The Claim as a Key Moment in Customer Retention

The claims management experience often defines the future relationship with the customer. When we take out an insurance policy, we typically focus on price and the cover offered, but it is when a claim occurs that we truly test the quality of the service purchased.

This is the “moment of truth” in the customer–insurer relationship and is crucial for the customer, as it is here that many customers decide whether to renew their policy or leave the insurer. For this reason, it is essential that the entire process is seamless, with minimal friction, and is fast and transparent.

According to the 2025 U.S. Claims Digital Experience Study by J.D. Power, customers who rate the digital experience as “excellent” are far less likely not to renew their policy (around 4%) compared with customers who experience poor or average digital processes (around 52%).

A seamless process requires less effort from the customer, which translates into higher satisfaction, greater trust in the insurer and, consequently, increased retention and a higher likelihood of renewal.

Omnichannel Claims Management: Frictionless Continuity

The claims management process should be fully digital from start to finish, enabling document submission, claim tracking and final settlement entirely online.

Insurers should provide their customers with a web and mobile application that allows them to view clearly the various stages they will go through until the claim is resolved. In this way, customers know exactly what to expect and can follow the progress of their claim. This also frees up customer service advisers to handle more complex interactions, as the need to contact the insurer to check the status of a claim is eliminated or significantly reduced.

In a frictionless process, customers do not repeat information, there is no room for redundancy and there is full transparency. Customers expect proactive communication from their insurer, using clear language; they expect to receive automatic notifications regarding the status of their claim; and they expect nothing less than true omnichannel integration. The claim history must follow the customer regardless of the channel through which they are communicating at any given moment.

An integrated digital experience that creates Customer Value

The digitalisation of claims is a direct investment in retention and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and should therefore be viewed as a growth and loyalty initiative, not merely as a cost-reduction measure.

Investment in technology is part of a broader strategy to standardise the customer’s digital journey. The implementation of intuitive portals (web and mobile), real-time notifications, and integration between digital and physical channels are key competitive differentiators.

An integrated digital experience improves the customer experience during claims management, provides a continuous journey, and enables consistent management of the overall customer experience, resulting in higher satisfaction rates and, consequently, higher contract renewal rates.

Unifying customer data as the foundation of the Claims Experience

According to CCC Intelligent Solutions – Moments of Truth: “Satisfaction and retention depend on the perception of the process as a single, continuous journey, with clear communication, transparency and real-time updates.” This is why channel integration and the unification of customer data are also crucial in claims management: customers perceive the process as a whole and do not assess isolated stages. Any digital friction (data repetition, lack of visibility, channel switching) is one of the main drivers of dissatisfaction in such processes.

These studies further indicate that self-service applications or portals (web and mobile versions), AI agents and process automation are positively associated with customer loyalty when integrated coherently.

Automation and Artificial Intelligence in the service of Customer Experience

According to McKinsey & Company (2025), AI has brought profound transformation to processes across industries, including insurance, and is rapidly reshaping workflows, driving innovation and disrupting markets. As technology evolves, customer expectations become more demanding. Customers expect their insurer to recognise them when they make contact, for exchanged information to be consistent, and for conversations with agents or bots to be human, empathetic and hyper-personalised according to their individual needs and preferences.

Generative AI can also support areas such as underwriting, predictive risk assessment and hyper-personalisation. Insurers handle high volumes of unstructured data daily — from PDFs to images and Word documents — and given the prevalence of manual tasks in the insurance sector, the potential benefits are significant.

The creation of a cross-functional team, supported by a robust cloud strategy, is critical for developing and scaling generative AI use cases in a consistent and sustainable manner. To maximise the value of AI, processes must be reviewed end-to-end across departments. Initiatives must therefore be cross-functional and involve multidisciplinary teams in order to truly transform and optimise operations.

AI can be applied at various stages of the claims management process, including:

• Document classification and automatic triage;

• Data extraction and normalisation;

• Anomaly and fraud detection;

• Automated claim status tracking and communication;

• Generation of personalised, empathetic communications with customers;

• Creation of internal assistants to support advisers with instant recommendations (e.g. increasing or adding specific cover based on the claim or future risks);

• Accelerating development and data integration within existing or new systems.

  
  

An integrated claims experience as a lever for retention and CLV

There is growing demand for proactive digital communication: digital updates are one of the main drivers of customer satisfaction during the claims process. However, according to J.D. Power (2025), insurers meet this critical KPI in only 22% of interactions.

Around 22% of customers still resort to multiple channels to resolve the same need, highlighting failures in integration and experience orchestration, and resulting in a fragmented and inconsistent experience.

Now is the time to anticipate needs and exceed customer expectations by making the most of the technology currently available, delivering an excellent level of service and experience.

The occurrence of a claim can be an extremely sensitive and emotional moment for the customer. Therefore, a human, empathetic experience with swift resolution and no unnecessary complications or bureaucracy is what customers expect. It is based on this experience that customers will decide whether to renew or leave their insurer. After a claim, it is important to monitor metrics such as post-claim Net Promoter Score (NPS), associated renewal rates, among others. However, success should primarily be measured by the Customer Effort Score (CES) throughout the process, rather than solely by internal SLAs.

Existe uma procura crescente pela comunicação digital proativa: As atualizações digitais são um dos principais fatores da satisfação do cliente no processo de sinistros. No entanto, de acordo com J.D. Power 2025, as seguradoras cumprem este KPI crítico em apenas 22% das interações.

Cerca de 22% dos clientes continuam a recorrer a múltiplos canais para obter resposta à mesma necessidade, evidenciando falhas de integração e orquestração da experiência, resultando numa experiência fragmentada e inconsistente.

Digital transformation applied to Claims Management

The digital transformation of claims management goes far beyond implementing new technological tools. It requires an integrated view of the business, the customer and system architecture. A truly integrated claims management experience depends directly on the technological architecture that supports it. Without a solid foundation of integration and data unification, any digital initiative or AI implementation risks creating fragmented, inconsistent and frustrating experiences for the customer.

The role of a strategic technology partner is crucial in creating customer-centric digital journeys and executing an end-to-end vision for the claims experience. Mind Source aligns business objectives, customer experience and technology into a seamless experience, integrating the appropriate AI approach according to the client’s maturity. This is achieved through assessing the insurer’s digital maturity, designing the customer journey, defining an omnichannel strategy and unifying customer data.

This alignment ensures that all stakeholders in the process (customer, brokers, loss adjusters, agents and systems) operate using the same information, updated in real time across all channels.

The true value lies in building a robust technological foundation that enables continuous evolution of the customer experience, the incorporation of new technologies (such as AI and automation), and rapid response to emerging market expectations.

Ana Candeias

Data & AI Director @ Mind Source

Published in Marketeer