When it comes to managing claims, time is of the essence. The faster you get through the process, the sooner your customers can be made whole again and remain satisfied with your service.
Here are 11 ways to speed up your claims management process. Implementing even a few of these tips could make a big difference in your teams’ workflow.
1. Digital documentation
Implementing digital documentation into your process will allow for all records created to be stored online. This will save time, cost, and a lot of effort when searching for a document relating to a customer’s claim. The ability to share these documents when collaborating with third parties also makes digital documentation a no brainer in claims management.
2. Virtual inspections
Virtual inspections assist claims management through the ability to scale and augment your staff during normal and busy times (catastrophe events). In addition, virtual inspections create excellent outcomes by expanding your existing coverage, reducing claim lifecycles, reducing average claims costs, and granting the ability to provide superior customer experience with real-time interaction and engagement. Virtual inspections are made possible through tools like Livegenic.
3. Automated workflows
Automated workflows speed up task management and completion by reducing errors in processing, streamlining approval processes, improving the customer experience and ultimately cutting down some labour costs.
4. Train your team appropriately
Unprepared and unaligned team members can cause massive roadblocks in claims management. Ensuring your team aligns with how insurance claims work and your organisations expectations for your clients and customer is essential. Lodging an insurance claim can cause a lot of devastation and loss, leaving customers exposed and emotions high. Delivering sensitive customer service and diligent service is a necessity for speeding up the claim management process.
5. Real-time assignment management
Real-time assignment management is a modern-day tool that accelerates almost any process. It enables users to organise their workflow and stay on top of assignments in real-time. As a claims manager, it allows you to delegate work to your team, set their deadlines, comply with SLAs, etc.
6. Online payments
Accepting online payments is critical in speeding up the claims management process. Allowing insureds to pay their excess or accepting progress payments from insurers online streamlines claims to move to the next stage of the process as soon as the payment is made. Old school procedures of collecting money can cause extensive delays leaving customers and clients frustrated.
7. High performing supplier network
Managing your supply panel of suppliers can be time-consuming, costly and, in many cases, risky. In addition, monitoring credentialling, licensing, warranties, payments, quote comparisons, performance management and more causes longer cycle times and inevitably, disgruntled customers.
Having access to a highly vetted and compliant supplier network will inevitably speed up the claims management process. Platforms like Wilbur Repair offers a property mitigation and repair supplier network that will assist in cutting cycle time off your claims management process.
8. Connect everyone in one place
Uniting all parties in a claim to connect the right people at the right time is paramount to a successful claim. If all parties are connected, then the insured, insurer, supplier and everyone else involved has a full 360 view of the claim and its status. Never left wondering where the progress of the claims is currently.
9. End-to-end claims management tool
This one is a no brainer. If you do not have an end-to-end claims management tool already, this will significantly help you chop down days off your claim’s lifecycle. Using an end-to-end claims management tool enables you to take control of your claims and connect all the dots of the process from first notification to completion. Creating a better experience for all parties involved. Check out Wilbur Claims Manager for an industry-leading claims management tool.
10. Virtual collaboration
Unlike virtual inspections, virtual collaboration covers more than just the assessment and opens opportunity to manage claims faster. For example, using a virtual collaboration tool like Livegenic allows users to document the whole claim process virtually and have all the footage captured and stored onto the cloud for reference and sharing with any party needed. Virtual collaboration is also an excellent tool for checking suppliers’ works and ensuring that everything is complete and up to standard.
11. Use SaaS-based products
With SaaS products, your business will save on hardware and software costs while also having access to any changes or upgrades without incurring additional expenses. An effective way of reducing overhead costs and saving time at your company while ensuring that you are always up to date with the latest versions of your software. SaaS-based products like Wilbur Claims Manager are also more secure than on-premises software; they’re easier to manage and allow employees to work remotely.
Even if you only take onboard some of these tips, you will improve your claims management process. The best way to experience all the benefits is to connect with one of our experts at Wilbur. We’ll help you every step of the way so that you can ensure your business performs to the best of its ability.
Let’s get started. Because where there’s Wilbur, there’s a way.
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