How insurance companies handle the crisis with SAS insurance analytics software

Personally, I know many folks aren’t always a big fan of insurance, but professionally, I respect what they have to go through.

My first taste of what the insurance industry goes through, regularly, came when I spoke with a representative working for an insurance company. He was haggard and somewhat exhausted from all the work he was doing. “Rough day?” I asked. “Yes,” he said. “Lots of people hate us when we can’t help them, but no one is grateful when we do help them,” And just like that, he began to tell me about his schedule during the past few days.

Since the lockdown began, a lot of people have turned to insurance companies for different reasons. For some, it’s been getting a refund on their car, for others, it’s about their medical expenses. No matter the reason, a lot of stressed and worried people have had to deal with a massive bureaucratic wall to get the help they need, and who is in the front lines of all this? People like the representative I was speaking to.

As the man told me about his new (and hopefully temporary) reality, I thought about how the insurance industry would be better equipped to handle the crisis, if they had the right tools with them, tools like SAS insurance analytics software.

Problems facing insurance companies during this time

Natural disasters have been causing a lot of problems for some time, but black swan moments like the COVID-19 pandemic have placed enormous pressure on insurance companies. The pandemic has had implications across different areas like property, credit risk, cyber threats, event cancellation, and not to mention, medical problems.

To make matters worse, circumstances change as scientific understanding of the virus evolves, and government response changes over time. A change in regulation is going to affect company strategy going forward. Naturally, large companies have a hard time responding promptly.

In addition to all these problems, there is also the issue of supply to consider. Insurance offices have had to adjust their own work processes due to WFH policies. Furthermore, some markets were tightening regulations, which made it even more challenging for insurance companies to provide services.

Given the scope of these problems, insurance companies are turning to big data and analytics to create a more agile, responsive organisation.

SAS insurance analytics software could be the solution the industry needs.

How are they handling the situation?

The massive demand placed on the industry has forced businesses to incorporate technology into their production processes, making big data and analytics an integral part of the process.
SAS insurance analytics software has been developed to complete various functions, like fraud detection. While detecting fraudsters remains an integral goal for most insurance companies, they need data analytics software to complete other functions, as well, like smarter decision making.

Data analytics platforms, like SAS insurance analytics, allows insurers of all sizes to improve the accuracy of their loss projections and incorporate real-time insights into their data analysis. Given that our knowledge of the COVID-19 virus is constantly growing, the ability to incorporate real-time insights into their operations can help significantly.

Due to the vast technical scope of SAS insurance software analytics, it allows insurers to see the big picture and deepen their understanding of risk exposure because they can merge internal data with external data. It also helps with the personalisation of services, which is something more and more customers are expecting from their insurance companies.

When projections are timely and accurate, it helps insurance companies in several areas, like managing reserves, renewing premiums and assuring stakeholders. Tools, like SAS insurance analytics, can even help insurance companies in the long run because analytics tools can showcase their own ability to pay future claims and demonstrate their capacity to underwrite risks accurately.

Handling the crisis moving forward

The crisis has had a detrimental impact on industries across the board, and insurance is no exception. While representatives have been having a hard time, there is no denying that big data analytics platforms have given businesses a chance to navigate this volatile time a little bit better and even lay the groundwork for a better future.

Thanks to SAS insurance analytics software, the insurance industry can mitigate losses and plan out future operations better.