FLINK Solutions

The Future of Claims

The future… we all have different aspirations, when it comes to it. One thing they all have in common is that they ease the burdens linked to the time being or offer a better version of it. Have you ever thought about claims from a futuristic point of view, though? What if I offer you a capsuled peak by suggesting some ideas that are to happen, while highlighting some that are already in force?

Most claims are currently handled in a way that leaves the insured in the dark, for an extended period of time. However, it is a mine-infested area for the insurer, as well. In turns, this in most cases makes the idea of resorting to a third party enthralling. This specialized institution manages the insurer’s claim process; may it be a claim management or a back office company. Some problems still exist even with this specialized aid, nonetheless. There are, however, new ideas and technologies emerging daily to facilitate and ameliorate the process. Here, we shed light on a few:

  1. Automation and AI:

Chatbots are slowly, but steadily, taking over human-human customer service. Till now, only a handful of companies use them; Zurich is one. Other examples include Progressive, Allstate, GEICO, and Progress. It might seem like a risk from afar, but the groundbreaking advantages are luring firms to change tactics. One thing that seals the deal is their 24/7 availability. All you need to do is connect to the Internet. If you cannot access the Internet, you can even do so through regular SMS. Time is such a crucial element in Insurance. What is even better is that you can save plenty, because they can recognize you. Astonishingly, there is no need to have your policy on-hand, due to that. With time and with each human contact, they learn. This guarantees that the customer service is bettered daily.

Another use of AI is natural language processing (NLP). It depicts the intent of any text, then classifies and forwards it to the right person. So all the emails that keep going back and forth till they reach the targeted person will somehow be a thing of the past. All this targets better connection with customers, while saving time. Alongside this, fraud can be linked to AI. FRISS, for example, employs AI to evaluate claims-risks to get more accurate estimation. One of the pioneers in augmenting automation is Lemonade, who were the first to use zero human contact in regards to claim. Whereas, 99% of policies sold by Zhong An have been through automation.

  1. Image recognition and Optical character (OCR):

This AI rapidly detects pictures and estimates the case. This estimation process, in Insurance and claims specifically, takes quite some time nowadays. With image recognition, a company can train its system with excessive images of car accidents to recognize the type and total cost of the damage. A good example of this is a groundbreaking company called Tractable, with their use of more than 130 million pictures. The latter is designed to digitalize handwriting to ultimately minimize labor related to handwritten information. This, comprehensively, is taken one step further by only using insurance jargon, instead of the whole dictionary for quicker and better results.

  1. Drone usage:

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, by 2022 an estimate of 2.85 million drones could be used for various purposes, with 450,000 ones for commercial purposes. Natural disaster monitoring, inspection, detection and prevention of fraud, and employee-safety are some of advantages that accompany their use. Another is taking precise pictures and high-quality data. The risks though might raise a few red flags. They include data violation, hacking and data leakage. Nevertheless, their use will save the industry an estimate of $7 billion yearly.

Conclusion:

For years, claims have been the black holes of insurance. Customers do not understand their complexity, as it can take years to reach a settlement. During which, they are clueless. Their unraveling is, foremostly, deeply rooted with the insurer. This extended time-issue is tied with documentation, investigation, and endless paper-work, which at the end is enveloped with customer service. All of which are prone to immense improvement, when tied with Insurtech. This will conversely pave the way of smoothing and bettering the process of claims and claim management. One thing we know for sure is that artificial intelligence and technology make the light at the end of the tunnel within reach.

bclaims

Want to read more about other Insurtech ideas? Keep a close watch on our blogs.

Who is FLINK?

FLINK Solutions is an Insurance back office company based in Egypt.

What can FLINK offer?  

Flink as a BPO company offers different services

Due to the company’s geographic location, you will get the work done outside office hours you will get the 24/7 availability that you need. Your employees, during their shifts, will then have the time to focus more on improvement and enhancement, with FLINK taking care of the rest. This way, you get a 24 hour service.

