Dear insurer, use the summer period to prepare for the storm of damage reports in the autumn

At the beginning of 2022, insurers suddenly became extremely busy due to three storms that raged across the Netherlands, causing damage to houses, cars and fences. Many households turned to their insurer at almost the same time to receive compensation for the damage. But because all those damage reports were submitted in a short period of time, insurers faced a major challenge. The queue on the telephone became longer and employees were killed at work.

Can these types of situations be prevented? By now yes. The process of reporting and handling damage can be organized more efficiently thanks to technical developments. In this article I will tell you how you, as an insurer, can use the summer months to prepare for a flood of damage reports in the autumn.

Handling damage reports: how efficient is this?

The stormy weather at the beginning of this year resulted in less cheerful faces in the insurance world. The number of reports received was so large that insurers were still catching up on their work a few weeks later. If we now look back at the past six months, it seems that several insurers have not yet optimally organized the process of reporting and handling claims. While efficiency will become increasingly important to keep customers and employees happy.

Handling damage reports more efficiently: 3 suggestions
What resources can you use as an insurer to deal with the storm of damage reports:

Reasons to further automate the handling of damage reports

• Climate change
• Short of staff
• Service and convenience are becoming increasingly important
  Let customers decide how they interact with your organization

Reason 1: Climate change

Due to climate change, we are increasingly confronted with extreme weather and its consequences. And if a big storm blows over, it is often not a few people who experience the consequences and call on their insurer. This directly concerns a large group of people who contact their insurer and hope for a quick answer. We are talking here about peaks in damage reports that insurers will increasingly experience.

Reason 2: Shortage of personnel

In addition, an additional problem has arisen that the insurance industry also recognizes: finding personnel. The shortage of qualified personnel puts extra pressure on customer service. This is also a reason to further automate the handling process of damage reports. This can greatly reduce the pressure on your colleagues. How? For example, by having repetitive questions handled by a chatbot, so that your customer service colleagues have more time to handle more complicated questions.

Reason 3: Service and convenience are becoming increasingly important

In the past, service and convenience were considered competitive advantages. Now they are indispensable for taking the customer experience to the next level. Customer expectations are becoming higher and higher. Customers are better informed than ever before and know what a good customer experience and customer journey should feel and look like. They no longer compare a company or brand with your direct competitor, but with the best customer experience they have ever had with any organization or brand.

Suggestion 1: The digital colleague

Add a digital colleague to your customer service. The digital colleague is a chatbot that has been developed to take work off your hands, so that your colleagues have time for more complicated reports. For example, Centraal Beheer already uses a digital colleague. This chatbot 'colleague' is available 24/7, accepts damage reports for the relevant department and reassures your customer with an automatic confirmation email. In short: you can effectively use the digital colleague for all kinds of repetitive tasks, where your customer receives the same service as in contact with the physical employee. You kill two birds with one stone: you have a colleague who takes over repetitive tasks and you guarantee the knowledge and expertise about the process. But pay attention: there must always be a way out to a live person.

Suggestion 2: Voicebot

A voicebot is an AI bot that uses speech recognition to identify user commands and provides voice responses. So you let your customer call your company. Just not directly with a live person. Voicebots can update personal information, change a subscription, provide insight into an invoice, receive a damage report or schedule an appointment. It doesn't stop there. They are continuously being developed and will appear in more and more applications. But the voicebot also applies: there must always be a way out to a live employee.

Suggestion 3: Messaging channels

The use of messaging channels such as chat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and SMS offers advantages for you as an insurer. Yes, you must be present on and maintain multiple channels. But you also easily collect relevant information from the contact you as an insurer have with customers. For example, consider a photo of a damaged fence or car. You pass on the most relevant data to the other systems within your organization so that a complete picture is created of your customer's demand. Your customer service colleagues can quickly respond to this. This increases reaction speed and reduces workload. Two birds with one stone.

Plenty of other options

In addition, there are a number of options that you as an insurer can consider. Such as using self-service portals or personal interactive videos to take someone step by step through the process of reporting damage.

Starting point for the summer months to handle damage reports more quickly

If you, as an insurer, invest now in creating one of the above options (or opportunities), you may be ahead of the next major peak in claims reports.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Can we scale up quickly if it turns out that the number of incoming damage reports is greater than expected?
• Can we provide good service every day, including in the evenings?
• How do we ensure that damage reports are received and handled as completely as possible, without forgetting to request important documents due to time pressure?
• Does the customer receive confirmation of the damage report?
• Is there a clear overview of all customer communications available so that your customer never has to tell the same story twice?
• Can the colleagues who will handle the claim report work efficiently?
• Is the process guaranteed as far as possible so that no risks arise such as complaints, claims and additional work?

Does it mean that you still have to answer most questions with a 'no'? Then explore the different ways in which you can optimize and speed up the handling of damage reports. Happy employees and satisfied customers.

* The translations on this website are provided by G-Translate from Dutch