I have had an accident with my vehicle, what now?

Collision claims are the most common type of motor insurance payouts. Chances are, you’ve either been in a car crash (however minor) or you know someone who has.

Of course, the fallout of fatal and dangerous collisions can cause ripple effects way beyond the parties involved. But even small bumps and scrapes have the potential to drag out and add stress to a claimant’s life — especially if the insurer’s claims process hasn’t been modernized.

How traditional insurance claims work

I was sitting at a red light when the unthinkable happened. A car ran into the back of mine. The damage didn’t look too bad, so we agreed to resolve the matter privately. We decided not to involve our insurance providers because neither of us had the time nor the patience to deal with a long phone call. 

Thankfully, my car still ran, and I could drive it normally. I took a few pictures of the damage, exchanged information, and carried on with my day.

A week later, I finally had time to take the car into the garage, where I got some surprising news. The damage was much worse than it initially looked. 

Even worse, the repair bill was much higher than I anticipated. I was going to need to get my insurance involved.

A few hours and a hefty phone bill later, I informed the agent of my version of events and sent in what little evidence I had. Then it was back to the waiting game while they did...something. I was kept pretty much in the dark during the whole process. 

Weeks passed. 

Eventually, I heard back from my insurer. But it wasn’t the news I wanted to hear. The other driver disputed their involvement in the incident, and tried to place the blame on me. They told their insurance provider I made an unsafe stop. Neither of our cars had a dashcam and a CCTV camera which would have caught the incident only stores recordings for a limited time.

Without evidence that clearly showed who was at fault, the insurer told me that both parties would be held equally accountable for the incident. 

Both parties were unwilling to go through their insurance because they felt the damage wasn’t worth the hassle of opening a claim. That had a domino effect on the claims process that only added to their stress. 

The claims process was long, drawn-out, and more trouble than anyone wanted. The slow process meant evidence got lost. Without information that could have cleared up the differing accounts, it was difficult for the insurer to place liability on either party. 

Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence for many people involved in minor accidents. 

If either insurance company had taken advantage of new technology, such as Bdeo’s visual intelligence, this whole situation could have been much easier for everyone involved. 

The ability to open an insurance claim while still on the scene would have put to bed any concerns either party may have had about the process. 

Each party could have collected evidence that accurately represented the incident, rather than relying on word of mouth and hoping for active CCTV.  

In turn, that would have sped up the process substantially, allowing everyone to walk away confident that their claim was being handled.

AI makes the claims process faster and easier

Now, let’s look at an example of a claims process using new technology.

As I opened my eyes, I looked through my cracked windscreen and saw crumpled metal and smashed plastic. Everyone appeared okay with a few light bumps and bruises. But I couldn’t say the same for my car. 

I immediately started to worry about the long and stressful process of filing a claim with my insurance. 

How would I remember everything that happened once I’d gotten home safely and waited on hold for an hour? 

What if I missed a crucial piece of information and my claim was denied? 

How would I afford to repair, or even worse, replace my car?

Thankfully, my insurer offered an app that allowed me to open the claim without sitting on the phone for hours. 

The app made things easy and even offered a helping hand to guide me through everything. It let me know what information I needed to include and what I should photograph as evidence. 

The whole process was complete before the tow truck arrived! 

There was no need to wait for an agent to come out and assess the damage and no more struggling to remember specific details from a stressful event. Just a quick and easy process to get my claim started. 

Instead of worrying about insurance, I could focus on recovering. I was relieved that such a stressful part of my accident was over.

Reassure your customers by making your claims process simpler!

As insurers try to rebuild trust with their policyholders, their claims process can completely undo all their hard work. For the person in our second example, the process was a surprisingly straightforward affair. That’s exactly what they needed after such a stressful incident. 

This person could walk away from the incident with the reassurance that they could get home and focus on recovering. The process left them with a highly favorable opinion of their insurer and the peace of mind that they don’t need to stress about opening a claim if they ever have another accident.

Visual Intelligence is the future (and present)

Visual Intelligence will be the hidden weapon in an insurer’s arsenal that builds trust between insurers and customers. 

Bdeo’s Visual Intelligence for Claims takes claimants through three distinct phases:

Visual FNOL 

Visual FNOL uses SmartPhoto and SmartVideo technologies to collect evidence, assess damage, and provide an estimate of the repair costs associated with a vehicle claim.

Visual Estimate

Visual Estimate uses a Visual Intelligence engine to estimate the costs relating to damages arising from vehicle claims, using images from the insurance company itself.

Visual Total Loss

Visual Total Loss helps automate the recommendation of the value of an award, using Visual Intelligence to estimate the cost of repairing a vehicle that has been declared a total loss.

Bdeo’s Visual Intelligence platform offers a simple way for its users to accurately and reliably assess damage and estimate costs, which translates into faster turnaround times when making a claim. Request a demo today!