Based in Germany, and part of the Munich Re Group, ERGO provides insurance products for its 18 million customers in Germany. The German insurance industry operates under heavy regulation. For instance, when a customer chooses a new broker, that broker can demand the incumbent insurer transfers all the customer’s active contracts from the previous agent within four weeks. For a human worker, it’s a complex and onerous task. So ERGO delegated it to a Blue Prism digital workforce.

Challenge

ERGO provides a broad suite of insurance products for customers. However, many customers access insurance via an independent broker. In Germany, when a customer switches to a new broker, that broker can ask the incumbent to transfer all active contracts within four weeks. Although legally mandated, fulfilling these requests generated no revenue for ERGO, and they were receiving around 4,000 per month. The high volume led to a substantial backlog, with some as old as six months. ERGO needed a more efficient way to manage these requests. Sourcing, compiling, and forwarding all the information required to fulfill one request was taking an employee about 30 minutes. More complex contracts could require up to 100 separate steps before a transfer was complete.

Solution

To accelerate processing and alleviate staff from the burden, ERGO introduced a Blue Prism digital workforce. Now, digital workers quickly work through the contract transfer process step-by-step, calculate the transfer fee, and communicate with the customer. Once fully up and running, the digital workers took just three months to clear the existing backlog. This freed up an entire team to focus on higher-value tasks, such as building a new commission and incentive program for tied sales agents and brokers. Digital workers have been able to reduce costs for contract transfers and ensure ERGO stays in compliance with government regulations. In terms of work hours, ERGO is saving around 2,000 hours per month on this process alone. Having seen the powerful benefits Blue Prism intelligent automation brings, ERGO has subsequently deployed 70+ digital workers across its business, operating in 25 departments from cash and credit management to HR and insurance.