The insurance industry is experiencing a transformational shift, driven by customer demands for swift, digital experiences and the urgent need to reduce operational complexity. Nowhere is this change more evident than in the submissions process, a critical gateway for underwriting new business or renewing existing accounts.
Despite advances in automation and AI, insurers still struggle with siloed systems, manual data entry, and outdated workflows.
Enter low-code platforms, such as OutSystems, which are rapidly emerging as the next frontier in insurance innovation.
In this blog, we’ll explore the future trends shaping how low-code revolutionizes insurance submissions, making them faster, more accurate, and infinitely scalable.
The Evolving Landscape of Insurance Submissions
1 Heightened Customer Expectations
In the age of one-click shopping and instant digital transactions, brokers and customers expect seamless, near-instant submissions. Manual tasks or lengthy approval processes can lead to drop-offs or lost business.
2 Rising Operational Costs
Siloed processes and repeated data entry inflate operational overheads, reducing competitiveness. Insurers often must rehire or reshuffle staff to handle peak submission periods and new lines of business.
3 Need for Speed and Flexibility
The speed of quoting and binding can make or break deals, especially in specialty or niche lines. Legacy systems and hard-coded integrations can’t keep pace with the agile requirements of modern insurers.
Why Low-Code is Poised to Disrupt the Submissions Space
1 Rapid Development and Iteration
Low-code platforms empower IT and business teams to create or modify applications through visual workflows and pre-built components—significantly reducing coding overhead. For insurance submissions, this means:
- Faster Launch of New Products: Deploy new submission workflows in days or weeks, not months.
- Iterative Refinements: Quickly adjust forms or risk parameters based on underwriting feedback—no lengthy dev cycles required.
2 Seamless Integrations with Legacy Systems
Most insurers can’t afford a rip-and-replace strategy for their core policy administration or claims systems. Low-code platforms, like OutSystems, bridge the gap through API-driven integration, enabling real-time data exchange without forcing a total infrastructure overhaul.
Key Benefit: Maintain a single source of truth for policy data while layering modern, user-friendly interfaces on top of aging back-ends.
3 High-Level Customization Without Complexity
From dynamic underwriting rules to conditional endorsements, insurance submissions demand complex business logic. Low-code lets insurers embed these rules in visual models, making updates more accessible—even for business analysts without deep coding backgrounds.
Outcome: Faster adaptation to regulatory changes, market trends, and evolving customer needs, all while reducing the risk of errors.
Five Future Trends in Low-Code Insurance Submissions
1 AI-Augmented Underwriting
Artificial intelligence and machine learning will increasingly pair with low-code platforms to pre-screen submissions, extract key data (e.g., from PDFs or images), and flag high-risk applications. Underwriters will receive submissions already enriched with scored risk factors and recommended coverage or pricing ranges—streamlining decision-making.
What’s Next: Expect deeper AI integrations that can predict future claim probabilities or highlight potential fraud before underwriting even starts.
2 Hyper-Personalized Customer Journeys
Low-code solutions are moving toward hyper-personalization, meaning each submission form or quote process can adjust in real time to a user’s risk profile, location, or previous interactions.
- Dynamic Fields: Only relevant questions appear, reducing friction for applicants.
- Context-Aware Portals: Personalized dashboards guide brokers or customers through custom coverage options, boosting conversion rates.
What’s Next: Extending personalization into renewal and endorsement processes, creating an end-to-end user experience tailor-made to each customer segment.
3 Embedded Insurance Models
With the rise of embedded finance and partnerships between insurers, retailers, and service providers, low-code platforms simplify creating submission workflows that embed insurance offers into non-insurance platforms.
- One-Click Coverage: Customers can purchase micro-insurance or supplementary coverage during an online purchase, without leaving the retailer’s app.
- Real-Time Integrations: APIs allow instant data sharing—like shipping details, item values, or user demographics—for immediate quote generation.
What’s Next: Insurance coverage popping up seamlessly in health apps, travel portals, gig economy platforms—all managed through flexible, low-code integrations.
4 No-Code Interfaces for Business Users
While low-code already reduces complexity, the future may see an even greater push toward no-code capabilities within the submissions process. Underwriting managers or product owners could design submission forms and logic entirely through drag-and-drop tools—bypassing IT altogether.
