When people picture AI in insurance, they tend to imagine it behind the scenes: fraud models flagging suspicious claims, actuarial engines repricing risk, document extraction tools feeding data into legacy systems. That picture is increasingly out of date. Across the US, UK and Europe, insurers and insurtechs are putting AI directly in front of customers — as the chatbot that takes their claim, the voice agent that answers their phone call, and the app that quotes and binds their policy without a human ever touching it.

By 2026, this shift has moved well past pilot projects into live, customer-facing infrastructure. Here’s what it actually looks like across three markets, with the specific companies and numbers behind it.

1. The US Insurtechs: AI as the Primary Interface

Nowhere is this clearer than among digital-first US carriers, where AI isn’t a support layer bolted onto a human-run process — it is the process.

Lemonade set the template early with “Maya,” its AI for quote-to-bind conversations, and “Jim,” which handles first-notice-of-loss claims (in its famous demo, a claim was reviewed and paid in seconds). USAA’s “Eva” now handles authenticated member self-service across both voice and text, and GEICO has replaced traditional billing and policy IVR phone menus with conversational AI flows. Travelers has gone further into claims specifically, with an AI Claim Assistant — a voice agent that takes incoming claims calls, helps policyholders file auto damage claims, and tracks settlement progress.

A second tier of insurtechs treats AI as the default handler across the entire customer journey, not just the first point of contact:

• Hippo rolled out a fully AI-driven claims workflow in April 2026. Its voice agent “Clara” handles first-notice-of-loss calls, and the company expects more than 70% of claims to be filed digitally through it, with initial response time now under two hours on average.
• Root describes its ambition plainly: building “a fully automated insurance carrier,” with AI-native infrastructure spanning underwriting, pricing, claims and distribution. Telematics and photo data let simple claims settle almost instantly without an adjuster call, and the approach helped drive Root’s record Q1 2026 profit.
• Next Insurance lets small business owners quote and bind commercial coverage entirely online in minutes, using conversational, chat-style intake instead of the long static forms that dominate SMB insurance buying.
• Pie Insurance built an AI-first underwriting engine for workers’ comp that returns a quote in about three minutes — work that takes legacy insurers days — with savings of up to 30% versus traditional carriers.
• Coalition wraps cyber cover in continuous AI monitoring through its “Active Insurance” model: an AI risk assessment at quote time, continuous scanning during the policy term, and AI-assisted incident response that helped recover $21.8 million in stolen funds for policyholders in 2025.

2. The UK: Incumbents and Insurtechs Moving in Parallel

The UK market shows the same shift happening on two tracks at once — inside legacy insurers and inside newer digital-first challengers.

Aviva has started quoting through ChatGPT itself. It piloted this for home insurance (its Signature product) in March 2026, then expanded it to life insurance quotes by June, letting customers get an initial quote conversationally before finishing the application on Aviva’s own site. The insurer also uses an AI chatbot, Zowie, which it says resolves 90% of customer inquiries. This isn’t an isolated experiment: industry data suggests 83% of UK insurers have already implemented, or are in the process of implementing, AI chatbots or generative AI for claims support.

Among UK insurtechs, Marshmallow uses AI and alternative data to generate personalised car insurance quotes in minutes, specifically targeting groups — foreign drivers, young professionals — whose risk traditional insurers price poorly. Its quote-in-seconds flow now drives over 40% of new business. Zego, a commercial motor and flexible insurance insurtech built for gig and fleet drivers, applies similar telematics- and data-driven underwriting in a B2B2C context, competing directly with Marshmallow and European rival wefox.

3. Germany and Europe: Claims Handled End to End by AI

In Germany, Getsafe (Heidelberg) is fully app-based and runs an AI claims chatbot called “Carla,” available 24/7 in both English and German. Getsafe’s AI handles a substantial share of claims settlement, consultation and contract conclusion without human intervention, often approving claims within minutes rather than the days a traditional process would take.

The shift isn’t confined to insurtechs, either. European incumbents including Allianz have adopted conversational AI platforms — such as Cognigy, a German vendor — for customer support and claims handling, showing that the customer-facing AI wave is spreading into large, established carriers as well as digital-native challengers.

The Common Thread

Across every example here, from Lemonade to Getsafe to Aviva, the same four workflows keep showing up as the entry point for customer-facing AI: first-notice-of-loss intake, coverage and policy questions, renewals and proactive outreach, and claims status updates. These are high-volume, relatively low-judgment interactions, which makes them the natural place to start — but the direction of travel is clear. For digital-first insurtechs, AI has already become the primary interface: the quote flow, the app and the claims portal are the AI, with a human only stepping in for edge cases. For larger incumbents like Aviva and Allianz, AI is rapidly moving from a back-office efficiency tool to the first thing a customer actually talks to.

The old assumption that AI in insurance mainly means smarter fraud detection or faster underwriting math no longer holds. Increasingly, it’s the voice on the claims line, the chat window quoting a policy, and the assistant approving a payout — in other words, the part of the business the customer actually sees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is AI used in customer-facing insurance roles, or just in the back office?

Both, but customer-facing use is growing fastest. AI now handles quoting, first-notice-of-loss claims intake, policy questions and claims status updates directly with customers at companies including Lemonade, Hippo, Aviva and Getsafe, in addition to back-office uses like fraud detection and underwriting.

Which insurance companies use AI for claims handling?

Examples include Lemonade (AI “Jim” for first-notice-of-loss), Hippo (voice agent “Clara”), Travelers (AI Claim Assistant), Root (telematics-based instant settlement for simple claims), and Getsafe in Germany (AI chatbot “Carla”).

Is AI replacing insurance agents?

Not entirely. AI is handling the high-volume, low-judgment interactions — quoting, FNOL intake, status updates, renewals — while humans still handle complex claims, disputes and edge cases. Digital-first insurtechs rely on AI as the default interface, while incumbents are layering it on top of existing human teams.

What UK insurers use AI for customer service?

Aviva offers AI-generated quotes through ChatGPT for home and life insurance and uses the chatbot Zowie for customer service. Insurtechs Marshmallow and Zego use AI-driven underwriting and quoting. Industry-wide, 83% of UK insurers report implementing or piloting AI chatbots or generative AI for claims.

What are the main customer-facing AI use cases in insurance?

The four most common are: first-notice-of-loss (FNOL) claims intake, coverage and policy questions, renewals and proactive customer outreach, and claims status updates.