Straight-through processing
Fully automated processing of an underwriting submission or claim, from receipt to decision, with no human intervention, reserved for simple cases and governed by the law on automated decisions.
Straight-through processing designates a flow in which a request, purchase of a contract or notice of claim, is received, analyzed, decided and executed without any staff member intervening. It relies on a chain of components: automatic information extraction, consistency and fraud checks, application of underwriting or coverage rules, pricing or loss valuation, issuing the contract or making the payment. It first concerns simple, frequent cases, standard home insurance, glass breakage, small motor claims, where human handling is costly relative to the stake. Its economic appeal is obvious: turnaround reduced to minutes, handling costs slashed, higher customer satisfaction. So are its limits. It requires explicit rules and reliable data, it is exposed to organized fraud that quickly learns the thresholds below which processing is automatic, and it falls under the law on decisions based solely on automated processing, which in Europe imposes safeguards, including the right to obtain human intervention. Insurers therefore set amount and risk thresholds beyond which the file switches to a handler.
Textbook case: an insurer automatically processes glass breakage claims under 1,500 euros filed with a photo and an invoice from an approved repairer: 70 percent of these files are settled within an hour. Above the threshold, or if the fraud score exceeds a limit, the file goes to a handler.
straight-through processing, STP, touchless processing
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