- Policy Templates: Business users create templates for new products, launching them faster.
- Real-Time Rule Editing: Simple toggles or wizards update underwriting thresholds or discount parameters instantly.
What’s Next: True self-service for non-technical staff, accelerating response to market shifts and regulatory mandates.
5 End-to-End Automation and Self-Service
Expect a surge in robotic process automation (RPA) and self-service capabilities integrated with low-code. From auto-filling applicant details to processing payments and generating digital documents, insurers will push to eliminate manual bottlenecks.
- Self-Service Portals: Brokers or customers independently manage submissions, track status, and provide additional documentation.
- Automated Follow-Ups: Timely reminders or escalations ensure the submission doesn’t stall—without requiring human intervention.
What’s Next: AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants guiding users through complex coverage questions, further decreasing reliance on staff for routine tasks.
Real-World Examples: Low-Code in Action
Case Study: A Mid-Sized Commercial Insurer
- Challenge: Slow quote turnaround times due to manual data entry and disjointed systems.
- Solution: Implemented OutSystems-based submission workflow, integrating with policy admin and CRM.
- Result: 50% reduction in quote-to-bind cycle, significant drop in human errors, and improved broker satisfaction.
Case Study: Insurtech Startup
- Challenge: Needed to scale quickly, offering multiple product lines without a large development team.
- Solution: Leveraged a low-code platform to create custom forms, rating logic, and automated underwriting rules.
- Result: Launched three new products in under six months—compared to a year of dev time with traditional coding.
Overcoming Challenges in Low-Code Adoption
1 Cultural Buy-In
Despite the obvious speed and cost benefits, some IT leaders may fear losing developer control or worry about “citizen development” leading to sprawl. Effective governance, clear guidelines, and training can mitigate these concerns.
2 Legacy Integration
While low-code simplifies integration, insurers must still tackle data silos and outdated core systems. A well-structured API-first approach can ensure a cohesive digital ecosystem, but it requires planning and budget.
3 Regulatory Oversight
Insurance is heavily regulated. Any new technology or workflow must pass compliance and audit requirements. Low-code platforms are increasingly offering built-in compliance checks and robust audit trails, but insurers should involve compliance teams early to ensure alignment.
How to Get Started with Low-Code for Submissions
- Identify the Bottlenecks
- Document your current submission process end to end; highlight areas of rework, delays, and errors.
- Document your current submission process end to end; highlight areas of rework, delays, and errors.
- Start Small
- Launch a pilot project—perhaps a single product line or a new specialty coverage—and measure tangible improvements.
- Launch a pilot project—perhaps a single product line or a new specialty coverage—and measure tangible improvements.
- Leverage Out-of-the-Box Features
- OutSystems and other low-code platforms often have pre-built connectors and form components to accelerate development.
- OutSystems and other low-code platforms often have pre-built connectors and form components to accelerate development.
- Involve Stakeholders Early
- Underwriters, operations, compliance, and IT should all have input to ensure a seamless rollout.
- Underwriters, operations, compliance, and IT should all have input to ensure a seamless rollout.
- Iterate and Expand
- Evaluate your pilot results, gather feedback, and continuously iterate to refine and scale across other lines of business.
Conclusion: The Future is Bright for Low-Code in Insurance Submissions
As insurers grapple with digitization, customer expectations, and complex operational demands, low-code platforms emerge as a powerful catalyst for change. By streamlining submissions—from data capture and underwriting rules to quoting and binding—low-code fosters agility, innovation, and efficiency across the insurance value chain.
Looking ahead, AI augmentation, personalized journeys, embedded coverage, no-code interfaces, and end-to-end automation promise a future where insurance submissions are intelligent, frictionless, and scalable.
Ready to Reimagine Your Submissions Process?
At RST, we specialize in delivering low-code solutions tailored to insurance workflows. Whether you’re a global carrier or an emerging insurtech, we can help you harness OutSystems for faster deployment, smarter underwriting, and exceptional customer experiences. Contact us today to explore how low-code can redefine your submission process for the digital age.
