Zurich to use robots in personal injury claims

Zurich Insurance is deploying artificial intelligence in deciding personal injury claims after trials cut the processing time from an hour to just seconds, its chairman said.

“We recently introduced AI claims handling … and saved 40,000 work hours, while speeding up the claim processing time to five seconds,” Tom de Swaan told Reuters, after the insurer started using machines in March to review paperwork, such as medical reports.

“We absolutely plan to expand the use of this type of AI (artificial intelligence),” he said.

Insurers are racing to hone the benefits of technological advancements such as big data and AI as tech-driven startups, like Lemonade Inc, enter the market.

De Swaan said Zurich Insurance would increasingly use machine learning, or AI, for handling claims. “Accuracy has improved. Because it’s machine learning, every new claim leads to further development and improvements,” he added.