How Automated Insurance Processes Help Brokers Work Smarter

It is clear from the recently published 2025 Digital Adoption Report that technology transformation in the UK insurance industry is reshaping the way businesses operate and deliver value to customers.

The industry is mostly in agreement that the days of using manual, paper-heavy processes that are time-consuming and frustrating should be over. Using broker management systems and software has become the new normal within UK brokerages.

In the report, nearly 60% of brokers said the main business benefits of technology are integrated processes and productivity. However, despite adopting technology and recognising its benefits 50% of respondents said they either don’t know or are not using automated workflows. Why is this? Are technology providers making it easy to adopt?

In this blog, I will outline common examples of automated workflows in insurance and how they unlock opportunities for better customer service. I will also investigate how, as technology evolves, new forms of automation and innovation can enhance efficiency, improve customer experiences and streamline operations.

What Can Automated Workflows Be Used for in Insurance?

The statistic from the 2025 Digital Adoption Report, showing that half of brokers were unsure whether they were using automated workflows, suggests that we may be dealing with a case of mistaken terminology.

Automated workflows are essentially pre-defined sequences of actions or tasks within insurance software that are triggered automatically based on specific conditions or events. They are used to automate manual and repetitive tasks, reduce errors and improve accuracy.

Described with user-friendly terminology, automated workflows streamline administrative tasks and enhance efficiency. This significantly reduces the risk of human errors and frees up time to allow brokers to better support clients. We know that brokers want streamlined workflows and a simple, modern, digital experience so they may reduce time-consuming tasks and service customers quickly.

Automation can also help ensure compliance with industry regulations. Manual processes for data gathering, verification, and report creation are time-consuming, prone to errors, and can result in compliance gaps and penalties. With automated compliance and regulatory reporting built into the Business Management System, such as Applied Epic, reports can be scheduled and delivered at a frequency to suit your operations, meaning data and insights can shape your day and how you work.

Let’s look at some examples of automated workflows in insurance in more detail:

Policy Issuance and Renewals

Brokers sometimes struggle with manual processes, from the initial inquiry stage to obtaining a quote, that delay policy finalisation. A modern BMS enables seamless, paperless applications from any device, as we like to call it at Applied Systems - ‘the digital roundtrip of insurance’. The built-in automation shops the insurance products available, prompts for key information, produces documentation and inputs into reporting and data extracts, improving efficiency and accuracy while eliminating physical paperwork.

Online Quote and Buy

Automation has revolutionized the Online Quote and Buy process in the insurance industry. It significantly reduces the time it takes to generate insurance quotes, making it faster and more efficient and allows another route to insurance purchasing. Data collection, verification, and processing can be done quickly, enabling brokers to provide clear quotations to customer digitally.

Online Documentation and Self-Serve

Big tech companies like Amazon have set the bar for convenience with ‘anytime, anywhere’ service – and insurance is and should be no different. The shift towards automation has set new benchmarks for customer expectations in the sector.

Your customers want to interact with your business, access their policies, and request information whenever or wherever they want. Digital portals such as Applied CSR24®, provide 24/7 access to insurance services, allowing customers to get access to their policy documentation and request changes on the go. Chatbots and virtual assistants further enhance the experience by answering queries in real time.

When customers can self-serve, your team is freed up to focus on other revenue-generating activities.

Utilising AI to drive Intelligent Insurance Automation

As technology is evolving, new forms of automation are driving innovations that can further enhance efficiencies, improve customer experiences and streamline operations.

When we look at other industries, it’s clear that the possibilities are endless, from using Apple Pay to purchase groceries online to talking to a chatbot to fill in a form.

The Digital Adoption Survey investigated what stages brokerages were at in terms of technology investment, and artificial intelligence AI was one of the top areas that brokers were planning to pursue in 2025.

One of a broker’s main goals is to be a trusted advisor to their customers. The equation of more time available, then more time to advise and differentiate from other insurance channels remains true.

Here’s where digital technology equipped with AI to improve automation can prove to be a game changer, from streamlined claims processing, fraud detection, predictions, content creation, and more personalised content creation.

Some people worry that AI will make their roles obsolete, but personal interaction between real-life brokers and their customers is still at the heart of a good customer experience. Personally, I view AI as ‘Augmented Intelligence’- a tool to complement rather than remove the human advisor, helping to provide better customer service. With the right tools, brokers can focus more on those high-value interactions that underpin the insurance industry.

A Use Case for Automation: Norton Insurance Brokers, Birmingham

Many brokerages are seeing tangible benefits from embracing automation, including Birmingham-based Norton Insurance Brokers, which uses Applied Epic® to digitally manage its operations.

Moving to Applied Epic gave them automation capabilities, including the ability to digitise document management and distribution for easy access and organisation, accelerate response times, and improve customer service.

Norton Insurance Brokers has experienced significant improvements in its operations and customer engagement since implementing Applied technology. With Applied Epic, customers can interact with their brokerage anytime, access insurance information and policy documents, pay bills online and send messages via their online portal. This has been invaluable to them, giving customers more freedom and flexibility in communicating with the organisation.

According to Mark Wilkinson, Managing Director of Norton Insurance Brokers, "In the first six months of going live, the most significant improvements were around document delivery, the ability to send out documents immediately, and not wait for insurers with lots of time delays. Our key goal was always to talk to a customer and issue documents in real time."

Applied Epic has enhanced Norton's capabilities in quoting new and existing business. Mark Wilkinson added, "We can quote and bind in one conversation with the customer, and the renewal lifecycle has become much more streamlined. We're operating significantly ahead of where we used to be, and we've seen some incredible time savings and increased productivity in those areas."