What the Pharaohs’ Golden Motorcade Says about Modern Egypt?

It started out with an orchestra. Ancient Egyptian kings and queens pass through Cairo, as classical music was playing, then Riham AbdelHakim starting singing a patriotic song about Egypt with the music still playing. Creating a hybrid from mixing a symphony with a song; a dance between prehistoric times and present day. A part of the song, she was saying “to the skies and to the summits,” and that is where Egypt marked its place with this parade – a parade turned into a cultural show encompassing all aspects of art and civilization- a parade that united the nation, and the globe watched as the pharaohs changed their resting place, but where to? To the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC).

A tale as old as time, that of the pharaohs and the Egyptian civilization; yet, with this parade, Egypt engraved its abode within the eyes of the 21st century amidst the strike of a pandemic. With a parade that celebrated Egypt’s history by showcasing a viewpoint of what Egypt is capable of now; as a destination for overseas outsourcing and as a country.

The New Resting Place and the Carsophaguses

The vehicles were specially designed to transport and transfer the monarchs from the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo on the third of April. A total of 22 mummified ancient kings and queens were moved to the new NMEC in Fustat, which took 20 years of construction to open its gates to eager eyes. This museum is said to display a collection of 50,000 pieces, capsuling the Egyptian civilization throughout history; bringing the old with the new, with characteristics similar to that of the parade itself. This rare occasion of the relocation of 18 kings and 4 queens necessitated a full on procession made for television. The parade has its online presence, exhibited in the use of hashtags on Twitter during the live stream. Across the globe, 400 TV channels aired the event and people watched celebrating the great Egyptian civilization, as a parade of pharaohs ride through Egyptian streets.

The Pharaohs’ Golden Parade was organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. What was remarkable was the impeccable precision and attention to details, uniting everything into one entity. Even the mummified rulers were travelling in chronological order of their reigns, starting with the oldest ruler of the 17th dynasty and ending with Ramses IX. The sovereigns were relocated in carsophaguses – a moving modernized sarcophaguses. The vehicles were climate-controlled with capsules filled with nitrogen; protecting the national treasures, with each one labeled with its carrier. These “mummymobiles” were custom-made to resemble Egyptian boats, which used to carry the pharaohs in similar cavalcades during their reigns, and were draped in golden glamor and ancient motifs. Each one was surrounded by horse-drawn war chariots appropriate for its parallel monarch’s era. They were decorated in a way that kept the base vehicles a mystery; although some presume them to be military-based, given the tires, big mirrors and wheels.

It is deliberated that the NMEC serves as a tool to revitalize tourism in Egypt post-pandemic. To the public eye and the globe though, Egypt exhibited a civilization that still defies time and a mass of talents eager to excel.

Outsourcing in the Land of the Pharaohs

parade

A show, but a highly secure one; with the parade itself and with the apparent procedures taken. On a bigger scale, how Egypt secured this procession of repositioning national treasures only demonstrates the amount of talent and security valued in this country. How could you not trust us after you have seen firsthand our security measures? As a matter of fact, Egypt is featured among the 21 leading countries of Global Cyber-Security. Egypt was placed by Gartner Foundation at the highest spots of its lists for best outsourcing destinations in 2016 and 2017. Adding to that, it was also in Gartner’s top 9 outsourcing countries. As for infrastructure, the amount of international companies that chose Egypt as their nesting place for outsourcing only goes to show how Egypt is perceived by global business tycoons. They are estimated to be +100 companies, ranging from IBM to Microsoft, Oracle, Xerox, PEPSI and Uber.

Taking into consideration Egypt’s currency devaluation a few years ago, you would save a lot through outsourcing there than most places. However, due to the fact that 50% of the immense Egyptian population is below the age of 44 and the availability of +35 universities, a remarkable estimate of 700,000 fresh graduates eagerly enter the business world yearly. Out of the working population, 70,000 are in offshoring accounts. This cohesive spectacle enveloped how cultured Egyptians are to incorporate all this in their entertainment. If you look closely, you will notice that the parade itself was aired in English, which only hints at Egyptians’ mastery of the language. Apart from English, Egyptians exhibit fluency in over 20 languages, offering services to over 100 countries.

