The Impact of Cost-Efficient, Tech-Driven Self-Surveys on Insurance

Self-surveys have emerged as a key trend, especially within residential insurance. Policyholders complete their own surveys, and insurers can streamline data collection, reduce costs, and make faster underwriting decisions. But what are the broader implications of this shift? We sat down with Jose Bridges, President of Risk Services, and Stephen White, Head of Loss Control, to explore the trends, challenges, and future of self-surveys in the insurance industry. 

Balancing Cost Efficiency With Risk Accuracy 

Traditionally, this time-consuming survey process involved dispatching field representatives to conduct on-site surveys, which incurred additional expenses for travel and labor, and often led to processing delays. These representatives would travel to policyholders’ properties, conduct assessments, take photographs, and compile reports to be submitted to underwriting teams for review.  

Insurers can eliminate many of these costs and inefficiencies by shifting to self-surveys. Instead of relying on field reps, policyholders conduct the surveys using guided digital tools. These tools include prompts for photos, video uploads, and interactive checklists to ensure that all necessary information is captured accurately. Self-surveys leverage advancements in AI and machine learning to review and verify the submitted data, significantly reducing the time it takes to make underwriting decisions, which saves insurers from high operational expenses and accelerates the underwriting process. 

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, home insurance rates rose 34% from 2018 through 2023, with Texas seeing the biggest increase, with premiums jumping 60%, followed by Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. These rising costs have prompted insurers to seek strategic, innovative solutions to manage expenses while maintaining service quality. 

“There’s no question that there’s a cost savings,” says Jose Bridges. “Sending out a contractor to complete a survey and send back data is costly. Self-surveys provide the same outcome but with greater speed and without compromising accuracy.” 

AI & Machine Learning in Insurance Surveys 

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are driving the future of insurance self-surveys by extending typical data collection to include risk analysis, real-time guidance, and live customer support. “AI guides policyholders by voice or live support to help them complete surveys, which makes the process simpler and more intuitive for some users,” Stephen White, Head of Loss Control, says. 

White adds that AI’s ability to verify the quality of photo submissions, identify risk indicators, and review internal quality enhances the speed and accuracy of underwriting decisions. The adoption of AI has been significant with 77% of the insurance industry indicating they are in some stage of adopting AI as of 2024—a significant jump from 61% in 2023.  

The Role of Truepic Technology 

Truepic is an innovative technology used by Davies that offers a more secure, efficient, and fraud-resistant self-survey method to lessen the self-survey learning curve. By providing advanced digital media authentication, Truepic ensures that images and videos captured during the self-survey process are authentic and trustworthy. 

“Truepic’s photo detection technology can identify if images were sourced from the internet, verify the device’s geolocation, and run 35 fraud-detection tests to validate image legitimacy,” explains White. “This process protects both insurers and policyholders, ensuring that claims are accurate and fraudulent activity is minimized.” 

In addition to its fraud detection capabilities, Truepic offers policyholders a seamless, user-friendly experience by sending a survey link via text or email for policyholders to submit their data with ease. Truepic’s platform is designed to be intuitive and accessible, reducing barriers for users of all technical skill levels.   

Customer Comfort & Engagement 

While the self-survey is proving increasingly popular, White notes that some clients still prefer traditional on-site surveys. “Our clients compartmentalize their needs based on scope,” says White. “Lower-risk operations or residential risks may favor self-surveys, while more complex commercial clients may prefer an on-site approach.”  

One potential barrier to self-surveying is customer comfort. Will policyholders embrace this DIY approach? “Self-service is a standard practice that most people understand. Most people are comfortable with self-service solutions such as self-checkouts, so this isn’t a big leap,” Bridges says. “The challenge is at the agent level. Agents must be comfortable explaining the process to clients.” According to Bridges, this user-friendly approach enhances the policyholder’s experience while also supporting accurate underwriting decisions.  

Envisioning the Future of Self-Surveys 

A positive trend towards embracing new technologies and methods, self-surveys deliver real-time guidance, validation, and live support so that any customer can complete a survey successfully. For insurers, this translates to more accurate risk assessments, reduced operational costs, and quicker underwriting decisions, all while enhancing the overall policyholder experience. 

To learn more about which type of survey is right for you, contact our Loss Control team today at Stephen.white@us.davies-group.com.