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How much time do claims adjuster spend on the road? How much time do they spend doing paperwork? How can IoT help them make their role more efficient?
Hi there! Thank you for your questions on the amount of time claims adjusters spend driving and doing paper work, as well as how IoT can assist them in being more efficient. The short version is that 1) there is no specific data on the amount of time that claims adjusters spend on the road, in fact official data shows that spend more time in the office; 2) claims adjusters may spend as much as 40%-50% of their time creating documents; and 3) the use of IoTs can assist claims adjusters in gathering real-time data (especially at complex loss scenes), ensuring personal safety, developing customer relations, improving documentation and accountability, and increasing connectivity to the claims office (especially useful for claims adjusters who work from home). Below is a deep dive into my research and methodology.
METHODOLOGY
To answer your questions, I reviewed news and research articles, reports, professional and government websites, and blog posts on the topics. My answers to your questions can be found towards the bottom in the section titled "Questions & Answers." To understand, however, how I arrived at my answers, please review the first section "Process."
PROCESS
The first website I visited was the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (US BLS), specifically reviewing its most current data on claim adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators. The information covered on this website includes: job details, pay, educational requirements, work environment, job outlook, and state-by-state statistics. In relation your first question, the US BLS website notes that claims adjusters and examiners primarily work from their offices, where they review "documents and conducting research; they work outside when examining damaged property." This is in contrast to appraisers and investigators who are more often on the road. Regarding the second and third questions, the website states that with the increase in the use and development of technology, "less complex claims can be processed automatically, freeing adjusters to work on more complex claims." However with this automation to the process, fewer claims adjusters are needed.
The US BLS website led me to two professional websites: the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters, and the International Claims Association. I reviewed both websites and searched reports on the industry. However, I did not find anything relevant to answering your questions. I shifted my focus to doing an open Google search on the topic of "claims adjusters," "time management," and "time spent." That search led to a number of articles that offered advice but very little data, e.g. Chron's article titled "Techniques for Time Management as a Claims Adjuster." Beyond those articles, I, also, encountered Comarch's Mobile Claims Adjuster, which is a system that allows remote management of claims adjusters by non-life insurance companies, including selecting optimal routes for efficiency.
My continued search led me to a guide for Dragon NaturallySpeaking by Nuance titled "Insurance Playbook: Your Guide to Sales Success in the Insurance Market." This guide provided data that was relevant to answering your questions. Specifically, the guide claims that "[a]djusters spend 40-50% of their day creating documents" and "[f]ield adjusters spend most if not all of their time on the road or in their home office...[and] use a laptop and printer in their vehicle." Although the guide was likely published in 2008, the data remains the same on Nuance's website.
Another website, Study.com, drawing the US BLS information, states that being a "[insurance claims adjuster] can involve a lot of driving to go to the site of the claim." A 2016 BusinessFleet article, titled "Mobile Offices: New Tools, Tech for Road Warriors," discuses the ergonomic benefits that claims adjusters would get from having a fully functioning office environment in a vehicle. After exhausting my search on claim adjusters and how they spend their time, I switched examining technology in relation to claims adjusters. This search proved more informative. Below are some ways that technology is already impacting the work of claims adjusters. Thereafter, I have provided you with my answers to your questions.
- Claims adjusters have already tested Google Glasses in the field at loss scenes to provide real-time feedback.
- Drones have been used to decrease the amount of time claims/field adjusters spend on roofs and to eliminate the potential for injury. Prior to arriving to a loss scenes, drones provide adjusters with relevant claims data, e.g. measurements.
- Argo Risk Tech monitors the safety of a specific area with sensor-based location beacons that connect to "smartphone and tablet-based applications, as well as cloud-based software." Claims adjusters then use the collected data in dealing with claims.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
HOW MUCH TIME DO CLAIMS ADJUSTERS SPEND ON THE ROAD?
ANSWER: There does not appear to be any current or past data on this particular topic. What can be understood is that claim adjusters do spend some time on the road, enough so that they are named as one group that would benefit from a mobile office.
HOW MUCH TIME DO THEY SPEND DOING PAPERWORK?
ANSWER: If Nuance's data is accurate, then claim adjusters spend 40%-50% of their time creating documents. They spend enough time such that Nuance markets its Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice recognition software to assist in streamlining their paperwork.
HOW CAN IOT HELP THEM MAKE THEIR ROLES MORE EFFICIENT?
ANSWER: Already, a number of companies have begun addressing this topic, as seen above. In a recent Insurance Blog post on IoT, Accenture stated the following:
A part of managing that distress is providing individualized/personalized service, which data and analytics can provide. Thus, IoT allows claims adjusters the following:
1) More time to foster a relationship with the customer because less time has to be spent gathering data
2) More details gathered from the loss scene which will enable faster processing of as well as defending or refuting claims
3) More accountability in their reporting because real-time data can be provided to the home office
4) More efficiency in visiting and gather data from loss scenes
5) More connection to the claims office/insurance company, especially for those that work from home (many do)
6) More safety in their collection of data as technologies such as drones and sensor-based location beacons can collect data in areas that may prove dangerous for claim adjusters
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, there is no clear information on how much time claims adjusters spend on the road. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that claim adjusters spend more time in the office than on the roads--this may simply be an issue of how the title of "claims adjuster" is being applied. The only data that I was able to find on the issue of paperwork was from Nuance in their guidebook on how to sell their voice recognition software to insurance companies. This data revealed that claims adjusters spend 40%-50% of their time on creating documents--not an overall of time spend on paperwork, but it provides some insight. Finally, IoT is already in use in some companies and its use has already shown benefits for claim adjusters who, due to the use of drones, no longer have to place themselves in potentially dangerous situations. Not only that, data sent by drones prior to the claims adjuster's arrival at a loss scene allowed the adjuster to have more time to develop customer relations. In all, IoT's have been shown to be beneficial. Thanks for using Wonder! Please, let us know if we can help with anything else.