How Artificial Intelligence can speed up the insurance underwriting process

Taking out an insurance policy is not often a simple process. We start by identifying what we want our policy to cover. Once this is clear, it's time for real research. We must find out which insurance company covers what we need to insure, for example, our vehicle or home; then, we will have to see which offer convinces us the most, taking into account our own experience, recommendations from third parties, what price is more in line with our budget or simply which is the offer that best suits us and covers our needs. 

Once we have identified the coverages and the insurance company with which we are going to take out the insurance policy, it is time to start processing the contract. We wonder, is it better to do it over the phone or through the website? Should we go in person, to the office nearest to our home, or better yet, to the office near our workplace, in case we need to process something during working hours?

In a moment, we draw up a long list of questions that need to be answered as soon as possible, bearing in mind that we have not yet started the underwriting process as such. 

However, insurers are increasingly aware of this problem and of the frustration their potential customer often feels. For this reason, they are working to digitalize their underwriting processes, to offer a better experience to their policyholders. To achieve this, Artificial Intelligence has become the best ally. 

AI, the technology that speeds up the underwriting process

If a few years ago we had been told that we could take out insurance remotely, we would have found it rather curious, to say the least. But if we were also told that we could do this contracting through our mobile device, it would have sounded like science fiction.

Well, this is already possible in those companies that have the technology to perform these actions, such as Artificial Intelligence and, more specifically, Visual Intelligence.

Thanks to these solutions, motor insurers can speed up underwriting processes from days to minutes, as in the case of Mutua Madrileña. When a potential customer wants to take out a policy with the company, they receive an SMS with a link; they can send images or videos of the vehicle to be insured via a web app. Thanks to this process, the insured:

• Enjoy a much more agile process that resolves in a matter of minutes, concluding the contract in record time.

• Go through the process remotely, allowing them to do it from wherever and whenever they want.

• Only need their cell phone to change their vehicle's policy or take out a new one.

But that's not all. Visual Intelligence can also be applied in the underwriting of policies for commercial premises, where these solutions are able to identify the elements on a photograph of the room with the aim of:

• Easing the inclusion of certain elements in the policy, such as computer screens.

• Identifying those elements that minimize the risk of the premises, such as fire extinguishers, emergency exits, or smoke detectors.

As we can see, Visual Intelligence technology is here to stay. That is why more and more insurers are betting on these solutions to automate many of their underwriting process tasks. In the cases we have discussed, the loss adjusters do not have to go to check each car or each premise, allowing them to focus their attention only on those that really need them. Thanks to this, companies are able to offer a better experience to policyholders, betting on their loyalty and commitment.