The insurance industry processes millions of documents every day, yet only 7 per cent of claims achieve straight-through processing with traditional systems. This inefficiency creates operational costs running into billions and delays claim resolutions for policyholders.
From handwritten claim forms and medical reports to policy applications and compliance documents, insurers face increasing difficulty in extracting, validating, and processing information at scale. Manual data entry and rules-based automation cannot keep pace with today’s document-heavy workflows.
Automated document processing, enabled by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Optical Character Recognition (OCR), is changing how insurers manage these critical processes.
Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) addresses document-driven bottlenecks in claims and policy management, creating efficiency gains while improving resilience and competitiveness. Infosys BPM offers insurance services that enable insurers to adopt IDP at scale, achieving faster processing, greater accuracy, and more customer-centric outcomes.
challenges in traditional insurance document processing
The insurance industry faces mounting pressure from document-heavy workflows that strain operational efficiency and affect customer satisfaction. These challenges stem from outdated processing methods and the complexity of managing diverse document types across multiple touchpoints.
manual processing bottlenecks and high error rates
Traditional document handling relies on manual data entry, which creates bottlenecks in claims and policy administration. Manual entry can take up to 15 minutes per document, while traditional OCR takes about 5 minutes. The reliance on manual intervention increases cycle times and raises the risk of human error, which can lead to incorrect decisions, rework, and compliance issues.
handling unstructured and diverse document formats
Insurers receive content in many formats, including scanned PDFs, handwritten forms, medical reports, photographs, and email threads. Rules-based tools and basic OCR struggle with low-quality scans, varied layouts, and handwriting, which leads to delays and frequent exception handling.
regulatory compliance and audit trail requirements
The regulated nature of insurance requires accurate data capture, consistent audit trails, and timely reporting. Fragmented, manual processes make it harder to maintain completeness and accuracy, increasing the likelihood of missed deadlines and remediation efforts.
These operational challenges directly affect customer experience, with policyholders facing delayed claim resolutions and longer policy processing times. Without addressing these constraints, insurers find it difficult to remain competitive in a digital marketplace.
how intelligent document processing transforms claims management
Claims management is one of the most document-intensive areas in insurance, requiring the handling of medical reports, accident statements, photographs, and multiple supporting documents. Manual intake and validation extend resolution times and increase the likelihood of errors and disputes.
IDP streamlines the claims journey by capturing documents, extracting data from varied formats such as handwritten forms and images, and validating the information against policy terms or external databases. This reduces hours of manual verification and ensures consistency across cases.
Automation accelerates settlement by processing routine claims quickly and routing complex cases directly to specialists. Simple claims that once required days can now be resolved within the same day. Machine learning models also enhance decision-making by detecting anomalies and reducing both false positives and missed fraud cases, strengthening compliance and protecting against losses.
These improvements extend to customers, who benefit from faster settlements, automated status updates, and clearer communication. Leading insurers partner with insurance services to implement domain-led IDP approaches at scale, achieving greater speed, accuracy, and transparency in claims management.
how intelligent document processing streamlines policy management
Policy administration spans applications, underwriting assessments, renewals, and endorsements – each involving extensive document handling. Traditional workflows create bottlenecks in policy issuance and renewal cycles, limiting the speed at which insurers can respond to customers and markets.
IDP addresses this by capturing and validating information from diverse sources such as financial statements, property assessments, and compliance certificates. Digitising onboarding and underwriting can reduce cycle times by 50 to 70 per cent and lower administrative expenses by 20 to 30 per cent. Automated validation ensures completeness, while routing rules assign complex cases to underwriters with the right expertise.
By digitising these document-heavy workflows, insurers achieve faster issuance and seamless renewals, supported by consistent audit trails and regulatory compliance. The ability to scale without proportional increases in administrative staff is particularly valuable during peak periods, when demand for new policies or renewals rises sharply.
strategic advantages for competitive positioning
IDP extends beyond operational efficiency to deliver enterprise-level advantages. By removing workflow bottlenecks, insurers can adapt products or update policies faster, improving responsiveness to market shifts and regulatory changes.
Streamlined onboarding supports quicker customer acquisition, while transparent communication and seamless policy modifications strengthen retention in an increasingly digital marketplace.These capabilities position insurers to both meet current demand and differentiate on speed, reliability, and service quality, creating a sustainable competitive edge in the competitive insurance market.