The great attention to details showcased in the parade is a pride and an example of Egyptian precision, talent and use of any means necessary to create something far greater than what is expected. With Egypt’s centralized location and through outsourcing with FLINK, you will get a 24 hour service, a globally recognized Internet speed, a group of talented experts -zealous to be at your service- and an easy spring of communication with US, Canada and the UK.

What does FLINK do? We offer a numerous variety of back office outsourcing services in insurance that can be tailored to your needs. We, also, offer contact center and customized business services. When you outsource your business, you will be able to focus more on your core business processes by customizing your work preference with a group of experts. Hence, a major reason outsourcing is effective is that you save time and money.

World Recognition: All Eyes on Egypt

parade

“Egypt is well on the way to achieving its vision to be among top five global outsourcing and offshoring destinations,” according to ITIDA. The Everest Group described global Egyptian offshore services as something that has “stood the test of time”. More emphasis on the matter is brought to light with a blog on LinkedIn by Mark Hillary saying Egypt went from having the Egyptian Revolution to being a BPO leader. Moreover, a report done by Pulse magazine added that Egypt is fluctuating global perception about the Egyptian outsourcing sector from it being the household of history; shifting it towards it being a nation with a “competitive edge”.

Read More

Value of FLINK

“Culture is simply a shared way of doing something with a passion,” values and culture are the base of which great companies are built. Even Albert Einstein said that one should try to be a person of values, rather than a person of success, but why not as a company aim for both? What makes FLINK unique? Well, FLINK is more than a company that offers outsourcing in insurance. As a company looking for the best outsourcing companies, one of the crucial things is a company’s core values. Before you make any decisions, let us show you FLINK. We are individuals who are grouped together, forming a unity. A team. Each of us has their own talent, equipping our team. So that all of us combined are a force to be reckoned with.

Due to FLINK’s selective hiring process, we are the best in what we do. FLINK saw in us our talents, sometimes before us knowing, and gave us a chance while utilizing us in the best aspect. We have mentioned before that what sets up apart as a team is our desire for our client’s success. Our values are integrity, creativity, responsibility, teamwork, and excellence. Those values are exemplified internally, and as a result externally, as well. No better example can showcase this rather than us implementing this with ourselves on a microcosmic level. We encourage our team to showcase their talents and there is always room for growth, advancement and development. When you build your employees, they build your company.

Having FLINK on Your Team; An Asset

Any company can hire an outsourcer, but what if that outsourcer adds value more than being on the receiving end of tasks? We add more value to our clients in two perspectives: one on what is already being handed to us and the other is being two steps ahead; how? Well, we add value in process improvement. We notice, we see things and we investigate, because we care. When we notice any abnormalities, we notify you. Being firsthand in the battlefield; however, we came prepared. FLINK is the weapon you never knew you needed. We, also, suggest and improve processes, as we go along. We have your back, in case anything is out of the usual. Using systematic approach, out of many, to change things when needed, and deliver more than what is expected.

We had instances, where due to COVID some changes were happening either in carrier portals or within the work itself, without a client brokerage of ours knowing. We investigated the situation and notified our client, briefing them of everything related to the occurrences. In addition to that, we faced an issue with one of the systems once and sent to the parties involved; in order not to lose valuable time though, we solved the malfunction, only to receive the same solution from the entities concerned later. We notice and see the bigger picture, sometimes preventing ordeals from happening.

A Closer Look on How We Use Our Values

“Hire great people and give them freedom to be awesome.” – Andrew Mason, Founder, GrouponHere you get to see how our people maneuver through daily work using our values. Nour is among our new business submission team of reviewers and a tremendous advisor, while Mageed is our training expert and our eyes when it comes to checking our quality rates.

