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Rise Up, Embrace Change and Innovate

Headshot of Paul Kush, Chief Claims Officer at Selective Insurance
By Paul Kush
Executive Vice President, Chief Claims Officer

After decades of its reluctance to innovate, the insurance industry has come to realize that the ways of the past need to change in order to keep pace with customer expectations. Today, advancements in technology are changing the way we do business, from the services we offer and how we communicate with customers, to how we process and handle claims.

For example, virtual appraisals are now commonplace and allow a customer who has had an auto accident to digitally upload photographs of their damaged vehicle and receive an appraisal within minutes. Similarly with telematics, adjusters now can have a real-time view and detailed insight into their accounts and drivers within their assigned territory.

Selective Insurance Team Members working to provide best-in-class insurance

They can quickly hone in on their client when an accident happens to provide instructions to their insured driver while at the scene, investigate the claim based on video and data that is available in seconds, and often make claims decisions within minutes of an accident. Couple these telematics advances with virtual appraisal tools, and a customer could have money in their bank to pay for their damages as they pull away from the accident scene.

The surge of innovation in the insurance industry makes it an exciting time to build a career in insurance. As you navigate your career path and explore different areas of interest, I want to share some advice that I’ve learned to be very important along the way to keep innovation top-of-mind.

BECOME AN EXPERT AT SOMETHING

Learn everything you can about these and other innovations and be your company’s expert. Don’t be content with the advancements you’ve made today — no doubt Moore’s Law applies to these improvements in technology and they will be obsolete in 18 months, replaced by something better and more cost effective. Research new technologies and work with your company’s innovation team. If you don’t have one, start one!

UTILIZE INNOVATION TO ATTRACT NEW TALENT

What insurance company do you think a 2025 college graduate would rather work for? One that allows them to instantly view their clients’ accidents as they happen, communicate immediately with them, and resolve the claim that day? Or one that requires the young claim professional to pick up a telephone four days after a claim occurs and call the driver (who no doubt won’t be answering their phone) and obtain a recorded statement? Innovation and technology is a draw – embrace it to entice new talent.

USE THE DATA

While these advancements in technology help us provide a superior customer service experience, the data that is collected is expansive and incredibly valuable to the insurance executive. Take the telematics example: While the claims professionals are responding to and investigating accidents instantaneously, their underwriting and risk control counterparts (Or heck, maybe those three roles are all performed by the same person!) can analyze the same data to look at driving performance of insured clients who are not involved in accidents.

Current technology can identify those drivers who follow too close, roll through stop signs, are involved in near misses or don’t use their turn signal. The underwriter can use this data on the potential that a future loss will occur to make informed decisions about commercial automobile accounts, instead of just looking at prior loss data. Insureds’ fleet managers can also use this data to provide feedback and training to their drivers to address dangerous driving actions and reduce risks.

With innovation comes opportunity and there’s no better time than now to leave your mark on the industry. Be brave, bold and embrace an innovative mindset – you will not only help to elevate your career to new heights, but you will also help to advance the industry as a whole.

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