Gary Sanders | SVP, Chief Information Officer, LWCC
Technology is so engrained in our work and personal lives that instant and portable access to information is considered unremarkable and expected. However, many tasks in the insurance business remain stuck in the time-consuming drudgery of Y2K operating systems, where information is input manually, and outputs take weeks to turn around.
Legacy knowledge informs advanced systems
To bridge this digital gap, LWCC, a private, mutual insurance company in Louisiana specializing in workers’ compensation, brought former employees out of retirement and paired them with analytics experts from PS Advisory, a core Salesforce implementation partner that is focused solely on the insurance industry. The result: a digital transformation that combines legacy knowledge with advanced systems to address the needs of internal and external stakeholders instantly, securely, and accurately.
LWCC’s underwriting desktop, which manages new business processes and endorsements, uses optimal character recognition (OCR) to instantly update files and is increasing process automation from 40% to 70%.
CompZone+, a portal for quoting and servicing LWCC policies, drops average application time from 12 minutes to 3 minutes.
Prior to digital transformation, LWCC field marketing teams spent 2-3 hours preparing for and then summarizing regular meetings with agent partners. Now pre-meeting reports take 15 minutes, on average, giving teams valuable time back to focus on addressing issues and recognizing opportunities with important partners.
The industry is taking notice
LWCC’s new systems are already earning national awards and agent praise.
Celent, a global research and advisory firm for the financial services industry, named LWCC winner of its Model Insurer Award for Legacy and Ecosystem Transformation. The award recognizes best practices of technology usage in different areas critical to success in insurance.
Salesforce named LWCC and PS Advisory as its 2024 Partner Innovation Award Financial Services Winner, showcasing LWCC’s initiatives in technology.
LWCC also earned a top 10 national ranking in a 2024 Catalyit survey of agents’ perception of how well carriers support them, including factors such as being easy to do business with, providing the tools needed to maximize efficiency, and being forward thinking.
As of September, 74.2% of LWCC agent partners said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the new systems.
Elizabeth Cassagne, with Bedford Insurance Group LLC, said, “Ever since you updated the online application process, it has been a dream to work with.”
Melanie Alleman, with Risk Services of Louisiana, Inc., said, “LWCC has one of the best online platforms. No changes needed in my opinion.”
Brenda Sommers, with BXS Insurance Inc Baton Rouge, summed up her review in one word: “Easy!”
The ripple effect
Improving expectations for workers’ compensation insurance elevates Louisiana’s business reputation and makes it a more attractive state for investment. This is core to LWCC’s purpose — to help Louisiana thrive.
It’s also a vital move to retain top talent and meet external demands in a changing industry. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates 50% of insurance agents will retire in the next 15 years. Replicating the changes LWCC is making in Louisiana can help improve job satisfaction at other carriers, too, by giving employees the freedom to do the people work – the essential aspects of insurance that can’t be logged on a screen, surmised by AI, or discovered in a data mine. This ripple effect of purpose-driven people providing exceptional service is strengthened by enhanced digital platforms and easy-to-use tools.