Superficially, administering a claim would appear to be a pretty straightforward transaction. You respond to the call for help from the policyholder, assess the situation, act on the information received, complete the process and pay out. Simple enough.
Yet, if we are to believe only a fraction of what we read in the press, delivering a prompt efficient claims service is almost as problematical as getting the trains to run on time. And as a result, it seems that public satisfaction with the insurance industry is roughly on a par with Virgin and Arriva.
The cause of complaints is the same, too. Delay. Delay at every stage in the process is the main source of customer dissatisfaction.
So where are we going so badly wrong? Insurers have been servicing claims from the beginning of time and it's not as if the operational basics have changed dramatically in recent years.
Are the cover providers at fault? Certainly. Through inefficiency in obtaining information and failing to act on it quickly enough.
The support providers? Definitely. There's scarcely any point in describing what can go wrong between the arrival of the loss adjuster and the builder finally moving out or the car leaving the garage.
The problem so often comes from the system, or rather the multiplicity of systems, which are involved in any claim. Everyone involved has a favourite method of transmitting information. This may range from a bespoke IT system to a manual, hard copy system. The policyholder may like to write letters; the builder may run his business from his mobile. The problem is that the systems don't fit together.
The solution is clearly a management process to drive the whole show. It would be web-enabled for total access, so providing the transparency that customers are increasingly demanding.
The key to this lies with the claims management provider. The information introduced into the system needs to be complete and detailed and handled by experts.
If it's not, the whole process fails.
Every relevant item: every validation, every letter, conversation or action must be recorded; every development of the claim logged. Mandatory diary management eliminates the risk of forgetting anything because all of this information must be used collectively to ensure that the claim process is completed as quickly as possible.
Delivery of claims handling by a leading-edge IT application via the web will quickly draw in policyholders and suppliers, seduced by the speed, the transparency and the effectiveness of the operation. But someone needs to take the initiative. In my view that can only happen if insurers and claims management providers turn their attention to the internet. If they do. the dream of a one-route system with its contingent cost savings is not as far away as it may seem.u Jim Douglas is business development director at the Claims People Group
