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Quick Summary: A Snapshot of Today’s Claims Experience
Customers enter the claims process at moments of anxiety and uncertainty. Poor communication, unclear next steps, and manual processes intensify that stress and often lead to dissatisfaction. Insurers can improve the claims journey by:
- Opening proactive and transparent communication
- Creating personalized, guided digital experiences
- Streamlining manual tasks through automation
These changes produce a claims experience that is faster, clearer, and more reassuring for customers — and more efficient for insurers.
Understanding the Modern Insurance Claims Experience
The insurance claims experience begins at one of the most emotionally charged moments in a customer’s life. Whether it’s a car accident, a workplace injury, or a natural disaster impacting an entire community, customers approach their insurer during a time of high stress and uncertainty. They are looking for clarity, speed, and reassurance.
During major weather events like heavy rainstorms or hurricanes, contact centers tend to be overwhelmed. Customers often wait on hold for long periods, compounding frustration. If acknowledgment or claim assignment is delayed, the experience declines even further. Instead of relieving anxiety, the claims process ends up adding stress at the moment customers need the most support.
After First Notice of Loss (FNOL), customers and adjusters must coordinate across multiple parties — repair shops, contractors, medical providers, HR departments, and more. The steps are rarely intuitive. Only claims professionals truly understand the workflow, and customers often feel confused, disconnected, and unsure of what comes next.
This confusion translates into dissatisfaction, and dissatisfaction becomes churn. As prior research noted, over 85% of customers who felt frustrated during the claims process planned to switch carriers. Claims are a defining moment of truth for policyholders, and the experience directly shapes long-term loyalty.
How Can Insurers Improve the Insurance Claims Experience?
Improving the claims experience requires upgrading the full journey — not just the initial intake. While FNOL has traditionally been the most developed step, customers often find that the experience deteriorates immediately afterward. They feel “handed off,” left waiting for updates, or unsure how to provide missing information.
Insurers can significantly strengthen the claims journey through three straightforward actions: communicate, personalize, and streamline.
1. Open Clear, Proactive Lines of Communication
Communication breakdowns are one of the biggest contributors to a negative claims experience. When customers don’t receive updates or clear next steps, they call repeatedly. This overloads call centers and further delays response times — creating a frustrating experience on both sides.
Proactive communication reduces uncertainty and builds trust: Customers want to know that their claim has been received, what will happen next, and when each step will occur. Providing clear, timely updates from FNOL onward prevents customers from wondering whether their insurer is working on their behalf.
Offering customers choices improves accessibility and comfort: One customer may prefer a digital-first approach, while another may want to speak with a representative. Good communication means meeting customers where they are, not forcing a single channel.
Insurers can offer:
- Digital self-service for document upload, questions, and status
- SMS, email, or mobile web updates
- The option to switch to a representative when needed
Collaboration creates transparency across all stakeholders: A claim often requires input from multiple parties: appraisers, body shops, medical providers, contractors, HR teams, or payroll departments. When these stakeholders contribute through secure, guided digital channels, customers can see progress instead of feeling “stuck” in a black box.
Automated communication frees adjusters for complex cases: In times of crisis, adjusters are stretched thin. Automating routine tasks like sending acknowledgments, requesting missing information, and providing updates allows adjusters to focus on the nuanced cases where human judgment and empathy matter most.
Clear communication is the foundation of an effective, customer-centered claims journey — and automation helps insurers deliver it consistently.
2. Create a More Personalized Claims Experience
Customers expect the same personalized digital interactions they receive from online retailers, delivery apps, and banking services. They want intuitive processes, real-time visibility, and clear guidance.
Personalization begins with simplifying information-gathering: Instead of sending long, complex forms, insurers can guide customers step-by-step through what information is needed and why. This reduces confusion and ensures customers provide complete, accurate data.
Real-time status updates reduce stress and call volume: Providing this visibility — without requiring a login or portal navigation — allows customers to check claim progress effortlessly from their phone..
Customers want to know:
- Where their claim stands
- What steps are completed
- What is required next
- Whether anything is missing
Convenient digital tools increase customer participation: Solutions like Ushur’s Invisible App™ let customers upload photos, documents, or receipts directly from a secure link via text or email. No passwords. No apps to download. No complicated portals.
This makes participation easy at the moments when customers are overwhelmed or on the move.
Personalization strengthens trust and reduces friction: When customers receive timely answers, personalized prompts, and simplified steps, they feel more involved in their claim. This engagement makes the experience smoother and more empowering — reinforcing confidence in their insurer.
3. Build an Efficient Claims Process
While FNOL is often well-established, the steps that follow can quickly become cumbersome. Manual document collection, repetitive follow-ups, and data re-entry slow down the process, frustrate customers, and increase operational costs.
Automation removes friction from predictable, repeatable steps: Many parts of the claims process — such as confirming receipt of forms, requesting missing information, and organizing documents — can be automated without sacrificing the adjuster’s role.
Eliminating redundancies accelerates resolution: Instead of funneling everything through an adjuster, insurers can allow each stakeholder to upload documents directly into a secure experience. This speeds up turnaround time and reduces the chances of information getting lost.
Automation accelerates cycle times: By simplifying document collection and eliminating bottlenecks, automation reduces the time adjusters spend chasing missing details. Customers experience faster resolutions and smoother interactions.
Machine learning identifies opportunities for process improvement: ML can highlight where customers commonly get stuck or where delays occur. These insights help insurers refine workflows to further improve future claims experiences.
Streamlining isn’t just about efficiency — it’s about giving customers clearer, faster, and more predictable pathways to resolution.
Why Does Improving the Claims Experience Matter So Much?
A positive claims experience directly shapes customer loyalty. Even when pricing or coverage options are similar across carriers, customers often stay with the insurer that stood by them during a stressful time.
Improving communication, personalization, and efficiency has a compounding effect:
- Call volume decreases
- Adjusters spend more time on high-impact cases
- Customers feel supported rather than overwhelmed
- Claims close faster with fewer errors
Claims are the moment of truth in insurance — a strong experience builds long-term relationships.
How Ushur Supports a Better Claims Experience
Ushur’s AI-powered Customer Experience Automation™ platform helps insurers deliver the communication, personalization, and efficiency improvements customers expect. With no-code configuration, insurers can automate parts of the claims journey quickly and securely.
Ushur enables:
- Proactive, two-way digital communication
- Guided experiences for document submission
- Fast deployment of new workflows
- Reduced call volume through self-service
- Consistent, transparent communication throughout the claim
Carriers using Ushur have delivered more responsive claims experiences while reducing operational burden — especially during high-volume events.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Claims Experience
Q1: Why is the claims process often stressful for customers?
Because they enter it during a difficult or even traumatic event and often don’t understand the steps or timelines.
Q2: What are the main causes of claim delays?
Missing information, manual document handling, and inconsistent communication between stakeholders.
Q3: How can insurers reduce call center overload during catastrophes?
By sending proactive updates, providing self-service status checks, and automating routine follow-ups.
Q4: What makes a personalized claims experience effective?
Clear guidance, timely responses, real-time visibility, and easy access across preferred channels.
Q5: Which claims tasks are best suited for automation?
Acknowledgments, missing info requests, status updates, document intake, and reminders.
Q6: How does improving the claims experience affect retention?
A smoother, more transparent process increases trust and decreases the likelihood of churn.