Natural disasters are becoming more extreme and ever more frequent. Climate-related risks have growing urgency and complex challenges, which are contributing to the rise of annual losses and the widening of the protection gap. Adding to this, insurers also face increasing pressure from regulators and insureds, who demand they remain compliant and offer secure and efficient services.
One of the latest disasters in Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa, was the strongest-ever storm to hit the country’s shores, causing damage to homes and key infrastructure equivalent to approximately 28% to 32% of last year’s gross domestic product for Jamaica.
This disaster further confirmed the need for insurers to further innovate their offerings and processes to better correspond with rapidly evolving climate risks. And this was a topic that was thoroughly discussed during this year’s Connections.
Being able to handle the greatly increased number of claims and speed up overall response time during disasters is critical.
During a breakout session - Driving Innovation with Guidewire Marketplace - at this year’s Connections conference, Will Murphy, VP of Technology Alliances at Guidewire, explained how insurers use the insurtech extensions available on Guidewire Marketplace to process increasingly complex claims. Will demonstrated Marketplace extensions that help to swiftly process claims, accelerate financial support to affected insureds, and also spot and minimise fraudulent claims.
In the aftermath of a natural disaster, communication links, such as postal services, are often disrupted. Being able to utilize modes like SMS is vital.
During the panel, Will demonstrated in real-time how SmartComm can automatically create documents using known claim and policy information to speed the process and reduce manual effort. It was then combined with a DocuSign integration that can quickly and securely collect, track, and store e-signatures for claims, without a user leaving the Guidewire platform.Leveraging our Marketplace partners and ClaimCenter’s business rules, an insurer automatically creates a claim document that can be shared with the claimant through SMS, inviting them to sign electronically. They can also access the document on their phone and a copy of the document is also sent to their email address. Once signed, the receipt of the signed document can trigger automated electronic payment to the customer using One Inc, which provides a fast and secure electronic payment platform so the customer can receive their funds as quickly as possible.
Removing physical paper from the process allows insurers to reduce errors from manual entry and streamline workflows. Additionally, crucial documents like the proof-of-loss are resolved faster.
Smartcomm, DocuSign, and One Inc are just three examples of the 250+ extensions available at Marketplace and an example of how Guidewire's collaborative approach, with an ecosystem of insurtech providers, enables insurers to quickly and effectively address customer needs, particularly in times of crisis.
To view the full recording of this panel, please click here - and look out for more breakout session reviews in our Guidewire Connections 2025 blog series.