When someone loses a loved one, navigating financial products and life insurance claims can become an additional burden during an already difficult time.

In this episode of the Insurance Corner Podcast, hosts Heather Haley and Steve Walker sit down with Chris Green, Account Technology Strategist at Microsoft, to discuss how the life insurance industry is using technology to improve one of its most important customer journeys.

The conversation explores the challenges facing today’s bereavement claims processes, including fragmented customer experiences, repeated requests for information, lengthy claim timelines and the reliance on bereaved families to coordinate multiple interactions with insurers and financial institutions.

Chris shares insights from ongoing work with a major financial services organisation and discusses how insurers can create a more proactive and compassionate experience by combining process automation, intelligent document processing, customer identity verification and AI-driven workflows. Rather than focusing solely on AI hype, the episode explores where automation, data and process redesign can deliver meaningful outcomes for customers today.

Key topics include:

• Why life insurance claims can still take months to process despite very high payout rates.
• The impact repetitive administration has on bereaved families.
• The balance between human empathy and digital self-service experiences.
• How AI and intelligent automation can streamline claims assessment and verification.
• The role of services such as “Tell Us Once” and opportunities for more proactive customer engagement.
• Why insurers are increasingly focusing on removing friction and improving customer outcomes.

Whether you’re an insurance leader, CIO, claims executive, customer experience professional or technology strategist, this episode offers a thought-provoking discussion on how the industry can modernise critical customer journeys while maintaining trust, empathy and compliance.

Guest Speaker: Chris Green, Strategic Account Technology Strategist Microsoft