Ageas uses AI for end-to-end car damage assessments and estimates

UK insurer Ageas is using an AI solution, developed by technology company Tractable, to support some of the tasks that a human assessor would normally carry out when evaluating vehicle damage.

For example, the AI identifies which parts of the vehicle have been affected and to what extent, and generates a full estimate including recommended repair, paint, and blend operations, as well as costs and labour hours.

The AI also rapidly accelerates how quickly those tasks are completed. As a result, by submitting photos as they report an accident by using a smartphone, policyholders can receive decisions on the next steps from Ageas within minutes – even while they are on their initial phone call to the insurer.

After successful UK trials in 2019, Ageas and Tractable will now scale the use of the technology to resolve thousands of claims every month.

Robin Challand, claims director at Ageas, said: “At Ageas, we work to make insurance easy for our customers by delivering a best-in-class service. We look to digital innovation to help us deliver this.

“We realised that Tractable’s cutting-edge technology could make a real difference to our customers in the aftermath of an accident and by using Tractable’s AI we have improved our claims experience by supporting customers when they report claims and assisting our repairers in the early assessment of what’s required.”

Adrien Cohen, co-founder at Tractable, said: “Ageas using Tractable’s AI to generate end-to-end estimates is a breakthrough for the insurance sector worldwide. By harnessing AI at the beginning of the claims process to assess damage and generate estimates, we accelerate every part of it, creating efficiencies for the insurer and greater clarity for the policyholder. With this partnership with Ageas, computer vision is today making a positive difference for people in the real world, by helping them recover from accidents faster.

“It’s the first time that a UK insurer is using AI to generate end-to-end estimates, and is a breakthrough in how computer vision - using computers to see and analyse images and pictures - is applied on a commercial basis at scale.”

Tractable’s AI uses deep learning for computer vision, along with machine learning techniques. The AI is trained on many millions of photos of car damage, and the algorithms learn from experience by analysing a large variety of different examples.

The AI allows insurers to evaluate the damage to a vehicle, based on photos provided by repairers, appraisers or policyholders. Via a platform, Tractable’s AI shares damage estimates and guides the claim process to ensure each claim is processed and settled as quickly as possible.

Tractable’s AI has processed over $1 billion in auto claims for the world’s top insurers, including Covéa, the largest auto insurer in the French market, Tokio Marine, the largest insurer in Japan, and Talanx-Warta, the second-largest auto insurer in Poland.