Case Study
QBE frees 50,000 hours of employees’ time with bots
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Deployed bots to tackle repetitive administrative tasks
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Processed 30,000 claims tasks in a week
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Freed 50,000 hours of employees’ time annually
“For us, the key to success is developing the right technology that fits the needs of our customers and our business, while ensuring that people and technology work alongside each other to deliver the best result for the customer.”
The Business Issue
QBE is one of the world’s leading international insurers and reinsurers, employing 11,700 employees across 27 countries. With thousands of policyholders in more than 140 countries, the organization is wholeheartedly embracing digital transformation in their quest to become more efficient and customer focused.
QBE European Operations (QBE EO) faced challenges in its Claims and Credit Control functions. With 75,000 claims processed annually and over 3.2 billion dollars in premium collections, the company grappled with inefficient processes and customer dissatisfaction. Existing processes were manual and error prone, while a lack of visibility into the underwriting pipeline meant the process couldn’t be effectively managed.
To radically transform both its customer and employee experience, QBE EO began using robotic process automation (RPA) concentrating specifically in its Claims and Credit Control areas. On both teams, many tasks were labor-intensive, and employees reported low satisfaction. It could take days to process even straightforward requests due to the sheer volume coming in. This meant agents were slow to service customers, brokers, and colleagues.
QBE EO needed a way to free up employees’ time so they could focus on delivering greater value for customers – reducing manual tasks, benefitting the insurer, and boosting customer satisfaction in the process.
The Solution
QBE EO used Pega to deploy more than 150 RPA bots that automate routine tasks such as reading and extracting data from documents, opening and filing emails, and performing calculations. The bots pass exceptions to a human, so employees are put to work where it matters most – for example, resolving an issue for a dissatisfied customer.
Using Pega, claims handlers were able to free up hundreds of hours per week, while bots across both teams automate, speed up processes, and ensure the right information is delivered to the right people. Not only are they saving insurers time, but customers too.
In the near future, QBE EO looks forward to combining bots with predictive analytics for automatic submission and allocation of claims as well as more informed decision-making.
The Results
With Pega’s help, QBE EO has improved customer service by increasing efficiency and freeing up employees to deliver more meaningful service. In one example from Credit Control, a bot can clear down payments in an hour that would normally take a human three days.
Providing a more sophisticated level of service has also led to a significant rise in employee satisfaction. QBE EO has been able to onshore teams back to the UK, giving them more control and enabling them to provide more consistent customer service overall.
All in all, QBE EO saw the following results:
- 150+ bots implemented across the business, which automate tens of thousands of transactions every week
- 50,000 working hours per year freed across departments
In the claims department, the company automated nine out of fifteen critical steps, significantly reducing manual allocation of claims and proactively updating brokers. In credit control, QBE EO automated two crucial steps, dramatically improving the cash allocation process.
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