David Sheppard, head of Innovation, discusses how Crawford is harnessing AI and claims data to improve responsiveness and transparency.
At the root of every insurance claim is a customer in need of urgent attention — a need that serves as Crawford’s motivation to make the journey to restoration as speedy and empathetic as possible.
How Crawford responds to the first notification of loss (FNOL) is critical to fulfilling the customer’s confidence that the coverage they purchased will deliver on its promise. We believe we can streamline the FNOL process, by harnessing the power of AI tools and historical data. A great example is Crawford’s SubSprint, our subsidence determination tool.
Using a combination of mobile technology, data science, and AI to automate damage assessments, SubSprint enhances accuracy and decision-making. By drawing on geological, soil, vegetation, drainage and historic claims data, SubSprint enables optimal claim routing and reduces restoration time for customers.
The intricacy of policy wordings and the required nuanced decision-making in claims management is another challenge we are addressing with the help of technology. CoverAI, an AI tool, trained to interpret policies, can rapidly answer even complex coverage questions. CoverAI’s benefits include increased confidence, accuracy and consistency, and an accelerated claims cycle.
People dealing with the impact of a loss need us to be highly responsive. Instant communication in plain language is critical to keep them informed and reassured. That’s why we're developing a new customer portal that offers two-way communication and automated chat support. But we’re looking beyond simple Q&A bots — innovation comprises evolving these tools into Agentic AI that can actively advance the claim.
It's important to stress that technology is not replacing human expertise. However, the roles of loss adjusters and other claims-handling professionals is evolving with the potential of this powerful technology.
One way to view the emergence of AI tools is to compare it with the arrival of Microsoft Excel over 40 years ago. Just as today with AI, some believed Excel would replace workers, but in practice, it has become a widely used, productivity-boosting software for businesses all over the world. AI has the potential to do something similar, on a much larger scale.
Another parallel with Excel is that the value of AI depends on how well humans use it. Training is key to unlocking its potential. At Crawford, we’re introducing prompt-engineering training for customer-facing teams to help them interact more effectively with AI systems.
Whether it’s analysing datasets or instructing a model to rewrite emails in plain language to meet Financial Conduct Authority Consumer Duty standards, asking the right questions is key. Looking ahead, it will be important to access the right talent for future loss-adjuster and claims-handler roles as they evolve with the technology and to continue to meet the standards expected by the Consumer Duty.
AI is also playing an increasing role in fraud detection. By combining machine learning, language analysis, image forensics, and anomaly detection, we can flag inconsistencies in claims documentation and communication early in the process. We have vast datasets of historic claims on which to build predictive models that improve accuracy and outcomes.
We plan to leverage AI to improve claims outcomes for perils beyond subsidence. Our next focus will be storm claims, where we see potential for these tools to streamline damage assessment and automate routing options.
As the technology and our ability to harness it improves, we expect AI to help us improve our responsiveness and clarity of communication, and to shoulder more of the administrative burden of the claims process, increasing our flexibility to deploy expertise where and when it is needed most.
The ethical side of AI and its use of data is critically important, to us and our clients. We were an inaugural signatory to the Code of Conduct for the use of AI in claims for the UK and that commitment underscores our approach to using AI responsibly – to support effective and efficient claims management. Crawford’s purpose of restoring lives, businesses and communities will always be our north star as we further integrate AI in the coming years, while seeking to strike the right balance between automation and empathy.
You can hear more from on this subject in an Insurance Post podcast: Navigating record claims in the generative AI era.
