Contract Management for Insurance Providers: A Match Made in Heaven

Some people might view a discussion of the insurance industry as the perfect antidote for insomnia – but not us. While we appreciate that reading and enjoying an insurance policy from cover to cover might be an acquired taste, all forms of contracting give us cause for excitement. Plus, it would be a huge mistake for anyone to overlook the insurance industry’s importance to and corresponding influence on the American economy.

It makes sense, when you consider the fact that insurance touches virtually every component of life and business. Available insurance coverages include life, health, homeowner’s, inventory, automobiles, commercial, workers’ compensation, business interruption, errors and omissions, general liability, product shipments, and property titles, just to name a few.

In fact, in 2016, gross worldwide premiums in the insurance industry totaled $5.02 trillion. Not surprisingly, the United States led the way. In 2015, the life insurance sector wrote gross premiums in the amount of $552.51 billion. The value of non-life insurance premiums was $763.77 billion. Premiums in the U.S. represented 28.9 percent of the global market. In 2016, the insurance industry employed approximately 2.6 million people in the United States.

While the insurance industry has played an important role in the continuing growth of U.S. gross domestic product, it, like all industries, deals with its fair share of challenges - including the administration and monitoring of insurance provider contracts. In this article, we’ll discuss some important trends in the insurance industry and how contract management can help.

Trends in the Insurance Industry

Numerous information outlets that follow the insurance industry observe that customers have changed and that the types of insurance demanded are changing, too. In response, as with any sector, insurance technology developments have produced disruption in the industry.

While change can be difficult, disruption also produces opportunities. However, insurance companies need to embrace transformative technology to take advantage of these opportunities. For example, insurers can accelerate the underwriting process with digitalization. PWC echoed some of these same ideas, noting that key developments in the industry include reliance on technological innovation, including artificial intelligence to reduce expenses, increase efficiency, and to improve services and profits.

Contract Management Solutions Can Help

We’ve noted before that, according to the IACCM, a Global 1000 company manages, on average, 40,000 contracts. To be sure, that’s a mountain of contracts – but think about the insurance industry and you’re thinking about the Mount Everest of contracts. After all, an insurer’s entire business is to produce insurance policies, which are, of course, contracts! In 2016, there were 290.65 million life insurance policies alone in force. This doesn’t even include all the non-life policies in existence, nor any of the other insurance provider contracts necessary for running the business. Just like any business, insurance companies have employee agreements, lease agreements, purchase and sale agreements, utility contracts, and all the other types of contracts associated with running the enterprise.

Luckily, the following ContractSafe contract management features can help:

• Centralized Repository and Digitalization – With ContractSafe, all contracts are digitalized and stored in a central repository, so that all contracts can then be searched instantaneously using Google-type searches.

Thus, you can put your fingers on any contract with any customer at a second’s notice, without ever leaving the comfort of your office. All you need is a computer and an internet connection.

• Customizable Permissions – With ContractSafe’s customizable sharing and roles, the company can permit unlimited users, but customize those users’ permissions where appropriate.

For example, administrators can designate “no-delete” or “read only” users to prevent accidental loss or change to an insurance provider contract. The right team member can always respond to customers with lightning-like quickness!

• Automatic Alerts and Key Date Reminders – Few industries are regulated more than the insurance industry. Each state has its own requirements as to what types of notices must be sent (such as cancellations), and when. Governments have all manner of laws with which insurance companies must comply and submit reports. The company must also carefully monitor premium payments and automatic renewals.

With ContractSafe, you’ll never miss an important date, deadline, or contract term again. The system automatically tracks everything, from renewals and expirations to payment dates and compliance. Plus, this contract management solution will track any date you choose and send you an alert as far in advance as you would like. You can track and audit payments, schedule email reminders to anyone you’d like, and review a calendar of upcoming dates with one click.

• Leveraging Technological Innovation – At ContractSafe, we take full advantage of the cloud, which means you can, too, thereby getting a leg up on the competition! Our cloud-based contract management solutions provide automatic backup of contracts and expert-level security. We also have adopted artificial intelligence technology in our AI[ssistant] feature. Finally, our seamless integrations with other technology, such as DocuSign and Salesforce, ensure that ContractSafe remains nimble and efficient during every step of the contract lifecycle.