How are new technologies revolutionizing the auto insurance and repair industry?

The auto insurance and repair industry is in the midst of an unprecedented transformation. Spurred by the pandemic and vehicle complexity, the industry is ramping up adoption of technologies such as cloud, AI, and IoT to make claims and repair processes seamless across touchpoints. These enabling technologies, coupled with evolving consumer demands, are driving several trends that will change the claims and repair experience forever.

Complex vehicle impact

An increasing percentage of vehicles are equipped with advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features such as automatic emergency braking, parking assistance, and blind spot detection. It is estimated that by the end of 2020, 10% of his billion cars in use worldwide will have major ADAS features. As more vehicles have been equipped with these features over the past decade, the number of parts in the vehicle has nearly doubled. Today, the average car has 30,000 parts, and a new car has over 1,000 semiconductor computer chips that perform everything from interior lighting, engine cooling, and battery management to tire pressure monitoring, seat control, and more. used for all sorts of purposes. Going forward, vehicles will grow with more advanced technologies such as AI, cameras, and sensors, making insurance and repairs for these vehicles increasingly complex and costly.

New skill sets, technical training and tools will be required to mitigate longer repair times and claims resolution.

Beyond safety systems, electric vehicles (EVs) are transforming entire industries. In 2021, the market share of battery-powered EVs will almost double, up from his 1.6% in 2020 to his 2.9% of total new car sales. These advances present both challenges and opportunities for auto insurers and collision repairers. New skill sets, technical training and tools will be required to mitigate longer repair times and claims resolution.

Mobile and AI redefine the customer experience

Over the past few years, technology has pushed both insurance companies and collision repair companies forward. Photo estimators, chatbots, and text messaging have helped us use digital where appropriate and provide a human-centric customer service model.

Customer expectations have evolved since the pandemic and now demand more customized and simplified interactions. As a result, we’ve seen several advances in insurance and repair technology to provide drivers with a more personalized experience.

With the help of technology, policyholders can easily submit digital photos of vehicle damage to insurers and repairers to initiate the claim and repair estimate process faster than previous manual methods. And data shows that consumers are eager to adopt it. During the pandemic, the number of consumers using this technology to submit photos of their damaged vehicle directly to repairers has nearly doubled, with more than 20% of his claims records using photo estimates for actual repairs. connected to the order. These photos are transferred through an integrated network of connections and applied with advanced AI. The experience isn’t about the mobile app, it’s about the network connection working behind the scenes that allows the consumer to drive the entire process through their phone, helping to automate the process under all circumstances.

This example shows the huge push towards a connected ecosystem that consumers can expect in the automotive industry. Today, 1 billion days pass each year in the United States between the time an auto insurance claim is initiated and the claim is resolved. Establishing seamless connectivity between tens of thousands of providers across industries requires working together to resolve hundreds of multi-party decisions arising from a single claim. The industry ecosystem spans auto insurers, crash repairers, parts suppliers, car manufacturers, lenders, tow trucks, and medical providers in case of crash injuries.

This technology-enabled ecosystem has enabled the auto insurance and repair industry to leverage massive amounts of data. Combining data from the vehicle itself, digital images of the vehicle, and historical claims and repair data can enable more accurate decision making, increase processing time and improve the overall policyholder experience. increase. Digitalization in this industry is still in its early stages, but innovation continues.

Adoption of telematics further accelerates digitization

Telematics has been an emerging technology in the automotive industry for decades, but its adoption is growing. This is largely due to regulation, consumer advocacy groups moving away from relying on credit scores to relying on the price of insurance policies, and the increasing complexity of vehicles, which are driving costs in insurance premiums and vehicle repairs. is the cause. Telematics data can be applied to a variety of usage-based insurance products, such as pay-as-you-go, and can be incorporated into new, more policyholder-centric and behavior-driven insurance business models.

How does this work? Telematics data collected directly from the vehicle can detect accidents instantly, immediately call for medical assistance if needed, initiate a claim process with insurance companies, and help repairers quickly schedule repairs and order parts. allow it to start. Telematics data shared between connected providers accelerates communication between all parties involved, ultimately shortening repair cycle times and increasing customer satisfaction.

A step into a fully automated future

The automotive industry is facing a major turning point. Over time, consumers, insurers, and repair technicians will continue to see this technology continue to inform and speed up more decision-making, allowing professionals to deliver a complete, personalized claims and repair experience. You can expect to be able to focus on With so sophisticated technology at our fingertips, the potential for excellent customer service increases exponentially.

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About the author: Jason Verlen is Vice President of Product Marketing at CCC Intelligent Solutions Inc.