Using AI for Insurance: What Military Families Should Know

Insurance companies are increasingly deploying artificial intelligence (AI) to manage claims and provide quotes for coverage. They say that it can do these things faster and more accurately than any human, making AI for insurance claims and quotes immensely flexible.

However, some instances of AI bias have emerged, while there may be grounds for worrying about data security. Worse, it might be difficult to get a human to override an AI’s decision made in error. But AI isn’t just a tool for insurance companies; military families can also use AI to research insurance plans or even file a claim.

Artificial intelligence: a program or set of programs developed using tools (such as machine learning and neural networks) and used to generate content, analyze complex patterns (as in speech or digital images), or automate complex tasks. — Merriam-Webster

How AI Is Being Used in Insurance Today

Comparing Insurance Quotes

If you’ve used a comparison-shopping website to find the insurance company that offers you the best combination of coverage and affordability, there’s a good chance you’ve already encountered AI for insurance purposes.

Many of these sites now use AI to estimate premiums accurately and to explain to consumers the differences in coverage offered by each insurance company. 

The potential for harm with these sites is small, as they are intended to provide you with information, not a finalized contract. You’ll soon discover when finalizing the deal with your chosen insurer whether the comparison site’s AI made a boo-boo. 

Tailoring a Policy Just for You

An insurer’s AI can very quickly interrogate vast databases to assess the insurance risks you, as an individual, pose. The more information it can glean about you, the more fairly it can assess your premium level.

It will likely look at factors your insurance company has been checking for years, such as your age, sex, ZIP code, credit score, claims history, criminal record, and so on.

AI may also be able to analyze risks using other sources. For example, it might explore your social media usage and data from smart devices, when fitted in your car or home.

All this means fairer, lower-cost premiums for low-risk applicants, but higher payments for those who are riskier. Either way, it can create an individual policy just for you.

AI can do all this much faster and at a lower cost than humans could, saving the insurer money. Whether that saving is passed on to you or used to boost profitability is up to the company.

How You Can Use AI for Insurance Claims

Filing an AI insurance claim is pretty close to the same process as filing a non-AI claim. You:

1. Describe the basis for your claim
2. Provide documentation (photos, police reports, weather reports … whatever’s relevant)
3. Track your claim until payment, responding to any queries as they arise

The main differences you should notice are that AI processes everything more quickly and that you can see what’s happening with a few keystrokes. 

Yes, AI can analyse photographs and read reports, flagging specific items. And it can compare them with a vast database of similar claims to know what’s happened, whether your policy covers it, and how much you’re due. 

AI is also exceptionally good at spotting fraud. So, be sure to be as accurate as possible when describing the basis of your claim.

Other Common Use Cases

You can use AI to create a home inventory, listing all the contents of your house, condo, or apartment. Simply ask for a template, being sure to tell ChatGPT or your preferred open-AI tool that you are military, so it includes military-specific items. This may be necessary if you need to submit a claim after a burglary or fire when items are lost or destroyed.

It will also know more about replacement costs than you probably do. When you choose your policy, you’ll decide whether you want “actual cash value,” meaning an item’s second-hand worth, say in a garage sale, or “replacement cost value,” which provides enough to buy brand-new equivalents. Since many already use AI tools like Google Image search to find items online, you can be sure AI will be used by insurance companies and the insured alike.

Finally, you can use AI to assist with technical insurance stuff, such as explaining the incomprehensible jargon in your policy, and helping draft appeals if your claim has been denied or your settlement offer is too low.

Pros of Using AI for Insurance Quotes

Comparison Shopping

AI should be helpful when you are using a comparison-shopping website. It can compare the offerings of multiple insurers, quickly guiding you to the ones with the most appropriate coverage at the lowest costs. 

As importantly, it can explain the technical jargon insurance companies use. That lets you weigh how much you value different options, such as deductibles, limits, exclusions, and actual cash value vs. replacement cost value.

That extra information may prompt you to ask more and better questions, so you can be absolutely sure you’re getting the coverage you need. 

Once you’ve established a short list of likely insurance companies, you can get personalized quotes from each. 

Online Support

Overall, AI can be very helpful for military families making insurance claims. Time differences are immaterial, even if you’re on the other side of the world, because AI never sleeps and is open for business 24/7/365.

