UK insurer Scottish Widows to use AI for insurance claims

Insurance company Scottish Widows has announced it will begin using AI to speed up protection insurance claims and underwriting.

This comes after the insurer entered into a new partnership with insurance automation firm Sprout.ai, which will help run the trial alongside the insurance giant.

Founded in 1815, Scottish Widows is part of Lloyds Banking Group, the UK’s largest digital bank and financial services group. The group has more than £232 billion in assets under administration and over 10 million customers.

Using AI and natural language processing (NLP), the pilot will focus on streamlining claims by reducing processing times and simplifying complex medical documentation. It will also assist underwriters by quickly summarising extensive medical files to enable faster decision-making, the group said.

“The insurance industry is on the brink of a technological transformation, and AI is at the heart of it. By working with Scottish Widows, we have the opportunity to prove that automation isn’t just about efficiency – it’s about delivering better outcomes for customers,” said Roi Amir, CEO of Sprout.ai.

He added that the outcomes of the collaboration between Scottish Widows and Sprout.ai are expected to benefit thousands of customers across the UK by using automation to speed up claims and explore further enhancements to the claims process.

“We know making a claim can be stressful, so we’re dedicated to processing them quickly and smoothly,” said David Russell (Senior Manager, Claims and Underwriting Strategy at Scottish Widows).

“By partnering with Sprout.ai, we’re using cutting-edge AI and NLP to free up our claims handlers, allowing them to focus on delivering empathetic support to customers,” he said.

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