The
Insurtech
Story
Alipay's Insurance Platform 'Xian Hu Bao' Taps Blockchain to Fast Track Novel Coronavirus Claims
About: Xian Hu Bao, a blockchain-based collective claim-sharing platform owned by Ant Financial, has started processing novel coronavirus related claims on its platform. The online platform offers basic health plans to 104 million users in Chain, primarily to those from tier one and tier two cities.
Process: The online mutual aid platform has added the latest epidemic, novel coronavirus to its list of illnesses, allowing participants to obtain claim payouts faster. Policyholders suffering from novel coronavirus and other serious diseases can submit their applications along with the supporting documents collected from hospitals. The platform uses AliPay’s mobile payment processing service to make payouts to novel coronavirus victims. Investigation firms can get immediate access to patients’ claim submissions on the blockchain platform and all parties involved can see the entire process.
What's Next: The blockchain-backed claim service can play an important role during outbreaks, such as the novel coronavirus, totally eliminating the paper process. Moreover, the platform automatically handles more than 1,000 transactions in a second. Such blockchain-based services can help hospitals reduce the time spent on administrative work and allocate staff to the frontlines.
Allianz Rolls-Out AI-based Injury Claims Management System
About: Allianz introduced AI-based injury claims management system ‘Defendant Hub’ to automate legal proceedings for claims. The digital solution has been developed in collaboration with UK law firm Keoghs and provides claims handlers with an end-to-end solution for Stage 3 claims process.
Process: Defendant Hub leverages artificial intelligence to automate the steps involved in the completion of the claim handling process and collects outcome data for low-value motor and casualty bodily injury claims. The system eliminates the need for the manual input of data in this process and also enable insurers to drive better insight from these types of claims. The technology helps clients to reduce the handling time and improve operational efficiency without paperwork and delays.
What's Next: By using artificial intelligence technology, Allianz and Keoghs are delivering an automated end-to-end solution for claims handlers as they continuously look for ways to advance its claims proposition and make enhancements for customers.
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Zurich Insurance To Automate Personal Injury Claims Settlements Using AI
About: Swiss-based insurance group Zurich Insurance leverages artificial intelligence and robotics to settle personal injury claims. The insurance provider decided to deploy AI after initial trials to reduce the processing time of claims from hours to seconds. Using robots to process claims brings in more accuracy and transparency as compared to the traditional and manual claims handling.
Process: Zurich insurance is using machine learning and AI to improve the accuracy of claims management process. Zurich claims to speed up the processing time to five seconds and at the same time save nearly 40,000 manual work hours. This not only saves time in claims handling, but with every new claim, the system improve its accuracy over a period of time. Using artificial intelligence, Zurich Insurance delivers a transparent and swift assistance to customers at any point of time.
What's Next: Considering the future aspects of emerging technologies, Zurich Insurance plans to apply AI across its business verticals. The company is planning to extend its use on a large scale to modernize and automate the insurance claiming process and deliver error-free service to users in future. Apart from traditional insurance companies, InsurTech startups such as Lemonade are leveraging the technological advancements (AI, blockchain, and big data) to disrupt the insurance marketplace.
Allstate Taps Artificial Intelligence to Minimize Payouts to Fradulent Claims
About: Allstate has tapped artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce its payments to fraudulent claims. The insurance fraud prevention system can analyze various claims to determine the probability of fraud.
Process: Allstate has leveraged AI and big data to scrutinize multiple claims filed by individuals file, where the system monitors and flags suspicious claims in real-time. At the same time, it can also keep watch for trends in fraudulent activities, though not nearly as accurately as humans at the moment. Therefore, the insurer has not replaced humans in its fraud detection but has instead used the technology as a complement. Allstate AI is used to identify potential cases of insurance fraud so human specialists can take a closer look and decide which ones should be investigated and spot trends as they develop.
What's Next: Fraudulent activities are on the surge and insurance companies are tapping technologies such as AI and machine learning for processing of claims. Insurance companies such as Allstate are using AI-enabled solution to lower the number of fraudulent claims. The system can find out loopholes in individual claims as well as spot fraudulent methods and passes them to managers for taking further action. Allstate has planned to continue investing in advanced technologies to strengthen its business operations and minimize pay-outs to fraudulent claims.
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Aspire General Insurance Chooses Infinilytics to Optimize Claims With AI
About: The US auto insurance company Aspire General Insurance leverages smartC, an AI-based predictive analytics solution powered by Infinilytics for claim optimization. In addition to smartC, the company will utilize a set of advanced claims optimization tools to lower cost and improve the customer experience with insurance claims.
Process: smartC uses machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing for process automation, predictive analytics and actionable insights. It enables automated data gathering from both external resources and internal measures to compare the claims data resulting in an improved loss ratio of up to 9%. The platform also automates data processing, and natural language comprehension through Charlee, a set of claims optimization tools. It provides recommendations through AI-enabled chatbot (Charlee-O), identifies questionable patterns using a cognitive analysis based alert system (Charlee-X) and performs emotion and sentiment analysis using a pre-litigation prediction tool (Charlee-L). The delivered predictions and insights enable the claims handlers to make effective decisions and optimize claims with reduced loss expenses up to 10%. Insurers could benefit from the technology by combining artificial intelligence with human intelligence to obtain instant ROI with an impact in loss ratios while improving customer experiences.
