Insurers Powered by New Tech Ready to Assist Policyholders

This hurricane season has already broken several records, and it is not over yet.

So far, 2020 has produced 23 named storms, including two using the Greek alphabet for only the second time in history. Nine named storms have made landfall, and four of those were hurricanes.

Natural disaster preparedness has taken a whole new meaning as states continue to grapple with the spread of COVID-19 and its devastating effects on our economy and people’s livelihoods. Social distancing is making many aspects of hurricane response more challenging, but insurers are assisting policyholders in impacted areas and providing relief through enhanced digital technologies should disaster strike.

As one of the nation’s essential services, the insurance industry has vast experience with crisis management, and this enables home, auto and business insurers to respond to the increased demands and unique challenges presented by COVID-19.

This is especially true as the industry and consumers navigate claims handling for natural disasters during the pandemic.

Insurers are ready for this new virtual reality thanks to a rise in the use of advanced digital technologies to better serve customers and process claims expeditiously.

In recent years, forward-thinking insurers have been on the cutting edge of incorporating emerging technologies, like drones, specialized apps, 3-D modeling and artificial intelligence tools into the claims process. Now more than ever before, insurers are using virtual solutions to process claims and better serve their customers.

These virtual solutions are doing more than just keeping customers and employees safe during the pandemic. They are speeding up the claims process overall. Virtually inspected claims are generally processed more than twice as fast as a traditionally inspected claim, helping to promptly get policyholders on the road to recovery after a disaster.

Insurers’ ability to handle claims safely and efficiently during the pandemic has already been battle-tested. In the first six months of 2020, the U.S. experienced 10 weather disasters that have caused more than $1 billion each in losses, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This hurricane season continues to be active. While insurers are ready to process claims quickly and efficiently, they are also in communities working with consumers to ensure they are financially prepared before a storm hits. Insurers are reminding consumers to take these vital steps: review their policies to ensure they have enough coverage, make a home inventory and evaluate their flood risk.

Insurers are also encouraging consumers that are experiencing financial challenges due to the pandemic to talk to their insurer about options that may be available to help. Many home, auto and business insurers are voluntarily offering policyholder relief arrangements for refunds and discounts, providing flexible payment solutions, waiving insurance premium late fees and pausing cancellation of coverage.

Utilizing a variety of innovative, virtual solutions, insurers are ready to help their policyholders get on the road to recovery quickly if disaster strikes.