Leverage data from telematics to efficiently assess claims

Telematics is a heavily discussed topic in the insurance industry. Despite the interest, adoption is not yet common practice as only 25% of insurers works with it. Apart from that, the growth of telematics within the next 12 months is expected to be low. This is one of the findings from the ‘Insurance Fraud & Digital Transformation Survey 2016’.

Insurers mostly use telematics for risk-based pricing and to stimulate safe driving behavior. Gaining claim information is not a priority. Nevertheless, it seems obvious that insurers can benefit from the use of telematics, especially when assessing a claim. Leveraging information from mobile devices, black boxes and video could complete the picture. With all data around an accident available an accident can almost be fully rerun. The data is already there, now it is time to open it for broad usage.

Combining telematics with video evidence

Looking at the range of information that is available to assess a customer’s driving behavior, it seems odd that insurers are not already working with telematics on a broader scale. Black box usage in Europe is popular only in the UK and Italy. When asking insurers why they want their customers to drive with such a device in their vehicle, it is mainly to stimulate safe driving behavior. Asking the same question to the customer reveals that they are attracted to the high discounts provided when
they choose for driving with a black box.

Combine the input from a car with the multitude of external data sources and the picture can be completed. Traffic cameras, dashboard cameras, mobile phone footage -from the claimant and from witnesses- and even home security cameras provide valuable information. Completing this picture with GPS tracking of a driver and possible co-drivers gives an objective overview of what happened during an accident.

Using technology to automatically identify fraudulent claims

Using technology in the underwriting and claim process can not only help the insurer to get a complete picture of a policy holder, but it would also help to reduce costs. Until now, insurers relied on their field investigators to identify damage, interview witnesses and gain knowledge on the situation when an accident had occurred. With the increased traffic and thus increased number of collisions, the workload became too high to investigate all claims manually. Insurers often had to rely on driver statements solely -except in the really suspicious or high-claim situations. This encouraged fraudulent behavior. Now, by benchmarking the provided claim information with all the other data that is available, a fraudulent claim can be identified quickly and automated.

There is a lot of data within reach that could help insurers to create an objective picture and speed-up claim assessments. It is time to start working on implementation of available technologies.

Source: Insurancethoughtleadership