Why Every Insurer Needs a Content Services Platform

Published On March 15, 2021

Insurance is a data intensive industry that increasingly relies on intelligent data to drive decisions around pricing, coverage and risk models, fraud and product innovation; and that’s why a content services platform (CSP) is a must.

Content management in insurance has evolved tremendously over the last couple of decades. CSPs can now not only process a variety of content types in various forms -- Microsoft Word, Google Docs, PDFs, pictures, videos, etc. -- but also content residing in different locations whether that location be a different system or file. 

For example, an insurance provider might use claims processing software to manage initial documentation and have another system for rich media content. Some of this documentation is available immediately, but other documentation such as police accident reports, photos filed by the insured, etc., can come in at widely different times, further compounding the complexity of pulling together all of the necessary information. All of these different types of files often aren’t found through a single platform, meaning countless hours are spent searching for them, costing insurers in terms of additional personnel costs, risks of being unable to verify claims and customer dissatisfaction for claims paid late or not at all.

Various File Types in Various Locations

Further complicating the issue in the insurance industry is that many of today’s providers have grown in part by acquiring other insurance companies, including their own enterprise content management systems which also have their own silos of content distributed across different systems.

The content itself -- be it an application for a new policy, underwriting details, customer emails or physical letters -- is customer-centric, helping insurers understand what the customer’s needs are. The challenge, however, is whether the insurer can find all of the associated content in a quick manner. By leveraging all customer communications, the insurer can more quickly renew policies, offer upgrades (i.e., adding collision protection to a liability-only auto policy), and respond more quickly to claims – all which enhance customer satisfaction, and, in turn, boost customer retention. 

Insurers have long attempted to correct these issues with various master data management tools. However, they have been mostly unsuccessful thus far. Content management systems that include artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities can help pull much of this disparate content together, but many insurers are in the earliest phases of using these technologies. 

For most insurers today, the ability to do that is still more of a theory than a reality. Instead, most customer communications today are still bogged down by many manual processes as well as the need to search across disparate information systems to pull together all of the needed content. For an auto collision claim, for example, the insurer will need copies of the policy, the police report and photos of the damage that can come in various formats, from various sources and through various channels. 

Advantages of a Content Business Services Platform

By employing a cloud-based Content Business Services Platform, an insurer can efficiently pull together the different types of files from different locations as needed, automate the workflow, and provide quicker and more personalized responses for customers. This, in turn, means faster, more personalized communications, which are critical for customer service and customer retention in the highly competitive insurance industry.

A cloud-based CSP can connect historical data with newly collected data, an advantage for insurers with multiple legacy systems.

The CSP will also automate workflow so that one step triggers the next. For example, if a customer emails a query about a policy, the system will automatically push out the appropriate information. If a customer registers a complaint, sentiment analysis can help determine the level of dissatisfaction and, if warranted, escalate the complaint quickly to a live agent or even a manager for the most valuable customers. If there’s an auto collision claim, the insurer can pull together the policy, digital photos and other necessary documents with little or no human intervention. There’s no need for an adjuster to go inspect the vehicle, there are no long delays due to the customer or insurer rummaging through paper files to find the policy, etc. With today’s technologies, the operational, analytics and regulatory processes can all happen in parallel versus the traditional linear approach.

The result is better customer satisfaction, reduced processing times, improved KPIs and additional revenue.

Fraud detection is another important feature. There have been numerous cases of auto insurance customers using stock or reused photos to submit multiple claims for the same incident. A comprehensive CSP will use artificial intelligence, machine learning and metadata to detect re-used photos in order to thwart these fraudulent claims.

The Right Content Services Partner Makes All The Difference

Beyond providing a cohesive way to collect and being able to retrieve all newly collected content, a CSP partner needs to be able to work with an insurance provider to develop a plan to combine content from all legacy systems over time – the more disparate systems, the longer the time frame. 

A CSP partner should also work with the insurer on best content management practices, including document capture and storage solutions, data deduplication and secure destruction of files when no longer needed.

The transformation to a comprehensive content system takes time and requires the expertise and technical resources of a knowledgeable partner who can help with not only the technical issues, but also can build a path to a full comprehensive CSP solution while enabling a methodical dismantling of legacy systems.