The digital highway of the insurance industry

The digital highway of the insurance industry has developed at lightning speed in recent years. Where forms used to be retyped by hand, there are now apps that consumers can use to report a claim. Where digitisation used to be mainly about processes within the organisation, information from outside now has to be processed as well.

Standardised data exchange

Large organisations such as insurance companies have more and more electronic communication with their customers. Applying for a policy, changing it and reporting a claim can all be done online nowadays. A current example of these rapid developments is a new app that can replace the accident report form for traffic accidents. Using this app as an example, it is easy to explain the benefits of exchanging standardised messages, or, put more simply, of communicating digitally:

It is practical: almost everyone always has their mobile phone at hand, but often not pen and paper

Ease of use for the consumer: standard personal details can be filled in in advance or stored

Time savings for the organisation: there is a lot less “polluted” data, because the consumer is required to enter digital information correctly

Digital standardisation is key

We understand why exchanging data digitally is practical, user-friendly and fast. But standardising data is often a challenge, especially for large organisations. Having the right knowledge in house, and good support from service providers, is then of course important. In the insurance industry, questions about digital standardisation are also taken up by SIVI (the Dutch standardisation institute for insurance in the intermediary sector). For years, the foundation has used the EC-Design tool and standardised models to support the industry's digital development from a central point. “A good example of an initiative that other sectors can benefit from as well,” says Jan Vrijenhoek. Jan worked for SIVI until December 2015, and since January of this year he has been a Senior IT Consultant at Digitect.