AI has become a common technology in the insurance industry, with a focus on claims processing, according to a new report by Sollers Consulting. However, there are significant differences between companies in their preparedness to deploy AI. The business and IT consulting firm conducted in-depth interviews with leading representatives from 35 insurance companies in five regions across Europe and North America.
AI is already changing key processes in the insurance industry, particularly claims processing, and will also revolutionise underwriting over the next three to five years. Claims processing, back-office efficiency and improved customer experience are the areas where AI will have the greatest impact, says the Sollers report ‘Beneath the surface of AI in Insurance’. However, insurance managers expect AI to also transform underwriting, prevention, sales and other areas. For customers, the use of AI will mean faster decisions on claims and underwriting, clearer risk communication and, ultimately, more personalised pricing. The Sollers study is based on in-depth interviews with insurance industry executives in Germany, the UK, France, Switzerland, the Nordic countries, the US and Canada.
Large language models (LLMs) are now a common technology in insurance companies. The rapid pace of AI innovation has prompted some insurance companies to introduce general AI solutions for all employees to try out. However, the report emphasises that governance needs to be further developed to reduce the complexity of IT architecture and enable synergies between projects and teams. It is noteworthy that 26% of the companies surveyed do not have any formal governance model in place.
“Insurers that fail to establish governance structures to support AI transformation risk falling behind in a market that is rapidly moving towards AI, automation and predictive decision-making,” said Sollers business architect Piotr Kondratowicz.
AI is already being used extensively to streamline claims management in motor insurance. Up to 64% of insurers have implemented AI in functions such as document deduplication and email triage. However, underwriting processes are significantly less automated, the report notes. Data extraction is the area where insurers most frequently use AI. Artificial intelligence is used or is being introduced for this purpose by 69% of insurers, closely followed by chatbots (60%). However, the use of AI in call centre support is still in its infancy, with an acceptance rate of 38%.
“AI is primarily used to automate data capture, document processing and parts of the claims handling process,’ said Mr Kondratowicz. ‘Over the next three years, however, we will see a dramatic expansion into underwriting processes, pricing and customer-facing areas such as product offerings and digital services.”