How eSignatures Automate the Insurance Claim Process

Just like in any other industry, insurance companies are overwhelmingly full of cumbersome paperwork processes. Agents and customers quickly become dissatisfied when missing documents and policy approvals need to be hunted down. The annoying back and forth process also hurts providers’ bottom lines by halting sign-ups and claims settlements, increasing costs and turning away prospective customers. As a result, digital transformation is typically viewed as a solution to these issues insurers face. New technologies can ease and automate insurance onboarding, amendments, and claims. As a matter of fact, any step in the insurance process can be improved through digitization. Part of this digital transformation for insurance companies would be the implementation of eSignatures, eForms, and ID verification. eSignatures ultimately remove the necessity of manually processing paperwork. In other words, the insurance claims cycle would be more automatic and involve less friction.

How Insurers Profit from Claims Processes

Once an insurance company gets new customers, it is important to keep the customer and eliminate unnecessary expenses, while also providing a strong, customer-friendly claim process. So, each claim process must be handled efficiently. Policyholders do not make claims very often, but still make regular payments each year to maintain their policies in case something happens. In fact, policyholders only make a claim every seven years, on average. Since the need for a claim does not happen often, customers typically only leave their insurance provider if they have a bad experience during the claims process. And once the customer leaves, the company misses out on years of recurring payments It is vital for insurance companies to ensure claims are handled efficiently so that customers stay satisfied and so that NPS is maintained. The best way to do this is to make the ensure claims experience satisfactory -- with automated insurance processes.

Ways eSignatures Automate Insurance

When it comes to digitizing the insurance process, there are just a few parts that help the company improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and make everything just so much easier. eSignatures play a key role in many of these parts and are a necessary part of automating the claims process.

1. Digital First Loss of Notice (FNOL)

In the event of an incident, such as a damaged car or house, policyholders must submit an FNOL report to detail what happened. Most people tend to have easy access to their cellphones at any time, but not a computer, printer, or scanner. The last thing people want to do is run around searching for one in the middle of all the stress they are going through at the moment. Instead, with an automated insurance process, customers can complete their entire FNOL on their smartphones. This way, they can send photographic evidence in real-time and eSign mobile-optimized eForms. Not only does this help customers ease the process, but also helps settle the claim faster, minimizing the back and forth between agents and policyholders.

2. Digital Request for Additional Living Expenses (ALE) Coverage

After the FNOL is accepted, insurance companies sometimes have to provide some sort of reimbursement for additional living expenses (ALE) incurred during a loss. This includes temporary living quarters, a car rental, financial reimbursement, and more. No matter what it is, customers need to prove they need the coverage. This would mean lots of back and forth between ants and claimants through multiple channels. With an automated way to do this instead, customers can fill out ALE requests on a mobile-optimized eForm that instantly gets sent to their agent. All you have to do is provide some eSignatures and send or upload photos of proof of expenses. This eliminates friction and the insurance company continues to satisfy customers along the way.

3. Digital Claims Management and Assessment

The usual claims management and assessment process includes extended cycles, back and forths among parties, last minute requests for customer information, and rework. This time-consuming process to determine coverage for an incident could take more than two weeks. In turn, customers are frustrated and processing and administrative costs go up. However, when everything is stored in a CRM, all participating parties have complete transparency about the claim and know about required actions right away without any paperwork. Any forms or documents can be eSigned digitally and necessary photos can be uploaded from a smartphone. Additionally, by automating claims, numerous foundational KPIs are positively impacted. According to McKinsey, the following changes occur:

• Customer satisfaction score increases by about 20
• Claims expenses decrease by 25-30%
• Claim handling accuracy increases dramatically

eSignatures Promote Seamless Automation

With Lightico’s mobile-first platform, insurance sign-ups, claims, and renewals can easily be simplified and automated. Customers can submit all eSigned forms and documents necessary to process their claim or application, all in real-time and while on the phone with an agent. The entire process is accelerated for the benefit of both the customer and the insurance provider. Learn more about Lightico’s insurance and eSignature capabilities, along with the full platform of eForms, digital payments, ID&V and more at Lightico.com.