AI VS Real People – How Free Spirit Faces the Modern World

Selma is an AI function that came from P J Hayman’s partnership with OpenDialog. If you’ve had a quote online for our Free Spirit policy, you may have already encountered Selma. She is an AI chat bot that appears on the Free Spirit quote journey to answer customers’ questions.

The benefits of using our AI chat function are that customers can be supported even when our sales team have gone home for the day. It can assist with things like what dates to enter for cover and give clarification on some of the quote questions.

This can also help to improve our accessibility, meaning that we are supporting customers who prefer to do things online rather than call. AI can also make the process quicker, allowing you to read the questions in your own time and ask for help If you need it. On the phone, our customer service team have to follow scripts. Although the questions are the same as you see online, this can take a bit longer.

Are there any cons to using AI?

AI doesn’t posses the ability to be empathetic, so you should bear this in mind when asking it things. There are also some more complex questions that Selma might not know the answer to. She is there as a tool to assist in many queries, but for more complex situations you may be best speaking to one of our kind-hearted team.

Our customer service team are available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm to help you if you need them. With Free Spirit being able to cover such a variety of medical conditions, it’s sometime more beneficial to talk them through with a friendly expert. In the rare case that we are unable to add your exact medical condition, our team will be able to speak to our underwriters to try and offer you a solution. Our team are not timed or rushed on a call, so they have enough time to discuss your quote at length so you can make an informed decision.

In some case a quote has to be ‘referred to the underwriters’. This happens when we can’t give you an instant quotation and need further clarification. For example, if you are awaiting surgery. If you have a stable diagnosed condition such as a form of arthritis, but are waiting for a knee replacement, we will need our underwriters to approve this. This doesn’t mean we will not offer cover, just that it has to be looked at in further detail first. It’s important to ensure that you have cover suitable for your medical conditions and requirements.