Who is the customer’s first point of contact following road accidents, and how do they prefer to report it?

Car insurance is a compulsory purchase – which customers hope they will never have to use the services of. But most customers won’t put the claims contact number in their mobile phone just in case they need it – and many don’t carry the insurance paperwork in their vehicle either. It therefore isn’t so strange that a customer’s first point of contact following a motor accident often is a parent, spouse, or someone else who can offer reassurance and support in that time of need.

But insurers really want to be that first point of call, early FNOL reporting is crucial. Early notification enables claims teams to meet the needs of customers when they need it most and provides important insight into the claim. The claims team can quickly chase up any third party to minimise credit hire costs, and the handler can offer the best possible customer experience to both the policyholder and any involved third party.

Capturing key information early

Timely reporting ensures that liability assessments, validation processes and intervention of a third party on fault claims, can be done quickly and easily. On a fault claim, we can intervene early and offer services to support the non-fault third party. And on non-fault claims, we can support our customer with repairs where they have cover, and mitigate indemnity spend for the insurer.

Customers often also remember more details straight after an accident, than they do significantly after the event. Fraudulent activity is often spotted at FNOL, so early reporting is critical for insurers to assess the information and collect more if needed, whilst everything is fresh in the minds of everyone involved. If a claim has any fraud indicators, claims specialists can investigate and clear the claim or address areas needing further attention.

Most customers prefer to report minor accidents online

Digital platforms and apps have vastly impacted the way customers want to notify their insurer about an accident. Especially over the last two years, we have seen an uptick in the number of customers who prefer an app or online portal over telephony as a communication channel to report minor accidents. Reporting it online, often late in the evening seems convenient.

But choice continues to be essential. In more serious accidents, downloading and using an app to notify the insurer is likely to be more stressful than ringing up the claims department and talking to an empathetic person on the other line.

Introducing E-claim

Our online web portal was already proving a popular digital solution for FNOL reporting, but we wanted to provide even more choice for customers. To meet this demand, we introduced E-claim last year, incorporating electronic notification of loss (ENoL) capability to offer an additional way for customers to submit their claim online. The technology captures key details needed to process the claim, such as location (based on the devices’ GPS) and it can automatically pull in information from the DVLA database and from the insurer’s records, asking the customer to simply fill in the remaining details. We’ve so far seen E-claim deliver intelligent insights to claims handlers, helping to reduce fraud and enhancing the customer experience by reducing claim lifecycles and reducing effort needed to make a claim.

Giving customers options which suit their needs continues to be key, and early reporting is as important as ever to deliver excellent customer service whilst controlling indemnity spend. Digital reporting tools is a must to deliver the frictionless experience customers want. For more information on how our E-claim technology can help streamline claims journeys, please contact Stacey Goodchild, Managing Director of Motor Claims via Stacey.Goodchild@davies-group.com.