Influence of customer expectations on the design of Claim Systems

This must always be considered when choosing a claims system. Let’s consider two types of ‘customer’:-

1. The insurance company itself, as a customer of the supplier of the system (whether the IT department is internal or not).
2. The general public and businesses / organizations who are customers of the insurance company.

          Although the insured is the ultimate customer who may be attracted to the company because of their state-of-the-art claims service; 

         the business needs and associated expectations of the insurer must be analysed. This is to ensure that the information recorded and collated

         is of a nature and quality that matches the expectation of all customers.

         An insurer may expect the following from a claims management system:-

1. The ability to process large amounts of data
2. The  ability to process data quickly and accurately
3. The delivery of information in a meaningful manner

         The system should be flexible enough to deal with:-

1. Claims notification
2. The involvement of loss adjusters and other experts as appropriate
3. The correct amount of claim details appropriate for the class of business written (and for type of claims

                       expected) 

4. The authority levels given to the different staff grades, both for reserving and making of payments.

         Given the ultimate customer is the policyholder, Customers expectation will be surveyed before the design process

          begins and this will establish the basic quality threshold. Many companies are reluctant to introduce new and innovated

          procedures until accepted by the public at large. New ideas are difficult to evaluate in terms of expectation .

          Finally, customers can have sophisticated ideas of what they want and what is available. In the end, Customers also expect

          innovative, reliable and cost effective solutions from their insurer.