Mike Cummings on Moving Claims Management From Reactive to Proactive

For policyholders, filing an insurance claim is unfamiliar. Yet the industry often expects them to understand what happens next and how to navigate the claims process. What if insurers could remove some of that uncertainty by anticipating the questions before customers have to ask them? 

In this episode of Conversations that Connect, Hi Marley's Stephanie Behnke speaks with Mike Cummings, Senior Vice President and Head of Claims at The Norfolk & Dedham Group, to discuss how AI and better communication can help move claims from a reactive process to a more proactive experience. 

Give Customers a Roadmap 

Mike describes his vision with a familiar analogy: an online pizza tracker. 

"You typically know where your pizza is in the process and the next thing that's expected to happen," Mike says. “Why shouldn't a claim work the same way?” 

Many calls, emails, and texts that adjusters receive from policyholders are simply because they want to know: What's happening with my claim? What happens next? When will I hear from someone? 

Mike wants customers to have those answers before they even have to ask. 

He wants to give customers an end-to-end view of the claim lifecycle, showing where they are in the process, and proactively communicating as they move from one milestone to the next. 

The goal is twofold: less uncertainty for the customer and fewer unnecessary calls for the claims adjuster. 

Keeping Agents in the Loop 

For Norfolk & Dedham, which distributes exclusively through independent agents, proactive communication also means keeping agents better informed. 

Independent agents are often deeply involved in claims, but getting an accurate picture of what's happening can require calling the carrier or deciphering a long chronology of cryptic claim notes.  

Rather than sharing raw notes filled with abbreviations and internal shorthand, Mike and his team use AI to create succinct claim summaries and milestone reports that give agents a clearer picture of what's happening. 

"We're making that information available in a more easily digestible form," Mike says.  Eventually, he sees that same capability extending directly to policyholders. 

The idea is simple: agents, adjusters, and policyholders may need different information, but everyone benefits from greater visibility. 

Using AI to Get Ahead of Customer Needs 

For Mike, AI's potential in claims isn't primarily about automating decisions. It's about helping people make better decisions and communicate more effectively. 

"As an industry, we've been more of a reactive claims environment," he says. "We really need to become proactive. That starts with communication." 

AI can help supervisors quickly understand where a claim stands and identify when they need to step in. It can route incoming questions to the right person. And it also allows adjusters to find and digest information without searching across systems. 

That can create a virtuous cycle. When agents and customers receive meaningful information proactively, fewer need to call for routine updates. That frees adjusters to focus on the questions and decisions that require their expertise and spend more time communicating with customers when human interaction matters most. 

Know When Technology Isn't Working 

Creating a better experience also means recognizing when customers don't want to interact with technology. 

Most people have experienced the frustration of navigating an automated phone system that won't let them reach a person. Mike doesn't want to recreate that experience. 

"We want to be able to measure if they're frustrated and give them the ability very quickly to opt out of the process," he says. 

That means looking beyond traditional customer surveys. Are customers abandoning calls? How frequently do they opt out of an automated interaction? At what points do they ask for a person? And once they're transferred, did they reach someone who could actually help? 

Those moments of friction reveal where technology improves the experience, and where it doesn’t. 

The Opportunity Ahead 

For Mike, better claims communication ultimately comes back to the purpose of insurance. 

"I think inherently what we’re trying to do as a company is get our policyholders back to where they were before their loss; making them whole," he says. 

When customers and agents understand what's happening, what comes next, and where to turn for help, the claims process becomes less mysterious and potentially less adversarial. 

While technology can play an important role in making that possible, the objective isn't to remove humans from the process. It's to use technology to keep people better informed, help adjusters focus on the work that matters most, and create a claims experience that feels less reactive from start to finish.