Finding fraud earlier without disrupting the experience for genuine customers

Allianz UK saw an opportunity to strategically invest in improving and elevating its capabilities to meet changing consumer expectations of speed and convenience, and process genuine claimants more quickly without having to trade off between an accelerated experience and identifying fraud.

“We had a desire to find new and innovative solutions that help find fraud and drive better customer outcomes,” says Ben Fletcher, Director of Financial Crime at Allianz UK personal lines. “Our brand is recognized as being best-loved by customers in the UK, and in that vein, we wanted to find technology to strengthen our capabilities and bolster our team’s ability to deliver for the customer.”

“This was an opportunity for additional fraud detection and improved intelligence, ultimately,” says Matt Smyth, Allianz UK Claims Crime Prevention Manager. “The more information we can capture, the more intelligence we have, and the better informed we — and the industry as a whole — are about risk.”

With opportunistic fraud detection identified as a market weakness, Allianz UK seized the opportunity to identify fraud much earlier in the claims process through its collaboration with Allied Universal, Allianz’s claims investigations provider, and Clearspeed. Allied Universal identified Clearspeed’s technology as unlike any other voice technology or risk assessment solutions available in the market today.

Voice-based risk assessment that clears at speed

Core to the Allianz UK brand is the recognition that customers are at the heart of their business. With this as a guiding principle, Allianz UK took a deliberate approach to find a solution fit for purpose, one that would speed up risk assessment, help identify potential fraud earlier in the claims cycle, and provide a smooth experience for its customers.

“The customer being at the heart of what we do, and trust being at core of Clearspeed was a perfect synergy between us,” says Fletcher. “I need to be able to trust the information given to me, so how can I improve that trust to drive better outcomes for the customer?”

Clearspeed is a unique technology with a proprietary capability of analyzing voice responses to simple yes/no questions to clear genuine claims with speed and accuracy, and proven in its ability to detect common, opportunistic, and evolving fraud. The Allianz team leveraged Clearspeed to improve its ability to identify fraud further up the funnel, thereby enabling earlier risk assessment and subsequent decision-making. The team also leveraged the platform to settle claims more quickly for the vast majority of genuine customers, delivering an improved customer experience.

For customer responses that were found to have indicators of risk, the results were flagged for focused follow-up to Allied Universal and Allianz, pinpointing areas of risk with greater detail than previously available. Allianz UK received faster, more accurate data to drive more confident decisions, prioritize resources, and boost efficiency, all while supporting a better customer experience. Allianz UK has also seen a trickle-on deterrent effect in claims submissions thanks to the inclusion of the Clearspeed questionnaire. The success of the initial use cases has given the organization the confidence to extend Clearspeed into other perils and lines, like motor.