The strategic collaboration will set new standards for John Lewis’s customer claims experience and accelerate Sedgwick’s digital claims innovation to improve this important service for policyholders.

Nicola Dryden, UK chief client officer at Sedgwick, said: “We are very excited to enter into this strategic relationship with John Lewis as we continue to build a culture of innovation and focus on building solutions that improve customer experience.”

“John Lewis recognised the value to be gained from our customer-centric innovation. We’ve reimagined claims from the customer perspective and backed that with technology and leading expertise that will ultimately provide a high level of service for customers.”

Ali Berryman, head of financial services at John Lewis, said: “We were looking for partners who can support us with innovating and enhancing the service customers receive across all aspects of home insurance. The partnership with Sedgwick will allow us to provide a more flexible service and will simplify the claims process for our customers.”

John Lewis home insurance customers will benefit from Sedgwick’s end-to-end property claims solution, which was developed with a focus on improving the customer journey.

To achieve this, Sedgwick has combined the home emergency and home journey claims services in order to speed up the process and reduce additional damage and further loss, especially in escape of water claims.

Furthermore, behavioural scientists have been involved to help understand customers better and tailor the solution according to each need.

The online claims service portal for customers is available 24/7/365 and is powered by an automated decisions engine and complex logic. This not only checks whether a customer has the correct policy cover in place, but also enables straight-through processing with minimal human interaction from claims handlers.

This capability means claims will be processed more quickly which and it also reduces the claims life cycle. Customers will still have the option to speak to a customer service representative.

By creating mental models with its behavioural scientists, Sedgwick has simplified the process for claimants and reformatted and simplified the language it uses. This reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed and helps them feel more confident of the process and progress.

Through the integration with Sedgwick’s certified network of vetted contractors on the ground, the company will provide a 24/7 nationwide service during times of emergency and increased demand, which further speeds up the process for customers.

Source: Claims Magazine