New Case Management System cuts time and automates communications at SHARE NOW

“The new solution has automated, consolidated and standardized virtually all processes as well as the documentation and communication involved in the handling and administration of car incidents and insurance claims. It has also strengthened our overview and control of ongoing cases, as well as our future insights and historical knowledge of handled cases. With a well-structured process and data flow, integrated document management and automatically generated emails, every case is now self-paced and nothing falls through the cracks anymore. We save a lot of time and can instead focus on complex cases and business development”, says Steen Herløv Andersen, Operational Manager at SHARE NOW Danmark.

Boosting efficiency and control

In 2015 Arriva launched Denmark's first city car concept in partnership with DriveNow. This was a franchise business that was founded as a collaboration between several different companies, including BMW. In February 2019, the BMW Group and Daimler AG merged their mobility services DriveNow and car2go under one common brand – SHARE NOW. After the merger SHARE NOW has a total fleet of approximately 14,000 premium city cars spread over 16 cities in eight countries. SHARE NOW offers more than 500 share-cars in Copenhagen alone.

Running a car-sharing business naturally involves a lot of damage and claims handling. Until a year ago, this was handled entirely manually by one of SHARE NOW's claims handlers. In addition, the systems used were not integrated, which lengthened the process of handling incidents and insurance claims. This made it very difficult and time-consuming to follow up and check the status of each case, as it required manual searches of email conversations and document folders. Furthermore, the claims handler managed all communication with customers and drivers, insurance companies, and the police manually via email. Something needed to be done to boost efficiency and control, as well as making the processes completely person independent.

In the beginning of 2022 SHARE NOW contacted Precio Fishbone to get their help in developing a modern and automated Case Management System. After a pre-study and pilot test it was decided that the system should be built on the Microsoft Power Platform and SharePoint Online for best results and optimal cost-efficiency. After a couple of months the solution was ready to be launched.

“The implementation project was incredibly smooth and efficient. In collaboration with Precio Fishbone it took us only a couple of months to go from blueprint to final solution. Choosing Microsoft Power Platform was a no-brainer as it’s a very flexible, robust and rich platform enabling us to create automated and intelligent support for just about any type of business process. Also, it’s easy to understand how the platform works and learn how to maneuver, build and adapt Power apps and other features. The Power platform is also included in Microsoft 365, adding no extra license costs for us”, says Mads Eriksen, Claims Handler at SHARE NOW.

Automated email conversations keep everything on track

To start a new case the claims handler opens a SharePoint-based form. Depending on which boxes he or she ticks off, the system generates one or more links to additional forms that need to be filled out. These forms contain all the information needed for the various emails which the counterparties need to process the incident or insurance claim. Once all the forms have been completed, the system generates the emails automatically and sends them to the respective counterparty. For example, if the case concerns a traffic accident, it involves three counterparties: the driver, an insurance company and the police. Then emails are sent to each counterparty. But if it's a minor incident, like a flat tire, only one email is sent to the driver. He or she is then asked to reply to the email and provide some information or accept the charges.

“The solution keeps tracks of every process and email conversation. For example, if the driver doesn’t respond in due time a reminder is sent prompting him or her to answer before a certain date. The exchange of information and all necessary conversations are handled automatically. Nothing will be missed or forgotten as the system ensures that everyone involved does what is expected of them”, Steen points out.

Steen adds that some cases are very complex and may need extra attention. If a process gets stuck – due to deviations, unexpected or no response from a counterparty – an email alert is sent to the claims handler.

Power BI dashboard provides real-time status checks

For daily reports and a real-time overview of all pending and handled cases, Precio Fishbone has built a Microsoft Power BI dashboard. It provides an easy-to-use health and status check of all running cases. The dashboard also enables claims handlers and controllers to do detailed analysis of every metric presented at the top level, down to email conversations, documents and other data related to each case.

“For the first time, we have all the information relevant to each case gathered and available in one place. This saves me a lot of time and makes it that much easier to find a particular document or other information I need to solve a problem and move a case forward. I can now focus on the most difficult cases and those that are most important to the business instead of having to handle each case manually”, Mads emphasizes.