Allianz automates Ministry of Justice Stage 3 claims with AI platform

Allianz Insurance has launched a new digital platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enable its injury claims handlers to process Ministry of Justice Stage 3 claims at a single click of a button.

The new Defendant Hub was created in partnership with law firm Keoghs to automate the phase of the low-value motor and casualty bodily injury claims process where legal proceedings may be issued, if the parties cannot agree how much a claim is worth.

Currently, Allianz injury claims handlers have to check and respond to a Court Proceedings Pack and manually download documents relating to the claim to pass them to their legal providers. Once a Stage 3 hearing had taken place, the outcomes were shared with handlers to populate back into the system.

Allianz’s new Defendant Hub enables handlers to perform these steps automatically and collect outcome data at the push of a button for low-value motor and casualty bodily injury claims. It also eliminates the manual input of data and generates a response.

Once a Stage 3 hearing is completed, details of the award given are captured by counsel and automatically populated into Allianz’s system. It is estimated that the new system will cut the time it takes to handle each claim by 30 minutes.

The Defendant Hub uses and builds on the technology that Keoghs successfully developed for Lauri, the law firm’s AI lawyer for the insurance market.

As Lauri communicates directly via system integration or by email using natural language processing, there is no need for claims handlers to log into old-fashioned legal portals, ensuring no change in communication other than the vastly improved speed and efficiency with which an outcome is provided.

Amanda McCarthy, technical claims manager at Allianz, said: “We are continuously looking for ways to improve our claims proposition and make improvements for our customers. The addition of Defendant Hub will significantly reduce our handlers’ time, creating an average saving of half an hour per claim.”

“As well as improving operational efficiency, the data collected by the hub will enable us to drive better insight from these types of claims. The results will give us the opportunity to improve our strategies as well as having a competitive edge.”

“We’re delighted to be able to partner with Keoghs and bring together our industry expertise to create propositions that will have a greater impact to our customers.”

Dene Rowe, director of innovation at Keoghs, added: “We’re excited to see Allianz’s Defendant Hub build on the successes of our artificial intelligence system to create the first truly automated end-to-end digital solution for Stage 3 claims.”

“We launched Lauri to enable claims handlers to achieve better outcomes without unnecessary paperwork and delays. It’s great to see Allianz adopt solutions that further delivers on those ambitions, and we anticipate that it will help drive efficiencies and insights.”

“Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are often portrayed as the future for insurers, but Allianz and Keoghs are already delivering an automated end-to-end solution for claims handlers using this technology today.”