Nour:

A part of what we do as a documentation officers is to check and confirm the integrity of the documents submitted by brokers to limit errors and omissions. Our responsibility as documentation officers is to review new submissions, and make sure they are sufficient to be sent to insurance carriers. Teamwork is vital to share the rare cases we face on daily basis, in order to have a reference for similar cases in the future. At some point we needed to be creative on how to log and track the work we receive for quality purposes and reviews. Excellence is always our goal; and for the new submissions task, we achieve excellence by reviewing confirming and issuing client policies within 24 hours of the submission date.

Mageed:

I was already experienced as a trainer, before joining FLINK. I started as an advisor and helped out at the beginning by creating tools and plans to understand concepts better. I had an unconventional way of doing so, but FLINK trusted me and gave me space to showcase my talent using creativity. While teamwork enables us to work in a great and healthy environment, which lets us use everything we can to aspire for excellence using our integrity and responsibility.

How Our Values Are Reflected with Our Clients

People grow, when they feel like they are a part of a cause, a home, rather than just a company. When they feel like it is their company, not just a company they are working for. When we are governed by a set of values, they are externalized into our business with clients. A company’s purpose and values mean nothing, if they are not aligned and integrated with how the company engages and inspired its customers.

Dissecting again our values: integrity, creativity, responsibility, teamwork, and excellence. What is integrity? Integrity is being honest and true to ourselves. We apply integrity in our work ethics; we show up on time, we never make promises we cannot keep, and we keep our word. We mean everything we say; we say everything we mean. We set a good example and lead by it. Responsibility is taking action and delivering what is needed. We never miss deadlines. We start with the challenging tasks and projects, instead of them being the usual gimmick: we take risks, and they are met with success. We organize interactive displays, where we all share ideas and work as a team. A sense of being a family is shared between employees; every employee is appreciated and encouraged. We perform tasks as an entity. Having great team-building days, it comes to no one’s surprise that when employees share a good rapport, they tend to collaborate better.

FLINK, In Depth; The Same, But Also Different

At the end of the day, we offer many insurance processes ranging from claims and accounting, to insurance back-office services. Companies always reflect on the question of whether to insource or outsource. If so, what then should be done as a company and what tasks should be handed to the outsourcer. However, with FLINK, we are a part of you. There is only an “us” in our terminology, a want for clients to reach perfection. Within us as a team, our values govern us, in some ways, even shape us as FLINK; and as such, returning to our clients on a bigger scale. Yes, we are an insurance back-office company; however, when you look closely, we are different. We are you.

“Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.” – Simon Sinek, author, Start with Why

Who is FLINK?

FLINK Solutions is an Insurance back office company based in Egypt.

What can FLINK offer?  

Flink as a BPO company offers different services

Due to the company’s geographic location, you will get the work done outside office hours you will get the 24/7 availability that you need. Your employees, during their shifts, will then have the time to focus more on improvement and enhancement, with FLINK taking care of the rest. This way, you get a 24 hour service.

 

Insuretech Trends

According to Altexsoft, a technology and solution consulting company, duplication is so infused in the insurance job sector that they estimated a shocking 1 million insurance jobs can be automated in the US alone. Deloitte, also, says that only 4% of millennials are interested to work in the insurance industry; opting for technology, consulting, or financial firms instead. Consequently, insurance companies do not often have enough technically-skilled employees. Moreover, one of the consequences of the COVID pandemic is that clients are leaning towards insurance providers with resilient digital competencies. This is even more apparent by PWC’s recent survey that provides a shocking 41% of consumers are estimated to switch their insurance companies for a digital one. All these reasons push forward the notion of InsurTech more than ever. 

Today, we are seeing more and more utilities and technologies insurance is becoming inclined towards, in order to save time and direct employees to their core tasks. One of which is claims management, where it begins with claim registration all the way to the insured party’s payments. Claims management software works for both the insured and the insurer simultaneously; ultimately saving time in their claim-handling process, while reducing the company’s labor costs through automation. Another example of cost-saving technologies is digitalizing paper records with optical character recognition and the use of chatbots. For more information regarding InsurTech and claims, click on our blog here. 

