Posted: 04/05/02 @ 2:39PM
While few people are likely to mistake the local auto body shop for a high-tech start-up, computers are joining mallets and body filler as essential tools in the collision repair process. A range of technology products are allowing insurance companies, estimators and repair facilities to communicate more effectively with each other and their customers, resulting in time and expense savings that can be compounded by corresponding gains in customer satisfaction and retention.
The clipboard-backed claim forms that adjusters used to fill in while walking around damaged vehicles are quickly giving way to stylus-equipped laptops loaded with information about specific vehicles.
"With a PC-based system, the adjuster can examine the car and touch the screen to select the needed parts," says Bill Ihrie, senior vice president of technology for ADP Claims Services Group. "The database retrieves the cost of the parts and the labor, and if digital photos are taken, they can be attached to the estimate file. Then the package is electronically shipped to the insurance company for approval."
After the claim is submitted to the insurer, Ihrie says, it can be approved automatically or flagged for further review. The claim’s status can be tracked as the car is repaired and returned to the customer.
Along with improved efficiency, the ability to review claims information electronically can reduce expenses by suggesting alternatives.
"Information about specific vehicles and parts is built into the estimating database," Ihrie says. "If the estimator puts down that 12 parts on a door need to be replaced, it may be cheaper to replace the whole door. That’s built into the database."
Perhaps more valuable to the insurer is the ability to combine the claim data with information from other repair claims so the carrier can study its loss history to identify unfavorable trends or possible fraud patterns.
"Originally we thought these would be back-office tools that would make the process easier, but they’ve been taken into the front office and become strategic claim management tools," says Lee Ann Molleck, a group vice president with CCC Information Services Inc. in Chicago.
Although the specific services vary from insurer to insurer, Ihrie and Molleck say, a growing number of carriers are allowing policyholders to file and monitor claims online.
"As the insurance industry becomes more browser-based, more products are becoming Web-enabled, says Molleck. "Insurance companies are interested in reducing the amount of time a claimant spends on hold waiting for a representative, or calling and calling to check on their car. That’s the kind of nasty stuff that people don’t like."
Insurers can also exchange the claim information with other service providers. Although the technological sophistication of repair facilities varies considerably, Ihrie says, integrated management systems used by about 10 percent of the shops can use data from the electronic claim file to schedule the repairs, order the necessary parts, monitor the car’s progress in the shop, generate the invoice and prepare payroll information.
And the ability to store and exchange electronic image files can also play a role in reducing fraudulent claims. Ted Onyeji, president of Photoinspection.com, a Buffalo, N.Y., firm that provides online access to inspection reports, says insurers are using photos taken when policies are underwritten to verify damage claims.
"It helps the insurer guard against fraud by helping make sure the damage isn’t already there when the policy is issued, or that the damaged car is the same one on the policy," Onyeji says.
As more of claims-related processes and tools migrate online, Molleck says, the resulting efficiency gains can help insurers improve customer relations.
"Claims service is a huge factor in customer satisfaction," she says. "If you can maintain high levels of satisfaction when you’re servicing a claim, that’s going to give the customer greater cause to stay with you instead of making a switch. And with the amount of information that’s available on the Internet, it’s really easy to switch."