Ecclesia

At peak times, Ecclesia receives thousands of insurance documents a day. What started as one automation that retrieves documents every morning has grown, in less than six months, into a chain of three automations that retrieve, recognize and process documents, using smart automation and AI.

By automating one type of document first, we gained insight into how the documents and systems work. That made it much easier to expand to more document types afterwards. — Stijn, automation specialist at VionA

The growth journey: from morning task to AI document processing

Ecclesia is an insurance broker and part of the European Ecclesia Group. The Automotive department, which handles car insurance, receives documents from insurers every day. At peak times, that means thousands of documents a day. They all had to be retrieved, opened, assessed and renamed in ANVA by hand. A lot of work, prone to errors and above all very tedious, for a team that was already busy.

First, deciding together where to start. Before a single automation was running, VionA thought along with Ecclesia about the IT landscape: how do you set up automation so that it is secure and cost-efficient? Then we mapped out together which processes were best suited for automation. That resulted in three automations, deliberately in increasing complexity, so that each step builds on the previous one.

Step 1: retrieving. The first task was simple but essential. Every morning, an employee clicked through Aplaza and waited about ten minutes until all documents had come in. Now the automation does this at 7:00 a.m., before the team has even arrived. Everything is ready at the start of the working day.

Step 2: processing one document type. Among the retrieved documents are green cards, thousands a year. They are processed the same way for every insurer: open, extract the license plate, rename. An ideal second process. The automation takes it over completely, and VionA learns how Ecclesia's documents and systems work.

Step 3: smart processing with AI. With that knowledge came the biggest step: all Automotive documents from Allianz. These are many different document types, each of which has to be processed in its own way. With Azure AI, the automation recognizes the document type, assesses whether it is a renewal and chooses the right handling.

Fast results. Each document took an employee 1 to 2 minutes of manual work. The automations took over that work from day one:

• Within two weeks, the first automation was ready for testing
• Thousands of documents a year now go through the process automatically
• Within six months, the initial investment has almost paid for itself

How the partnership makes this possible

This growth journey is no coincidence. It runs on a way of working together that ensures every step delivers results safely and quickly:

• Thinking along from the start: together with Ecclesia, VionA looked at where automation delivers the most and in which order it is best to begin.
• Technologically secure: the environment was set up together with Ecclesia's IT department. The AI runs within Ecclesia's own Azure environment and passwords are stored securely.
• Staying on top of it: VionA monitors the automations daily. If something goes wrong, a notification comes in immediately. The fix follows quickly.
• Short lines at every level: the key user in the department explains exactly how the process works. A fixed contact person handles quick questions and approves small extensions. VionA discusses new assignments and long-term planning with management.
• Building on what's there: each automation reuses the knowledge and technology of the previous one. That makes every next step faster.

What's next?

With three automations in production, there is a solid foundation. The automation already recognizes documents from other insurers, and these are largely processed in the same way as those from Allianz. That offers opportunities for further growth. Together with Ecclesia, VionA is looking at which step will deliver the most.

Who is this relevant for?

For insurers, brokers and underwriting agencies that process large flows of documents from insurers every day, and that are not looking for a single standalone automation but for a partner that grows with them: start small, show results quickly and expand step by step.