TRANSFORMING PROPERTY INSPECTIONS FOR A LEADING P&C INSURER TO ACCELERATE INSPECTIONS, IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND REDUCE UNDERWRITING COSTS

DOMAIN DATA

DIGITAL INTELLIGENCE

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CASE STUDY

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TRANSFORMING PROPERTY INSPECTIONS FOR A LEADING P&C INSURER TO ACCELERATE INSPECTIONS, IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND REDUCE UNDERWRITING COSTS

The promise of digital transformation extends beyond customer

communication channels like apps and chatbots. Companies need to

apply the power of people and technology together across business

processes to make it easier for their customers to do business with them.

The property and casualty insurance industry is ripe for digital

interventions across the entire policy lifecycle – sometimes in

unexpected areas. Property inspections, for example, have remained

decidedly “old school.” The inspection process largely hasn’t changed

for decades and required inspectors to physically travel to a location

and perform an intrusive onsite assessment. This is a disruptive, slow

and expensive proposition in an era where an abundance of property

data is readily available, including high-resolution street level and 3D

aerial imagery.

A leading U.S. P&C insurer tapped EXL to transform this antiquated

inspection process, which took on average 21 days and was a painful

source of customer dissatisfaction. In an industry that can struggle for

competitive differentiation, the insurer looked to radically improve the

customer journey through compressed cycle times and the complete

elimination of inspector interaction.

EXL responded with Express Survey, a digital solution to transform the

property inspection process. Express Survey is founded upon Digital

Intelligence, EXL’s strategy and approach for digital transformation.

Digital Intelligence requires the combination of domain and data to

understand context (specifically what the problem is, how it impacts the

insurer and the end customer, and how to solve it) and the orchestration

of people and digital technology to drive defined business outcomes.

“The property and casualty insurance industry is ripe for

digital interventions across the entire lifecycle – sometimes in

unexpected areas.”

REAL TIME PHOTOGRAPHS DATA & AERIAL IMAGERY EXPERT ANALYSIS

++

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TRANSFORMING PROPERTY INSPECTIONS FOR A LEADING P&C INSURER TO ACCELERATE INSPECTIONS, IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND REDUCE UNDERWRITING COSTS

ContextEXL’s insurance domain expertise allowed us to understand the

outcomes the insurer needed to achieve: better customer experience,

faster underwriting, lower costs, and higher revenue.

We then took a design-centric approach to building Express Survey

through a deep dive into how different insurers managed their property

inspection processes, which included interviewing 10 top US carriers

to understand their needs, concerns, and preferences for transforming

inspections.

EXL then identified several opportunities where analytics and data

assets could streamline the process in order to augment human

expertise with digital technology so underwriters could make faster,

smarter decisions on policies.

Orchestration Using the right orchestration of people and technology allowed EXL

to introduce a better and more cost-effective solution to underwriting

property inspections.

Some data providers combine aerial imagery with data to calculate

replacement costs and even assess risk through a “virtual” inspection.

These products are intriguing, but the absence of ground level

photographs, as well as dated aerial imagery, inhibits risk identification

and provides insufficient evidence to take underwriting action.

EXL starts with a foundation of robust data and aerial imagery, and

augments this with “real-time” street-level photos captured through

an expansive network of mobile-enabled on-demand photographers.

Another key EXL innovation was to centralize the data analysis among

highly trained, professional underwriting technicians to ensure accuracy

and precision.

All of this data was then rolled up into a proprietary platform with

an analytics engine that developed automated, comprehensive, and

actionable reports accurately assessing risks for each property. These

reports are automatically delivered to underwriters, making their job

easier by getting them the right data more quickly.

EVOLUTION OF HOMEOWNERS’ UNDERWRITING

1970-1995• People, Paper & Polaroids• Blunt Inspection Selection• Investigated insured’s

character

1995-2010• Credit, CLUE other external

date comes onto scene• Digital cameras and internet

improve inspection process

2010-Present• Predictive models drive

inspection orders• XML Inspection Data supports

automated underwriting• Mobile improves inspection process• Experimentation with aerial imagery

2020 +• Point of Sale Underwriting• AI and robust integration

of 3rd party data• “Pre-inspection” of properties• Superior customer experience

IMPROVEDUNDERSTANDING

INCREMENTALOPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES

DIGITALTRANSFORMATION

www AI

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TRANSFORMING PROPERTY INSPECTIONS FOR A LEADING P&C INSURER TO ACCELERATE INSPECTIONS, IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND REDUCE UNDERWRITING COSTS

EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) is a leading operations management and analytics company that designs and enables agile, customer-centric operating models to help clients improve their revenue growth and profitability. Our delivery model provides market-leading business outcomes using EXL’s proprietary Business EXLerator Framework®, cutting-edge analytics, digital transformation and domain expertise. At EXL, we look deeper to help companies improve global operations, enhance data-driven insights, increase customer satisfaction, and manage risk and compliance. EXL serves the insurance, healthcare, banking and financial services, utilities, travel, transportation and logistics industries. Headquartered in New York, New York, EXL has more than 27,000 professionals in locations throughout the United States, Europe, Asia (primarily India and Philippines), South America, Australia and South Africa.

For more information, see www.exlservice.com/legal-disclaimer

To find out more about how EXL uses Digital Intelligence to help insurers transform, visit this link.

Client Challenge

• Inefficient 21 day property inspection cycle times

• Disruptive customer experience

• Expensive property inspection program

Context

• Property inspections were costly, time-consuming, and created disruptive customer experiences

• EXL used a design thinking approach, interviews with multiple top insurers, and its own market-leading insurance expertise in creating a solution

• Solution combined domain experience and data to build an insight-driven inspection process

Orchestration

• Sophisticated integration of property data and 3D aerial imagery

• “Real-time” photographs through on-demand field force

• Centralized processing by professional underwriting technicians

• Risk analytics, intelligent automation and cloud workflow technology

Outcomes

• Shortened cycle times from 21 days to five days – 4 times faster

• Reduced operating costs associated with surveys by 21%

• Zero customer complaints from an average of 25 per month

• Increased revenues $2.6 million in first year

SOLUTION SUMMARY

Outcomes The P&C insurer’s customers benefited quickly from the new approach

and better turnaround. A process that once took 21 days on average

was reduced to five, and with no disruption to their customers’ lives.

Customer satisfaction rose accordingly. In the first six months using

Express Surveys, complaints dropped to zero after averaging about 25

per month.

In addition to improved CSAT, the client’s bottom line significantly

improved as well. Express helped the client improve revenues by $2.6M

in the first year, and their inspection budget decreased by 21%.

For more information on Express Survey, watch this short video.

To better understand how EXL uses digital intelligence to help insurers

across the front, middle and back offices, contact us or read our latest

article based on a global survey with the Harvard Business Review

Insurance: Leveraging Digital to Compete in a Low-Growth Environment.

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