The Future Is Data

Innovation in the insurance sector is something to watch. John Kett, IAA CEO and President, shares his thoughts on the role of data in the industry.

In a well-regulated, process-driven industry, it’s no surprise that entrepreneurial firms are creating new technology to service the insurance industry. These tools tackle the legacy concerns of the traditional claims process. What can we do to shorten cycle time? Reduce costs? Retain policyholders? Pursuing the solutions to these answers seems to resonate throughout the field, and the impact is tangible.

The growing sophistication of technology tools plays a key role in the shifting industry, but I want to highlight a particular segment – namely, data. The value of data collection and analysis in our industry is unparalleled, and IAA relies on it every day. It’s what allows us to make strategic business decisions, from using historical market data to determine whether a vehicle is a total loss candidate to crunching the numbers to identify the bottlenecks in the claims process. But, maybe most importantly, data tells us a story about customers, and that drives innovation.

For example, the J.D. Power U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study provides valuable information into the changing policyholder landscape that helps inform us of how to best serve them. In 2016, customers’ use of technology to check a claim status rose by five percentage points year-over-year. This is a trend unlikely to slow down, and it’s clear there will be risks if time is not spent to develop the web tools to address this changing customer demand. However, this is just one key insight – at the same time, only 7% of customers file a claim through a website instead of speaking directly to an agent. Creating the insurance technology tools of tomorrow is a delicate balancing act between the speed and efficiency of online and mobile resources, and the transparent communication of human interaction. With intimate knowledge of our insurance clients’ processes, our business technology teams are innovating every day to support them. Far from daunting, I find this to be an exciting opportunity for IAA to lend our skills to our insurance partners as more than just a salvage auction company.

In fact, our newest sister company, DRIVIN, is the latest addition to the KAR Auction Services family and is poised to provide their data science expertise to help transform the auto remarketing landscape. From insurance salvage to auto manufacturers, the capability to most efficiently connect sellers with buyers is an industry game-changer that will be powered by data, and we’re proud to say that DRIVIN is leading the charge.

A constant pursuit of solutions is what keeps any business agile. I’ve said it in this space before, but I’m proud of the evolution of IAA. The solutions we provide to insurers are a valuable part of not only retention, but customer acquisition as well. We’ll keep developing new technologies and services with innovation that is inspired by creative entrepreneurship and our affiliation with sister companies like DRIVIN. We’ll continue to leverage our growing data science capabilities to optimize our optimize our suite of service offerings. We’ll continue to lead the total loss claims industry and be the partner insurance carriers rely upon to enhance their business today and well into the future.