Today, close to 61% of customers favor monitoring their application status with the use of digital tools. Haven Life, for example, condensed time to process applications from what was typically 1-2 weeks to 20 minutes via their website’s online questionnaire. In 2019, insurers spent nearly $225 billion on IT. So, what are some of the latest InsurTech trends?

Personalized Insurance Pricing with IOT (Internet of Things) and Social Media

Until recently, the only means to provide risk assessment was through impersonalized datasets. However, now with the availability of social media and endpoint devices, an assembly of vast amounts of personal data can be provided. This can help both parties involved; clients getting cheaper and better coverages, while insurers obtaining more precise risk assessment with satisfied customers. The only problem that comes to mind is whether clients are to provide their personal information? Well, a recent Accenture study validates that more than ¾ of customers are ready to do so, in hopes of getting cheaper and more personalized offers.

Connected and wearable devices can provide deep insights into a customer’s physical conditions, ranging from blood pressure to temperature and pulse. The insurer and underwriters can, now, access a broad range of highly personalized records, and explore a client’s lifestyle patterns. Access to clients’ social media networks can be of use, as well; revealing a person’s risk tolerance through the use of machine learning and other predicative analytics techniques. RGAX, a company that offers dental insurance, uses call center data and IoT technology to pinpoint customer emotions during phone calls; as a result, analyzing the level of customer satisfaction. Through the use of a smart toothbrush that tracks how well clients care for their teeth, the company provides a personalized insurance plan. Ultimately, according to the company, it ends up offering up to 25% lower rates compared to its competitors.

Telematics and Auto Insurance

Telematics insurance is basically car insurance products that are grouped together and installed in automobiles. These advanced tools include a GPS system, a SIM card and motion sensors with analytics software; tracking clients’ location, speed, driving distance and even accidents. How does this work? The system, initially, processes the information it gathers, and sends it to the insurer via mobile internet. Then, further analysis is put into action and added to the customer’s personal account. As a result, insurance providers can tailor insurance plans, and improve risk management. In case any irresponsible driving is to occur, the company can then increase charges. Due to their online presence, they can even notify the police, in case of accidents. 

A UK-based telecommunication company, O2, has adopted this idea and launched a car insurance product, with the aim of providing better prices to customers that drive safely. Through their mobile app, clients can track their driving progress, and get tips on improving their driving risks. The adoption of telematics fuels on business models such as: UBI (usage-based insurance), PHYD (pay how you drive), and PAYD (pay as you drive).

Insurance Blockchain

The insurance industry has many problems that vary from fraud to human errors and cyber-security. Investopedia explains that blockchain is “a specific type of database”. Euromoney, additionally, elaborate that this is a systemized digital ledger in which transactions of cryptocurrency are kept and preserved across an entire network of computers. A combined number of transactions are present in each block, and new transactions are recorded, when added.

According to BuiltIn, blockchain in insurance works on 3 main features: smart contract, automation and cyber-security. InsurTech Innovation Leader EMEA and Senior Director at Willis Towers Watson, Magdalena Ramada-Sarasola, says that blockchain has the potential to generate disruption in the insurance industry in six ways:

  1. Event triggered smart contracts
  2. Increased back-end efficiency
  3. Disintermediation
  4. Better pricing and risk assessment
  5. New types of insurance
  6. Reaching the underserved

Are there different types of blockchains? There are two that are used globally:

  1. Closed (private) blockchain: only allows users, who have been invited, to use the information there. This kind of blockchain would be of interest to insurance companies to use it for billing, administration, and claims payments. Through its use, information that is needed to be shared will only be shared.
  2. Open (public) blockchain: the information there is open to the public, and it used for governmental or nonprofit organizations.

