Claims is entering one of the most significant periods of transformation the insurance industry has ever experienced. Artificial intelligence, automation and digital platforms are creating opportunities to improve customer outcomes, streamline operations and redefine how claims are managed. Yet, as technology accelerates, many organisations continue to build on legacy thinking rather than fundamentally reimagining the claims journey. Martin Milliner, Chief Claims Transformation Officer at AXA Insurance UK, shares his perspective on why lasting transformation depends on stronger foundations, smarter collaboration and putting customers and claims professionals at the heart of change.

Q: Claims has evolved significantly in recent years, yet some longstanding approaches remain. Where do you think the industry is still applying yesterday’s thinking to today’s claims challenges?

A: In the past decade, I’ve worked at a number of top tier general insurers and have been at the forefront of some of the forward-thinking innovation that is much needed in general insurance, and in claims especially.

In recent years, claims have adopted some of the modern platforms and embraced innovations such as machine learning and increasingly AI. However, in some respects we have been guilty of trying to simply replicate the current processes, customer journeys or claim supply chains in a more modern setting. What that results in is a more iterative process of change rather than a step change evolution that embraces the full potential of where technology could take us in a three-to-five-year period.

Insurers should be looking to create equivalence in the channels through which customers, brokers, partners and third-party administrators transact claims. For example, whatever a customer can achieve via a telephone FNOL, an ENOL process should have equivalence in a digital environment. Too often, insurers rush to create a digital proposition with some technology to support the process rather than thinking past the problem and working back from an end state.

What we should be doing is exploring how other financial services companies or industries are reimagining customer journeys or business outcomes in a way that departs from the status quo in a significant step change.

Q: What aspect of claims do you think the industry is trying hardest to transform, yet finding most difficult to change?

The industry is trying hard to transform customer journeys but often it’s from the viewpoint of efficiency rather than effectiveness, believing that digital or AI enabled journeys will create better outcomes for customers and more efficient ones for businesses.

This has resulted in AI or machine learning being applied to micro journeys as opposed to looking at the journey in its entirety and teasing out the value steps that could be automated or powered by AI or machine learning solutions.

One of the barriers to success is insurance’s legacy systems, and to some extent the way we treat data which is too often stitched together or is compromised by missing elements or quality issues. The orchestration layers and integrations for data are built in such a way that they compromise our capability to maximise the ingress and egress of data in our processes. Once we get the foundation layers right around integration, automation, data orchestration, knowledge management and maximising the capture of data, we’ll be able to unlock the capability of AI in the longer term.

Rushing to invest in bright, shiny things may look impressive from the outside but fundamentally it will not be a game changer in the long term. Sometimes you have to slow down to go faster, and that’s exactly where we are now. We are at a tipping point where AI capability is outpacing our ability to leverage our start point, which has not kept pace with the ability of that technology.

Q: What is the most important conversation about claims that the industry isn’t currently having?

One of the most important conversations that the claims profession needs to be having is about the skills we’ll need for tomorrow and the shape of the operating models. Whatever line of business you write, you will need to embrace the brave new world that is slowly emerging. We are increasingly using tech to automate/remove manual and non-value add tasks so that claims colleagues can focus on the customer experience and the value steps that are needed to settle the claim.

When the information needed is supported by AI best next step guidance, this enables right first-time execution, rather than flicking between screens or waiting for information. This reduces the number of customer interactions, claims handling touches and overall cycle times.

How can we transition our people into that world and grow the talent required to meet the new challenges we’ll face? We can use technology to broaden and deepen the roles of individuals and stretch their skills, but we’ll also need to recruit people with more technical literacy.

Claims is a highly technical profession, and this is often overlooked. In future, we will have to invest in the right talent with an appropriate skillset if we are to embrace the new technologies that are emerging.

Q: What do you think separates organisations that are genuinely transforming claims from those that are simply improving around the edges?

Organisations that are already looking to the future and innovating are the ones that are set apart from the rest. The pace of technological change means that unless you’re on the cutting edge, riding the crest of the wave, you risk falling too far behind to catch up.

What separates these organisations that are truly transforming claims is that they are
developing solutions that incorporate forward thinking – true joined-up Agentic AI solutions that may not even have humans in the loop, other than in roles observing or monitoring their agents.

Organisations make the mistake of not future proofing how technology will evolve. As soon as you think you’ve caught the tail of technology, it outpaces you. Those looking further than Agentic AI to quantum computing and the shape of things to come are designing the structures and the platforms that will link to the basic fundamentals in their business.

Q: Where do you think the pressure to modernise claims is creating unintended consequences?

The pressure to modernise claims is creating unintended consequences due to customers not being put at the heart of the process. If you put the customer and the people handling the claims at the centre, you are more likely to get the best outcomes.

Often, we’re caught in a trap of trying to drive down costs or create an outcome that reduces indemnity spend as opposed to looking at how we make the process better for our customers and our claims handlers.

In addition, chief claims officers are also under pressure to show progress, to evidence that they are embracing Gen AI or Agentic solutions, and that can lead to short term decisions as the need to provide proof points or costs savings in year drives a tactical approach. This lack of strategy will catch you out in the long run, creating technical debt and unintended consequences.

Q: Looking ahead, what is the one challenge facing claims that no single organisation can solve alone, and what would meaningful collaboration look like in addressing it?

The one challenge facing claims that no single organisation can solve alone is the fact that whether you are dealing with the fulfilment or the repair or replacement of goods or services or possessions or real estate, there is a supply chain involved. Collaboration is key. We have to co-create strategies between ourselves and the supply chain to deliver the end product for our customers rather than working in silos. There may also be lawyers and other third-party representatives involved in claims. For us to be able to create better outcomes for our businesses, third parties and their clients, collaboration at an industry level would be hugely advantageous.

So, for us to take full advantage of the power of new tech opportunities, we should be transforming the relationships with have with suppliers, third parties, other insurers and firms we interact with during the course of a claim. We would benefit from shifting our relationships from tactical or even sometimes adversarial into strategic partnerships, co-investing in solutions with the goal to reduce cycle times, improve interactions and reduce frictional cost.

Overall, I believe we’re making strides but perhaps doing so iteratively rather than taking the step change approach that’s needed. Sometimes we gaze inwards too much, rather than learning from other industries and understanding how they innovate and advance.

In my experience, the claims profession is at a point of disruption on a scale that I’ve never seen before. The opportunities are vast if we get this right, both for customers, our people, and of course the businesses that we work in.

Martin Milliner, Chief Claims Transformation Officer, AXA Insurance UK