RPA in Insurance Sector – Top Benefits & Use Cases

Robotic Process Automation (RPA), a technology that is built to automate repetitive tasks, is now considered more important for the insurance sector than ever. Insurance firms process a very high volume of tasks that are rule-based on a regular basis. The traditional work approach not just consumes more time, affects productivity but also leads to inaccuracies.

While digitalization powered with RPA enables insurance enterprises to automate simpler tasks so that employees can focus better on growing business than doing menial tasks. This is the reason RPA’s adoption in the insurance sector has increased over the years and the future is also tilting towards it. According to one report prepared by McKinsey & Company, the insurance sector has the potential to automate 25% of its processes by 2025.

Whether it is health insurance, car insurance, property insurance, or travel insurance – applications of RPA prove effective for all.

There are humongous advantages of implementing automation in the insurance sector. Some of the popular ones include:

• Low Operating Cost
• Better Accuracy
• Higher Efficiency
• Easy Scalability
• Simplification of Business Processes
• Enhanced Accuracy
• Non-invasive Compatibility
• Increased Data Security
• Effective Use of Resources
• Increased Productivity
• Greater Flexibility & Agility

Any insurance service provider can avail these benefits by automating all rule-based, time-consuming, and mundane business processes using RPA software. Here in this blog, we are enlisting those top 7 business functions that are a perfect fit for automation. Read, analyze, and take that vital step to transform your insurance business for greater business benefits.

There are several business functions in the insurance industry that require a lot of data entry, that too frequently. For example functions like quotations, insurance claims, etc. This work (data entry) does not require any superior skills but consumes a lot of man-hours every day. RPA bots can ease this task by fetching data from different applications, located in disparate systems, and auto filling required fields in key forms. It thus enables employees to invest their energy in more important tasks. Plus, this can be done with great speed and without any error.

Which is the most significant thing that customers genuinely expect from an insurance service provider? Faster claim settlement, right? But it doesn’t happen all the time.

Why? Because this task goes through a lot of policy checks/validations, paperwork, and approvals in an inefficient and old-fashioned way. But RPA bots process this task faster by

• Centralizing all work through one unified application
• Analyzing documents submitted for insurance claim
• Checking eligibility of claim
• Moving file from one stage to another in a transparent and visible manner
• Sending notifications to different stakeholders for faster processing/approvals
• Notifying claimant in case of any discrepancies

One analysis shows that claims processed through RPA bots are 75% faster than traditional approaches.

Underwriting, the process to evaluate risks associated with a business and creating fair pricing for policy making, is a complex task to execute manually. It requires extensive information sourcing, data aggregation, data processing, and data analysis. Reports say that usually, it takes 3-4 weeks to complete this work. By enabling RPA in the insurance sector, you can complete this task in a very little time by freeing 30% of employees’ time. RPA bots empower marketers to create a precise policy based on real data and facts to compete in the global markets. All while maintaining robust accuracy.

• Enablement of RPA in the insurance sector assists agents to serve customers better & faster. As they don’t need to login to multiple applications to gather basic customer information. With RPA tools, they can receive all the required data with a single click. Moreover, agents do not need to fill in the same information on multiple forms. It further saves time and results in faster query resolution.

• AI-powered chatbots provide 24×7 service and are capable of offering all necessary information (Frequently Asked) without any human intervention. Customers feel highly satisfied when their queries are resolved in real-time without any delay.

• RPA bots enabled with Artificial Intelligence (AI) helps customers to choose the right policy as per their customized needs.

• Robotic process automation (RPA) software provides better visibility about the core insurance processes. It helps you understand your core functionalities and their related key performance indicators (KPIs) better. For example, you can check how many transactions are processed, claims registered, claims settled, claim-in-processing, exceptions encountered, etc. It helps in gauging the true performance and assists in improving the processes to meet customer expectations.
• Implementation of RPA in the insurance sector provides you with real-time valuable data insights. RPA Bots analyze historical data, process, find, and present meaningful patterns to marketers. It helps in better understanding and business decision-making.

Policy cancellation is an important part of the insurance business that takes too much time. An executive needs to analyze several emails, a CRM, Excel, a policy administration system, and PDFs before making a decision. On the other hand, RPA implementation ensures automation of this crucial business function and gets work completed in just one-third of the time.

Every industry has to follow certain rules and regulations to execute its daily business operations. Insurance sector is not an exception either. But what is more intriguing here is the volume of compliances. It is said that the insurance industry is mandated to follow various compliance standards that include the HIPAA privacy rules, PCI standards, tax laws, etc.

All these regulations often get changed and it becomes difficult for any insurance organization to quickly adapt and implement changes without trouble. However, with RPA implementation, you can take a sigh of relief as it makes all necessary changes required in the regular functioning of businesses in a comfortable manner. Moreover, it sends auto-notification when found any violation related to policy. It protects from legal penalties and saves the company’s reputation too.

The insurance sector runs on a lot of paper and manual back-office work that can easily be processed and automated using robotic process automation (RPA). Seeing the growing demand from customers, reducing profit margins, and increased global competition – the enablement of automation has become a critical need for survival. With wide-ranging business benefits and several use cases, RPA can significantly give your company a competitive edge to make a distinct mark on the global stage.