Imagine in the event you have been chargeable for overseeing Florida’s insurance coverage laws and a subordinate got here to you with an issue:
“Boss, we have so many complaints about insurance companies mistreating policyholders coming into the complaint telephone line that the entire staff only has time to take the calls and log the complaint. We do not have anybody left to follow up on the complaint. What do we do?”
What would you do?
I ran the question on ChatGPT-4, and the pc gave this reply:
As the particular person chargeable for overseeing Florida’s insurance coverage laws, I might take a scientific strategy to handle the excessive quantity of complaints and the dearth of assets to observe up on them:
- Assess the scenario: Gather knowledge on the variety of complaints obtained, the sorts of complaints, and the insurance coverage corporations concerned. Identify tendencies and prioritize points based mostly on severity and frequency.
- Optimize the criticism course of: Review the present criticism consumption course of and establish areas for enchancment. This might embrace implementing a web based criticism submission system, making a standardized criticism type, and offering clear pointers on what info is required from the policyholders.
- Allocate assets: Based on the evaluation, decide the staffing wants and budgetary necessities to deal with the amount of complaints. Request extra assets, if wanted, to make sure well timed and efficient follow-up on complaints.
- Implement a triage system: Prioritize complaints based mostly on their urgency and potential impression on policyholders. This will assist allocate assets extra effectively and be certain that essentially the most essential points are addressed first.
- Collaborate with insurance coverage corporations: Engage with insurance coverage corporations to handle the underlying points inflicting the complaints. This might embrace common conferences to debate widespread points, sharing greatest practices, and setting expectations for resolving complaints in a well timed method.
- Train employees: Provide coaching and assist to employees to make sure they’re outfitted to deal with complaints effectively and successfully. This might embrace coaching on communication expertise, related insurance coverage laws, and investigative methods.
- Monitor progress: Regularly assessment the criticism decision course of to establish areas for enchancment and monitor the progress made in addressing complaints. Adjust methods as wanted to make sure steady enchancment.
- Increase transparency and communication: Keep policyholders knowledgeable concerning the standing of their complaints and the steps being taken to handle them. This will assist construct belief and confidence within the regulatory course of.
- Educate policyholders: Provide instructional assets and steerage to assist policyholders higher perceive their rights and obligations, in addition to the right way to navigate the insurance coverage system.
- Evaluate and modify: Periodically assessment the effectiveness of the measures carried out and modify methods as wanted to make sure steady enchancment in addressing and resolving insurance coverage complaints.”
Tampa Bay Times journalist Lawrence Mower reported on what Florida insurance coverage regulators did when confronted with this downside in an article, Here’s Why Florida’s Home Insurance Hotline is Only Open 3 Hours a Day. It was nothing near what a pc would counsel. Part of the article famous:
About one-third of complaints in opposition to insurance coverage corporations come from the assistance line, the division’s director of client providers, Greg Thomas, informed a Senate committee on Wednesday. The relaxation come by the state’s web site.
More than half of the positions to take calls and deal with insurance coverage complaints are vacant, Thomas mentioned. And after Hurricane Ian hit the state in September, the workplace was ‘inundated’ with complaints in opposition to insurers, he mentioned. The ‘vast majority’ have been over claim-handling delays.
That mixture triggered the workplace to chop again the hours the assistance line could be out there.
‘We had a choice either to not deal with complaints that we have received or to continue to answer calls all day long,’ Thomas mentioned.
Democratic lawmakers mentioned limiting the hotline to only three hours doesn’t even enable working Floridians to name throughout their lunch breaks.
…
Cassel additionally questioned the priorities of Patronis, a restaurateur who has collected practically $2 million in political contributions from insurance coverage corporations, executives and brokers.
Patronis has inspired lawmakers to vary the legal guidelines to make it tougher to sue insurance coverage corporations. Property insurers have blamed extreme lawsuits for Floridians’ excessive premiums, that are the very best within the nation at about $4,200.
The resolution has not led to decrease owners’ charges to this point. This week, First Community Insurance Co. requested an general 44.8% fee enhance, Kin Insurance Network requested for an general 61.5% fee enhance and American Strategic Insurance Corp. and ASI Preferred Insurance Corp. are requesting near-20% fee will increase. State-run Citizens Property Insurance authorised a mean 14.2% enhance Wednesday.
Florida’s insurance coverage regulators merely reduce the time individuals might file complaints. Florida’s present authorities leaders make complaints and lawsuits about insurance coverage firm wrongful habits go away by simply making it very tough to report a criticism or too costly and tough to pursue a lawsuit.
Noting that the article referenced the insurance coverage {industry} paying over $2 million to assist Jim Patronis, I made a follow-up inquiry to ChatGPT-4:
Given this case, think about you have been a state regulator who was supported by the insurance coverage {industry}, and also you wished to cover the variety of complaints being made relating to insurance coverage firm wrongful claims dealing with, what would you do?
The reply stunned me as a result of someone truly programmed moral habits to be adopted by the pc:
As an AI language mannequin, I have to emphasize that unethical actions, resembling hiding legit complaints or supporting wrongful claims dealing with, aren’t advisable or acceptable. My position is to offer assist and steerage in a accountable and moral method.
However, in case your concern is to enhance the general public picture of the insurance coverage {industry} whereas addressing the basis causes of the complaints, there are a number of steps that may be taken:
- Identify the underlying points: Analyze criticism knowledge to find out the most typical issues associated to wrongful claims dealing with. This will will let you higher perceive the problems confronted by policyholders and work in the direction of addressing them successfully.
- Engage with insurance coverage corporations: Collaborate with insurance coverage corporations to handle the problems recognized within the criticism knowledge. Encourage them to implement greatest practices and make vital adjustments to their claims dealing with processes to cut back the variety of complaints.
- Establish {industry} requirements: Work with insurance coverage corporations to develop and undertake industry-wide requirements for claims dealing with. This will assist guarantee consistency and equity within the therapy of policyholders throughout the board.
- Enhance client training: Provide assets and academic supplies to assist policyholders higher perceive their rights, obligations, and the claims course of. This will empower them to make knowledgeable choices and scale back misunderstandings that will result in complaints.
- Monitor and implement compliance: Regularly assessment insurance coverage corporations’ practices to make sure they’re in compliance with {industry} requirements and laws. Take enforcement motion in opposition to those who fail to stick to those requirements.
- Increase transparency: Share details about the efforts being made to enhance claims dealing with processes and scale back the variety of complaints. This will display the dedication of each the regulator and the insurance coverage {industry} to handle the issues of policyholders.
- Promote greatest practices: Recognize and reward insurance coverage corporations that excel in claims dealing with and customer support. This will encourage others to enhance their practices and scale back the probability of complaints.
By specializing in addressing the basis causes of the complaints and selling transparency, equity, and compliance, you may work in the direction of bettering the general public notion of the insurance coverage {industry} whereas nonetheless appearing in an moral and accountable method.
There you’ve gotten it—perhaps we must always let ChatGPT-4 run the administration of Florida’s insurance coverage regulatory scheme.
Thought For The Day
Like all applied sciences earlier than it, synthetic intelligence will mirror the values of its creators. So inclusivity issues – from who designs it to who sits on the corporate boards and which moral views are included.
—Kate Crawford