Openly’s Tech-Forward Approach Includes AI in Claims

This article is part of an on-going series about technological and AI-related developments and advancements in claims processes and claims departments.View Series

Openly, which promotes itself as a tech-forward homeowners insurance provider, has been making a name for itself by enabling agents to generate quotes in times as little as 15 seconds.

The Boston, Massachusetts-based insurtech, which operates in 24 states and counting, continues to embrace that tech-forward mantra by adopting artificial intelligence in its claims process.

To get a good handle what the company is doing with AI, Claims Journal spoke with April Stone, senior director of claims at Openly. Stone has been in the insurance industry for 20 years, with a list of past posts that includes senior roles at Sedwick and Liberty Mutual Insurance.

The conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Claims Journal: What new technology are you integrating into your claims department/processes?

Stone: We’ve been integrating claimtouch for the past nine or so months to solve for the problem of creating contents inventories and pricing. So, claimtouch is a pretty cool, new tool that has been able to really solve the pricing pain point in the market. We’re able to send out a link to the customer to get an inventory of their contents. They can fill it out, the adjuster can fill it out with them on the phone or they can actually send us photos and we can create inventory photos.

It’s also able to take unstructured data and make it structured. So, if they want to, throughout the day they can take a handwritten list and we can upload that into the system. Where it’s really helped is the cycle time and the process of pricing inventory. If we’re getting the (contents) description and say, it’s a Best Buy Sharp 35-inch TV, it can go out there and get a pretty accurate price, instead of adjusters or even the customers…going out and finding these prices on different websites, going to Walmart or Best Buy, and all that inconsistency. Adjusters are really now, instead of just researching and pricing, they’re actually verifying information, which is much quicker.

Claims Journal: Why are you implementing this technology? What problem is it solving?

Stone: We’re currently working on redesigning our large-loss contents process and this was a piece where we were trying to get ahead of the process. We needed a really good content tool before we can even think about our end-to-end process. Having a really good content store is a big pain point in the industry. Some of them are still pretty archaic; they haven’t solved for things like depreciation, they haven’t involved a lot of technology. We were still—prior to this system—where it was pretty much back and forth.

We needed a tool in order to create our large-loss contents process that is trying to meet our customers where they’re at. Which, right now is they’re looking to use more technology, they’re expecting more technology and innovation in processes, and it’s also helping them feel a part of the process and informed instead of just kind of waiting around, which happens a lot in large-loss claims.

Claims Journal: How is it working?

Stone: It’s working really well. The tool itself we piloted almost six months ago. And we piloted it with the large-loss contents team and claimtouch. We were actually able to get the address (of the claim) and were able to get feedback on what they were wanting and needing from the tool, and then the claim search would go out, and go back and build. It’s almost like we were part of building the tool, so they were very much engaged and part of the process. So now that we’re actually using it, there’s a lot of ownership in it.

Claims Journal: How long has it been up and running?

Stone: It’s been almost a year now. We started the pilot at the end of May last year.

Claims Journal: How do employees feel about it?

Stone: They love it, especially if they were to remember back to old tools. They’re very happy with it. It’s made their job a lot easier.

Claims Journal: How do you feel about it?

Stone: I love it. We’ve seen a pretty substantial impact on cycle time, but we’ve also seen a substantial impact on quality. Prior to this, due to all the inconsistencies in pricing, we found we were overpaying on some items, and we are not seeing that anymore. There’s cycle time making a financial impact and, of course, the improved customer experience.

Claims Journal: How do you measure the success of this technology? What are the metrics?

Stone: The customer experience. We do NPS (Net Promoter Score) and CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) surveys as a piece of that, while also measuring cycle time and reviewing our internal quality results. The cycle time, particularly on the pricing side, has come down by more than 30 days.