Suncorp has integrated IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence technology into its online motor claims process following testing earlier this year, allowing it to fast-track handling of simple incidents.

Watson can analyse liability for events such as single-vehicle crashes with detailed descriptions, enabling claims to be lodged, an excess paid or waived and repairs booked within five minutes.

Since introduction in June the proportion of customers fast-tracked through the process has tripled, the insurer says, while more complex scenarios are routed to a consultant to make the liability decision.

“This technology augments our claim consultants’ knowledge and expertise, providing data-driven insights and instilling greater confidence in our liability decisions,” CEO Insurance Gary Dransfield said.

“It has also helped us speed the process for our customers, while improving their experience at a time that’s often very stressful.”

A Suncorp spokesman says Watson can understand slang and colloquial words customers often use such as “bingle”, “crunched”, “banged” and “slammed”, plus more typical insurance terminology such as “collided”, “damaged” and “failed to brake”. It can interpret how words are being used in the context of customers’ descriptions and provide a confidence rating on its liability assessment.

“There may be other opportunities to apply this technology in the future, but the full spectrum of claims is still far too complex for an automated solution,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“This is also not the intent of using this technology. Our goal is to ensure we are offering our customers the best possible service via their preferred channel. Some customers prefer to lodge their claim online, so we’ve taken steps to ensure this process is as seamless as possible.”