What's Next: The use of smartC’s built-in AI and machine learning could increase the efficiency and capabilities of Aspire‘s underlying claims management system. It is able to solve the main problems of the insurance industry with the use of AI, including insurance fraud, litigation and manual adjudication.
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Fukoku Mutual Life Uses IBM’s Watson-Powered AI System to Flag Fraudulent Claims
About: Tokyo-based Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance company is leveraging IBM’s Watson-powered artificial intelligence system to analyze over 130,000 life insurance claims annually. The AI is equipped with ‘think like human’ capabilities, using which it gathers, analyzes, and offers insights on structured and unstructured documents (which may include videos, images, audio, and pre-formatted texts). The insurance company has plans in place to replace 30 percent of its claims handling and management staff with the AI system to improve process efficiency.
Process: The Watson-based system reads the claim documents and other data submitted by the insured or the nominees, such as medical certificates before processing the claims and making payouts. Besides deciding the payment amounts, Watson will cross-check insurance contracts with customer’s cases in order to identify special coverage clauses, if any, which are usually missed while the claims are being processed by humans. It also acts as a measure to minimize over and underpayments. Though the final payment amount will be re-checked by a dedicated staff before making payouts, the AI system mitigates the chance of any errors, improving the overall claim handling efficiency.
What's Next: Fukoku Mutual Life claims that the implementation of AI system has helped it to improve accuracy of payouts and increase productivity by 30 percent. The company expects to realize annual savings of JPY 140 million in the next two years.
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Smart contracts
Clyde & Co Unveils Connected First-of-its-Kind Parametric Insurance Smart Contract
About: Global law firm “Clyde & Co” launched first-of-its-kind connected parametric insurance contract for use by insurers only through its smart contract consultancy, Clyde Code. It was developed in collaboration with smart legal contract platform Clause based on the specifications developed by the Accord Project which defines technical specifications code such as data schemas, models and templates.
Process: A connected contract is a digital agreement which links external software systems and data sources to enable the automatic execution of insurance contracts. The smart contract, which consists of a data model, a logic code, and a supporting natural language contract, initially covers the insurance of a solar energy producer against the risk of a shortfall in predicted energy generation due to unfavorable weather. It automates the performance of the policy by receiving weather data, calculating potential claims obligations, and generating a report on insurance premiums or losses. The new connected parametric insurance policy is designed to automate payouts for weather-linked risk transfer arrangements.
What's Next: By using real-world data and automating processes, Clyde & Co’s new solution offers cost and efficiency benefits for the insurance industry. The firm intends to use the model to develop other connected contracts for different types of insurance and reinsurance agreements to meet the insurer’s need of automating the claim and payout processes.
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Smart contracts
Dynamis Introduced Blockchain Based P2P Unemployment Insurance Product and Claims Management
About: Dynamis has introduced smart contracts based peer-to-peer unemployment insurance product that runs on Ethereum blockchain network. The startup is using P2P insurance platform powered by blockchain technology to create a decentralized network for brining transparency to the insurer-insured relationship. The product provides distrusted ledger technology, where the authority to validate transactions is dispersed evenly across the network.
Process: Dynamis has launched its first product, community-based unemployment insurance that leverages user data from social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to verify employment status of the insured. Moreover, it relays on insured individual’s peers and colleagues to automate claims using blockchain-powered smart contracts. Clients registered with Dynamis offer unemployment insurance to their employees by paying premiums in form of bitcoins and the transactions are recorded as smart contracts. At the time of redundancies and layoffs, employees receive payouts from peers without the need for any insurance company.
What's Next: Using Blockchain, Dynamis palms create a decentralized network of peer-to-peer insurance platform, where severance funds are actually paid to employees during layoffs. Albeit, P2P insurance based on blockchain is in its nascent phase, increased number of startups are foraying into the niche space and using technology to streamline identity authentication, claims management, and fraud management.
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Smart contracts
InsurETH Provides Travel Delay Insurance Based On Ethereum Smart Contracts
About: InsurETH has developed a new flight insurance product that allows travelers to insure their journey directly with Ethereum smart contacts. Based on Blockchain technology and smart contracts, the InsurTech startup automates processing of claims for flight delays. InsurETH services can be integrated with existing travel insurance providers.
Process: As the aviation and international travel market poise to grow, flight delays and cancellations would also increase accordingly. Insurance companies and startups are utilizing this opportunity to introduce technology-backed insurance products related to flight delays. Moreover, claims related to flight cancellations and delays do not require additional assessment by insurance carriers as the data is publicly available, unlike motor insurance. The claim can be verified through the decentralized blockchain data ledger. Users receive payouts automatically, after verification and approval of claims, without any delay.
What's Next: InsurETH facilitates automatic processing of flight delay insurance claims, helping insurance companies to keep the costs low and achieve higher customer satisfaction. InsurETH is currently developing the product as a prototype and the plans to offer commercial platform for insurance companies in the future. In the future, InsurETH plans to offer similar blockchain-powered insurance services for train delays.