Insurance firms burdened by analog processes and other legacy technology “debt” are at risk of being outperformed. A recent PwC survey found that 41% of U.S. consumers are more likely to switch insurance providers if they lack digital capabilities.
Meanwhile, like most industries, insurance saw widespread post-pandemic employee attrition, and the sector is still experiencing an unprecedented talent crisis. Recent studies indicate that:
- Insurance carriers currently employ about 1.56 million people, down 85,000 from two years ago.
- Almost half a million insurance employees will retire soon, while eight in 10 millennials have limited knowledge of insurance career opportunities.
Automation is one powerful – and relatively easy-to-implement – lever available to insurers seeking to accelerate their digital transformation efforts and attract and retain scarce talent.
Automation technologies add value by taking care of tasks faster and more efficiently than employees working in sales, underwriting, servicing, and claims management can. The outcome is a win-win one for agents and customers alike.
Let’s explore some of the dynamics that make automation a smart strategy for ensuring employee and customer satisfaction – especially in the context of insurance billing.
Why Billing is a Big Deal
For most property and casualty insurance carriers, billing (or premium payments) is one of the most frequent touchpoints they have with their customers. It’s also the primary mechanism through which they generate revenue. Paying close attention to the end-to-end billing experience is vital.
From the customer’s perspective, it’s important to remember their monthly premium isn’t something they really enjoy paying! Their primary motivation for buying insurance products is peace of mind. For this reason, anything you can do to make the billing process faster and hassle-free will work to your advantage.
Using automation to streamline and expedite certain aspects of the billing process is also good for stretched internal admin teams. When your billing activities need to be processed manually and you’re short on qualified billing agents, you’ll soon end up with a backlog. Your billing teams might be tempted to rush to process documents and transactions or customer service requests to keep up, which can jeopardize the quality of work they’re delivering.
Relying on non-automated legacy systems will only worsen the situation by further slowing people down. Retrieving information from disparate locations can quickly become haphazard and prone to human error, the consequences of which can range from problematic to litigious.
None of this is good for talent retention. Overwhelmed billing staff are more likely to resign in search of less stressful and more interesting career opportunities elsewhere.
How Insurance Software Unlocks Billing Automation
Insurers of all sizes increasingly recognize the potential of insurance billing software to streamline the premium billing process, reduce administrative costs and errors, and improve cash flow.
Ideally, automated insurance billing products can be implemented as a standalone solution or as part of an integrated insurance suite.
The best insurance billing products:
- Allow you to configure billing plans and invoice customers swiftly and accurately. Some even offer online bill pay support.
- Support non-standard payment arrangements and facilitate bill collection and accounts receivable reconciliation.
- Enable billing agents to create reports that provide details of policy costs for both business and personal lines.
- Maintain records of customer payment histories in a central database.
Insurance Billing Software Service and Solutions from Insuresoft
Insuresoft’s Diamond Billing Software can be deployed as a standalone application or as part of the Insuresoft Insurance Diamond Suite.
Our product is flexible to accommodate real-time pay plan changes to multiple payment options, and over 100 different options can be configured within our system’s pay plans. These include:
- Billing distribution (both paper and electronic).
- Billing scheduling (monthly, quarterly, and annually).
- Transaction-based billing options (endorsement changes, cancellation rules, reinstatement rules, fees, and more).
- Payment types or files (lockbox or bank files).
Our analysts have years of experience and are here to help you select the right payment options for you, your customers, and your accounting system.
Why Insuresoft?
Increase Agent and Customer Satisfaction
Use our configurable design to satisfy your agents’ and policyholders’ distinct needs. Implement pay plans that work for your customers and let them make real-time pay plan changes mid-term to give them ultimate control.
User-friendly Payment Options
With us, your policyholders have a wide variety of options for paying their bills, including mobile, web, credit card, EFT, checks, and cash.
Data On Demand
Policyholders have accurate and easy-to-access information on their current amounts due and future bills.
Diamond Billing Advanced Capabilities
- Define and tweak pay plans quickly and easily.
- Improve your billing department’s operational efficiency.
- Choose from a mix of lockbox, EFT, and credit card payment options.
- Define customer payment plans with a rules-based configuration tool.
- Adjust transactions and payment postings in real time.
- Support agency bill and direct bill.
- Offer customers unlimited pay plan options.
- Automate policy cancellations and reinstatements.
- Realize lower total cost of ownership.
You want accurate information right now, and your policyholders want information at the press of a button. Deliver real-time self-service capabilities that satisfy your agents’ and policyholders’ desire to manage their coverage on their schedule.
Learn more about our automated billing platform.
