View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2006/03/01/66045.htm
Computer Sciences Corporation made public the results of two U.S. surveys of property and casualty (P/C) insurance customers that reportedly show a large, untapped opportunity for cost control through electronic billing.
Conducted for CSC by MarketSearch Corporation, a survey of car and homeowner insurance billing methods found 88 percent of auto insurance customers and 93 percent of homeowner insurance customers still receive bills by mail. Yet 73 percent of respondents surveyed indicated they would be willing to pay their insurance bills over the Internet. A second survey that asked approximately 350 P/C professionals at CSC’s Connect 2005 conference about their own personal insurance experience confirmed these findings.
By moving from traditional billing to electronic billing methods, companies can improve cash flow, lower invoicing and postage costs, automate data entry of payments, eliminate “lost” invoices and make dispute resolution simpler.
Formally called electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP), this capability includes both direct electronic delivery of bills to customers’ computers and some form of online payment, such as from within the insurer’s e-billing system or as electronic withdrawals customers make from their own bank accounts. CSC includes EBPP functionality in its two insurance administration systems, POINT IN for small and midrange carriers and Exceed for large P/C carriers.
“Companies using electronic bill presentment generally achieve overall savings on their billing costs ranging between 20 and 50 percent after absorbing the costs of the initial implementation period,” said Beth Robertson, research director with TowerGroup, a leading advisory research and consulting firm focused on the global financial services industry.
“These surveys prove that customers are willing to pay and be billed electronically for their insurance,” added Ray August, president of the Property and Casualty Insurance Division of CSC’s Financial Services Group. “With CSC’s deep experience in billing technology and services, we can help insurers deliver the results their customers want.”