Connected Cars Purvey a New Approach to Automating Auto Insurance Claims

Auto insurers can avoid the dangers of acting too quickly and make better decisions if they have the proper data at the right time.

FREMONT, CA: Telematics is the fastest way to give accurate claims data. With traditional claims models, insurers can be slow. Auto insurers can avoid the perils of the haste with the appropriate data at the right time. The initial steps are passive. The policyholder must call the insurer and file a claim after an auto accident. This is the first of several processes, including vehicle inspection, damage estimation, repair, and liability distribution, a messy, unpredictable development that can add to the customer's stress and the insurer's expenses.

Analytics that model damage and virtually reconstruct incidents from crash data can replace labor-intensive, time-consuming, costly police reports, damage inspections, and claimant testimony. These capabilities may overwhelm an insurer's IT team and infrastructure. None of this can happen unless users opt-in to share telemetry data from their automobiles. Permissions provide a logistical layer.

Optional coverage

With the customer's cooperation, wireless technology, connected automobiles, and OEMs' huge data-gathering capabilities offer better choices. Two automobiles meet, and one's onboard sensors and computers gather data seconds before the disaster to create a digital narrative of the event. Throttle and brake inputs, car direction, orientation, speed, impact sites, and airbag deployment all help to guide the response.

Priority is passengers' safety

Depending on the impact, the vehicle's sensors trigger an automated response system to notify first responders based on GPS locations. The vehicle contacts the call center for emergency medical, police, and towing assistance. If the driver is safe and unharmed, the OEM's call center offers a "warm transfer" to the car's insurer to start a claim.

Digital blend

Telematics data is useful for lead creation, underwriting, and customer interaction. When linked with external data, claims can be refined and accelerated. The goal is to capture these multiple-format data streams and weave them into a cohesive, automated, low- or no-touch system for handling claims from the first notification of loss (FNOL) to final settlement. Streamlined data gathering and analysis change the claims department, allowing touchless claims and faster check-cutting. New models can replace outdated ones.