Automation Key to Transforming Outdated Total-Loss Transaction Process

Applying outdated solutions to ever-evolving insurance claims industry issues can lead to long cycle times, burgeoning costs and unhappy policyholders. Today’s complex and expensive vehicles are being totaled out at a higher rate than previously seen, because it is often cheaper than paying for repairs. When coupled with the fact that consumers are opting for longer loan terms – in some cases 84-months or longer, according to a 2020 Experian report – to afford their pricey rides, you could easily have a claims pileup of total-loss, negative equity situations. 

What’s the Solution? 

Automation. Automating the total-loss process using a secure online portal eliminates cumbersome communications between carriers and lenders. The portal would be a single point of entry for all total-loss transactions, including positive and negative equity situations, as well as lien- and lease-based transactions. To ensure seamless, convenient communications, it would have to be directly integrated with the vast majority of U.S. auto lenders, with electronic payments and auto-generated Letters of Guarantee.  

Faster processes and payments make for happier policyholders, which is especially critical in total-loss situations when stress and frustration are already high. Paying electronically is faster and saves $15-$20 per payment versus paper checks. It also makes for happier employees because they do not have to make numerous touches or deal with long hold times – up to 30 minutes on average per call – for interactions between lenders and carriers.  

Has Anyone Automated Total-Loss Transactions? 

The answer is yes, IAA has developed an automated online total-loss transaction portal. The industry-exclusive IAA Loan Payoff™ product was launched in 2019 and helps insurance providers and lenders trim an average of 12-15 days of cycle time off each claim. Results show that it saves an average of 20 days for negative equity transactions, and 10 days for positive equity transactions. Just as impressive, it is saving insurance providers an average of $450 per claim, primarily in rental car cost savings. 

To make the portal work as well as it does, IAA Loan Payoff has direct digital integration with more than 2,000 lenders, including 16 of the top 20 U.S. auto lenders. Now that IAA has leveraged claims automation solution LossExpress™, carriers get up to 100% lender coverage.  

Used by many of the top U.S.-based insurance carriers, IAA Loan Payoff provides a single point of entry for all total loss transactions with a lien or lease, using its secure digital portal to automate inefficient manual communications between carriers and lenders. Last year, over $3 billion in total loss transactions were processed through IAA Loan Payoff. Since its launch in 2019, the platform has facilitated over $6 billion in total loss transactions. In 2023, it already has processed more than $1.4 billion in total-loss transactions.  

Insurance carriers have praised the unrivaled advantages of the IAA Loan Payoff solution, bringing the industry closer to touchless digital transactions and helping optimize and streamline their workforce.