Curiouser and Curiouser

`Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).

We thought of that line from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland when we read a recent article in PropertyCasualty360. The article — “Mitigating risk & reducing employee claims for commercial clients” — said this, in part:

As employers continue to struggle with managing remote versus in-person employee working conditions around the United States, it is expected that employee practices liability insurance (EPLI) claims will continue to rise. In fact, data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) shows that EPLI claims have increased every year since 2003. EPLI claims include any employment-related claims such as wrongful termination, discrimination, workplace harassment and retaliation.

That citation appears to employ the logical fallacy of false cause. The assertion seems to be (A) managing remote versus in-person employee working conditions will (B) cause EPLI claims to rise. But if EPLI claims have increased every year since 2003, then A is not necessarily the cause of B.

One More Thing

The article also says this:

Some degree of risk is unavoidable for businesses, but ignoring that risk increases the volatility of outcomes and potential damage. Sixty-five percent of founders admit that risk is an inherent part of business and is necessary to grow.

The first sentence is simply and logically true. The second sentence is shocking in that only 65 percent of founders admit to the reality of risk. (And we wonder why tort lawyers are overburdened.)

Universal Truth

All of that musing about philosophy and logic notwithstanding, one thing remains universally true: Claims — EPLI and otherwise — have to be managed. And a SaaS platform that automates workflow and operationalizes risk mitigation by enabling users to identify — and thereby mitigate — claims and risk trends by type is a good place to start. After that, if you can find a SaaS platform that also also tracks salvage, recoveries, subrogation, various parties to incidents, claims by type, vehicles, road conditions, types of injuries, wage details, and more — with customizable tags and drop-downs — buy it.

Anything else would even make Alice wonder.

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Call 1-800-CHAT-BOT

The current issue of Claims Magazine contains an article called, “How Chatbots are Revolutionizing the Insurance Industry”. The article said this, in part:

Chatbots are available 24/7 /365 and don’t take vacations, sick days or personal time. Nor do they draw salaries or require matching benefit programs or resources dedicated to resolving interpersonal disputes, issues regarding advancement and promotions or office space.

We’re all about people, whether they be employees or customers. But the article got us thinking more about something that recently crossed our minds: What if we used a chatbot to enable people to reports claims? The idea might not be entirely novel. But we think it would be particularly beneficial in the context of Cloud Claims.

The Idea

We could create an entire chatbot-based incident-collection/claim-initiation/reporting process. Rather than creating yet another app (doesn’t the world have enough apps already?), we thought it would be preferable to report a claim conversationally with a chatbot. Such a conversation might go like this:

Claimant: Hi. I’d like to report an incident.

Chatbot: What kind of incident?

Claimant: My parked car was hit by a cement mixer that lost its brakes.

Chatbot: Is you car totaled?

Claimant: I don’t know. I can’t see it under the cement mixer.

Chatbot: Can you send photos of the damage to your car?

Claimant: No. It’s still under the cement mixer.

Chatbot: Was anyone injured?

Claimant: No.

Chatbot: Did you call the police?

Claimant: Yes.

Chatbot: Did you get a copy of the police report?

Claimant: Yes.

Chatbot: Were you charged with anything?

Claimant: Loitering.

Chatbot: Why?

Claimant: When I saw the cement mixer headed toward my car, I didn’t get in it. I just stood on the sidewalk.

Chatbot: Is there anything else I can help you with?

Claimant: Can I order a pizza?

Chatbot: You have to call another chatbot for that.

[click]

The Bottom Line

Using a chatbot would allow for flexible, out-of-order data collection. It would enable people to send photos and attachments to the chatbot via text message. And at the end of the call, the chatbot could create an incident in Cloud Claims and confirm everything with an e-mail. In addition, chatbots would also allow people to get 24/7 updates on the status of their claims and more.

The only thing it wouldn’t do is let them order a pizza.

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