Centuries-old claims management processes are undergoing rapid transformation, as dozens of startup insurance technology firms drum up a resounding variety of process enhancements to reduce carrier costs, improve insurer-client relations, and generate higher customer satisfaction and retention.

The InsurTech developers have interested and eager buyers in carriers seeking more productive ways to make the filing, processing and payment of a claim easier, less expensive, more efficient and faster. Gone are the days when a policyholder will tolerate waiting for an insurer to pay a legitimate claim.

“People expect instant service,” said Robert Hartwig, an associate professor of finance at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business. “Carriers that fail to heed or fall behind their competitors in improving claims management are at risk of losing their customers to those insurers that do.”