After a couple of months running the video claim expertise in Belgium, Eric Renders, Director of Claims at AG Insurance was interviewed in a Belgium TV show called "On n'est pas des pigeons" (We are not pigeons).


"On n'est pas des pigeons" is a daily consumer magazine, broadcasted on Belgium's first channel, RTBF, at 6:30 pm. This daily program (airing Monday through Friday) allows the consumer to decipher the marketing codes, with the support of a team of columnists who are interviewing the guest, so that the information they possess about a specific topic is not misled.



Eric Renders has 3 minutes to explain the video claim expertise service launched by AG Insurance, powered by SightCall. In those rapid three minutes, Renders manages to brush over key facts of how Sightcall has revolutionized the repair and maintenance profession, not only by aiding many companies like AG Insurance but also by "helping customers save time."


You can review the video here: https://youtu.be/ozWNoe0ulfI


English transcript version of the interview:

This marks the end of the era of expertise by 'flesh and blood' and begins the era of expertise through smartphones. Eric Renders from AG Insurance is here today to tell us more about it.
Mr. Renders hello and welcome. We could've met by Skype but the best is to meet to talk about it. We will see how it works but now, in the case of a disaster we can now have a live expert through a smartphone and an application like Skype or FaceTime point is that correct? That is quite right. To go to the details of this technological advance, I leave you in the hands of Anne Laure. You have 3 minutes to explain all this, Let's go!
Good Evening, we already talked about the principle, with this new app, we now are able to live with an expert, we can also record videos and take pictures through this app. Is that correct?
–Yes.
Let's go, we have 3 minutes.
With your video expertise application, it is like having a Skype, Sebastien mentioned it, so what is the added value?
The added value is not only having a Skype, it is the fact that the expert from his desk, can now control his customer's tablet or smartphone, to be able to guide and tell him, what he needs to show or zoom in. He is really guiding the customer through the camera of his smartphone.
So the Customer is going to participate, he is going to have to work, don't you think?
I don't think so... It's just like having the expert home with the customer, guiding him through the rooms of his house, showing where the damages are, and instead of showing with his hand only, he is going to use his smartphone to complement his hand and speech.
Ok... You are going to save money with this application, your experts won't go visit anymore, you save time so might need fewer experts, therefore, are you going to lower your prices?
Let me tell you first why we did that. 4,000 customers through all the insurance companies were asked what was important for them, what should be done to manage their claim well? The first responses were that it has to be fast and easy. We cannot really say we are going to save money. We will be able to do more expertise in less time, but on the other hand, we still have to pay for the app, so in the end, costs are the same for AG Insurance. Our goal is really to help customers to save time.
So, those customers who want to go fast, know how to use these new technologies, are young customers, don't you think you are going to lose the confidence of your older customers with this type of application?
I don't think so... We offer this application in addition. The 3 or 4 existing other ways to claim damage, still exist and for those who want it, the broker or the customer, they call us and we offer the possibility to do video expertise. If they don't want to, we go back to the traditional way of an expert visiting the customer. But within 2 or 3 weeks only we already have had claims at AG Insurance where, within an hour, the video-expertise had been completed and the customer was fully satisfied.
Does your application work for all claims? Robbery, water damage, fire?...
So this is not valid in case of robberies, we have to check for visible damages on the spot, people often show pictures of what was stolen, and it's not possible through a smartphone's app, on the other hand, we estimated it could work for 80% of other claims. But it has to fit in several other criteria, when another Insurance company is involved, if AG Insurance is the only user of the app, it won't work either.
How do you verify that the customer who claims damage is at home and not at his neighbor's? We trust our customers, but we do ask to activate their geolocation to see where they are at the time of the expertise.
So there is a check on that...
Yes, and in most cases, our broker is there to assist us on that matter.
Please join the table for a small debriefing. Questions? Xavier? Annie?
Yes, we all know that an image can be deceptive, e.g. we all look good on TV but in real life...(laughs). Don't you think this is going to give a misleading image of the damages and minimize them, whereas a visual contact, would allow detecting more damages?
Well, customers are connected to real experts; it's not me or anybody, they know their job and will be able to tell if more material is needed to claim the damage. And also, in most cases, a broker is there to help his customer, which is important, he will point important things out, he is an Insurance professional, and in the end, if the customer is not ok with the estimate, we are still in discussion...
I have a simple question, so... a claim is now solved quicker, no need to wait for weeks anymore, let's say the claim is done, the customer got reimbursed for the damages, but it went so fast that we forgot something, we can see further damages, and that was not expected, can you reopen the file?
We can always reopen the file; we already do it on regular cases. The only thing we change here is that instead of a real person on the spot, we now have someone holding a smartphone.
I think it is a good idea, today you already see experts coming to your house with their tablet and barely out of your house, you already know how much you have to pay for the repairs. Everything works like that nowadays.
So now, you are offering this new service, but you are not the only Insurance Company on the move, it is really a great tool and everyone will follow for sure! Thank you Mr. Renders for being with us today.
Thank you and goodbye.