How business intelligence tools can rescue claims adjusters from the endless disaster season

Global average temperatures have been rising rapidly over the past few decades as a result of increased carbon emissions, bringing more frequent and damaging severe weather events. Throughout 2021, there were an unprecedented number of natural disasters, with more than 50 major floods across the globe and a record number of hurricanes, wildfires, severe storms, extreme cold, and heatwaves.

As one of the first responders to these disasters, insurance claims adjusters could expect a few busy seasons per year. But now, the high frequency of catastrophes is creating a near constant high volume of claims. Hurricanes and wildfires are forming outside the window of their official seasons, and most natural disasters are occurring at higher frequencies too. Swiss Re Group estimates there were over $270 billion in losses as a direct result of natural disasters throughout 2021.

It may soon be impossible for adjusters to keep up without AI and business intelligence tools.

The burden of endless disaster season on claims adjusters

Each claim can take hours to fully process, including collecting documents, updating databases, and verifying information. Document processing is especially cumbersome when done manually, with so many opportunities for mistakes. When a large volume of claims from a disaster needs processing all at once, it can be downright overwhelming.

It may also be impossible for insurance companies to devote enough human effort year-round to keep up with claim volume and still remain profitable, forcing existing processing department staff to shoulder the burden. Even with more hands on deck, continually processing high volumes of documents is a recipe for burnout.

Many insurance companies already struggle with a high turnover rate in their claims departments. According to Zippia, research into auto insurance providers found that 19% of adjusters stay with a company for less than one year, and only 33% stay for up to two years. Training new staff can hurt productivity and set claims processing back even further. Ultimately, adjusters need help from automation.

How business intelligence tools streamline catastrophe claims processing

Business intelligence tools like Automation Hero use deep-learning AI to process documents in a fraction of the time it takes workers. Here’s how this can help claims adjusters during disasters:

Expedite claims processing times

The AI in business intelligence tools can scan any type of document and understand the information they contain. This helps with categorization so a policyholder’s claim forms and supporting documents are automatically sorted together, even if they come in from multiple channels like email or text messages. What’s more, AI can identify and extract specific information adjusters need from each document without needing manual review. And these types of processes can run on hundreds or thousands of documents at once, dramatically speeding up processing times.

Help prioritize which claims to process

Since Automation Hero and other business intelligence tools can extract data from any type of document, adjusters can easily prioritize the most sensitive and expensive claims by running queries about damages. For example, adjusters may use Automation Hero to identify new claims that have excess of $100,000 in estimated damages and process those before moving on to smaller claims. They can also use AI tools to look for other features that may indicate substantial claims, a second way to spot urgent requests even when top-level fields were filled incorrectly by customers or lost in manual triage processes.

Automate responses to customer requests

Automation Hero also uses advanced natural language processing to detect the intent of emails. This allows adjusters to handle requests in a fraction of the time it normally takes, since they can identify requests for status updates and generate automatic responses. Understandably, customers are incredibly anxious about their catastrophe claims, and getting back to them promptly is one of the best ways to keep them satisfied, keep them as customers and prevent costly disputes or lawsuits.

Cut down mundane, repetitive work

When adjusters are under high pressure to process a high volume of claims, dealing with repetitive tasks doesn’t just slow things down — it’s a primary driver of burnout. Business intelligence tools like Automation Hero dramatically reduce the amount of mundane work that goes into each claim, speeding up processes and improving employee satisfaction. This can even minimize turnover, one of the biggest negative impacts on claims department productivity and profits.

The work of P&C claims adjusters is incredibly demanding and only becoming more challenging as the number of natural disasters increases around the world. Automation Hero has already helped a number of insurance companies reduce their claims processing times, improve customer service, and even streamline underwriting. Learn more about the impact of climate challenges on the insurance industry and how our platform can help in our new e-book.