UK motor insurers should adopt broader data-driven and customer-focused strategies in order to overcome the impact of more costly claims on operating performance, a new report suggests.
In its latest annual UK Motor Insurance Industry Report, Willis Towers Watson says the cost of settling damage repair claims continues to rise as more vehicles are equipped with expensive and complex technologies.
Stephen Jones, UK Head of P&C Pricing at Willis Towers Watson, commented: "Claims analytics is an area in which we think there's considerable headroom for insurers to improve not just their claims performance, but also to feed insight into other aspects of their business, including pricing, underwriting and customer relationship management."
Similarly, developments such as the use of big data analytics to maximise the value of customer and claims data, the maturing telematics market, the complex business and legal implications of emerging vehicle technologies, and the specialist insurance needs of a rapidly evolving sharing economy will all need to be reflected in how motor insurers and intermediaries approach the market, the report suggests.
To date, says the report, "relatively few UK motor insurers have prioritised the exploitation of their treasure trove of claims data to reduce claims spend, increase claims handling efficiency and to improve service. More often than not in our experience, the biggest constraints for insurers aren't lack of will or ideas, but legacy systems, organisational structure and supporting processes. Solutions such as our own Brovada and Radar Live software are helping to bridge a way forward to more agile and flexible operations."