, motor and travel segments.