ZEP-RE Challenges Insurers To Digitize

In an article published by the ZEP-RE Academy for the insurance industry, the ZEP-RE Chief Information Officer Mr. Alexio Manyonde said that the coronavirus pandemic had ushered in a new way of working that now requires greater use of technology in daily operations by organizations.

Players in the insurance sector have been urged to speed-up the industry’s digitization process so as to be able to cope with the new realities occasioned by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

“Businesses have been forced to change the way they operate to take into account the new way of service delivery in the middle of this pandemic, which now requires a different way of working, to ensure that timely processing is met,” Mr. Manyonde said.

He noted that in the era of working from home and social distancing, the expectations from clients have not changed, but the ability of the insurance industry to deliver on the expectations is being challenged.

“Clients seek three things from the insurers – speedy settlement of claims, timely updates, and a choice on how to engage.  However, claims processing time, for instance, has been greatly affected by claims department staff being unable to share physical documents from one desk to the next as they would normally do in office operations. This means that the industry players will need to review their work processes and adopt new technologies to be able to keep up with the fast-changing business environment,” he added.

ZEP-RE, as he avered, has used its workflow system to automate notification as claims progress through the payment process, a technology that allows for the clients to get the confirmations they need to assure them that their claims are being handled despite being out of office. He further intimated that ZEP-RE would soon launch a claims portal that will offer alternative interaction channels within the claims process.

“The portal will be integrated with our workflow systems to be able to satisfy the need for engagement as well as timely updates to our clients,” he concluded.