Initially, automating paying claims was what was considered by insurance companies to use blockchain in. One of the key strengths of blockchain is its ability to aid in automating claim functions, by verifying coverages between reinsurers and insurers. Additionally, it will automate payments between claim parties; consequently, administrative costs for insurance providers will be lowered. By 2030, an analysis by Gartner predicts that blockchain will generate $3.1 trillion in new business value. Altexsoft, also, envisions a future with life insurance applications being submitted through the use of blockchain. 

A smart contract, according to PwC, is a computable agreement that is digitally-signed between a number of parties. A software agent, being a virtual third party, can enforce some of the terms of such agreement. Smart contracts allow the information to be shared in a secure, efficient manner. For instance, insurance claims are paid, when an insured person’s car is in an accident. The use of smart contract in blockchain allows such payments to be completed without any human interaction. This is due to the secure automation of information-processing that is previously mentioned. Subsequently, this technologically-advanced agreement will be of impeccable use to large organizations. 

An example of this being put into action is through Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative (B3i), where Munich Re is a founding member. B3i consists of 15 member companies that are to assess and try the potential of blockchain for insurance.

P2P Insurance

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) insurance is a business model that is swiftly gaining popularity, due to the availability of technological basis. The model necessitates that a network of people agree to cover similar risks, by forming a single finance pool of their premium shares. Insurance companies – the traditional intermediary- is not obligatory in this model. Customers, then, lessen claim conflicts, and minimize their costs, in addition to getting refunds of any available money at the end of each coverage period. Nevertheless, this P2P model is said to have a few drawbacks including: the difficulty in achieving a united consensus, a lack of trust that might prevail among peers, fraud sensitivity and ethical aspects. 

What is noteworthy, though, is that P2P insurance has already crossed three central milestones: 

  1. Having a P2P insurance carrier: Besurance. Besurance is an InsurTech platform that offers risk-sharing for insurants with risk similarities. Their software provides relevant groups with an appropriate quotation, with community members assessing and approving claims. 
  2. A distribution of insurance: Friendsurance. This is a startup company that works on connecting groups of people –an average of 10 to 12 insurants- via a mobile app. Claims are reported via Friendsurance, and coverage is received as a result. When a contract expires, customers get their agreed-upon refunds. This company mainly deals with small risks that accompany home insurance. 
  3. A self-governing InsurTech organization: Teambrella. This is a blockchain-based insurance platform. It is a network of P2P, but powered by blockchain. The company uses Ethereum smart contracts for their policy and claim management. Peers discuss claims and meet consensus through transparency and self-regulation. If the claim is approved, all peers share part of their premium with the person involved in the claim.

Better Customer Experience and the Move to New Solutions with FLINK

A relatively high number of insurants are not pleased with their insurance service providers. Insurers tend to provide poor customer experience, asserted by The Morgan Stanley and BCG studies. Additionally, Statista claims that only 36.1% of insurants conveyed their satisfaction with their primary insurer. What is even more shocking is that about 50% of clients consider changing their insurers, according to Altexsoft. As a result, it is proven that now is the time to focus on customer relationships. 

With COVID’s added push and reliance on digitalization and the new InsurTech trends that work on bettering the service, FLINK can help with data migration, carrying existing workload. In order for your employees to focus on core tasks, improve your service daily and move to new solutions, you can opt for an insurance back office outsourcing, or a BPO service provider; a company that works on facilitating, perfecting and delivering. Why FLINK in particular? You can read Our Value of FLINK blog, go through our variety of services, or test our 30 day free trial. Decreasing your client turnover percentage is one click away!

Who is FLINK?

FLINK Solutions is an Insurance back office company based in Egypt.

What can FLINK offer?  

Flink as a BPO company offers different services

Due to the company’s geographic location, you will get the work done outside office hours you will get the 24/7 availability that you need. Your employees, during their shifts, will then have the time to focus more on improvement and enhancement, with FLINK taking care of the rest. This way, you get a 24 hour service.