AI can also help you with the claim process, prompting you to provide the required information and evidence, and answering questions through a chatbot as you go along.

In July 2025, global management consultancy McKinsey and Company reported “a 3 to 5 percent accuracy improvement in claims” among insurers that had embraced AI.

Best of all, AI works much more quickly than was previously possible. So, you can get the money you need to recover from your claim event faster than ever.

Cons of Using AI for Insurance Quotes

AI Doesn’t Always Understand Military Life

Few, if any, comparison-shopping websites allow you to provide enough personal information to immediately select your perfect quote. This can be especially true for military families.

You may get quotes that don’t recognize your military status and its implications. For example, it may not take into account how permanent change of station (PCS) moves might affect your coverage needs, nor that you might require coverage across multiple states.

Comparison sites can also struggle to keep up with rapidly changing premium rates, while they sometimes fail to mention critical exclusions and endorsements. So, it’s best not to wholly rely on these sites beyond making a short list of candidate insurers. 

With luck, an individual insurer might do better. But AI relies on learning, and it can’t fully assess the special risks of service members and their families until it has enough cases to build a picture. So, some insurance companies that specialize in serving military clients may have better-trained AI than others.

AI Is Still New

As we mentioned before, AI learns all the time. By the time it’s processed tens of thousands of fender-bender claims, for example, it knows exactly what to look for in those events.

However, that means it’s much less certain when managing unique or unusual events. It lacks the context to fully understand them.

And military families tend to encounter the unique and the unusual more often than their civilian counterparts do. This doesn’t mean AI won’t eventually get its “head” around rare claims, perhaps with help from the insurer’s human staff. But it may hold things up a bit.

AI can typically pay out on routine claims more quickly than humans. But it’s essential to make sure your application contains all the details it’s likely to need. 

An incomplete claim can delay your payout. It might even see you receiving too low an offer, meaning you’ll have to launch an appeal. And those, too, can be time-consuming.

As important as completeness is consistency. An application containing conflicting information can trigger a claim review.

Finally, AI might bring some wider issues. 

“AI may not be bias-free,” according to an article published in The Michigan Bar Journal. “Additionally, as insurance companies (and other businesses) continue to pool customer data through AI, they risk inadvertently disclosing sensitive and private information. As more data gathering occurs through AI, the incentive for hacks increases.”

Why Military Families Need to Be Especially Careful

PCS Moves Change Coverage Requirements

Each U.S. state makes its own laws and has its own regulators governing insurance. So, a simple PCS move from one state to another can see dramatic changes in coverage requirements and premium rates. 

Like previously available online tools, AI allows you to inform your insurer of your move at any time and wherever you happen to be. And your coverage can change seamlessly.

However, that works only if your insurance company is licensed in the state to which you are moving. Owing to the constant potential in the military for rapid relocations, you may prefer to choose an insurer that’s licensed in all 50 states. But don’t worry, this will give you the opportunity to compare and potentially get a better rate!

Deployments to foreign countries complicate things even more. Get a feel for their implications when you’re choosing an insurer so you’re not scrambling to understand your needs when the orders drop.

Deployment Limits Your Oversight

Is there a busier period during the life of a military family than during a deployment? When will you find the time to read the paperwork your insurer’s AI generates to explain changes to your coverage and premium rates?

OK, it takes only a second to read with horror or delight the changes to your premiums. But it’s equally important to note any changes in coverage. AI may be able to help summarize or explain key updates. However, it is important to remember it is not perfect, and at the end of the day, you are liable for what you sign.

So, try to carve out the time to understand what your amended policy covers and doesn’t cover. Might you be able to do so while you’re on the road, in the air, or aboard a vessel? 

OCONUS Assignments Add Complexity

OCONUS stands for ‘Outside the Continental United States.’ This means locations within the 48 contiguous states or D.C. Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories and foreign countries are considered OCONUS. Each sovereign nation gets to make its own laws and appoint its own regulators. 

Your U.S. insurance coverage is likely not be applicable in the foreign country. Check with your stateside insurer’s call center, licensed agent or AI whether you need to use a local insurance company, especially if you’re living or driving off base. 

AI for Insurance Dos & Don’ts

Do:

1. Recognize that AI makes mistakes. Use it as a starting point, not a final decision-maker.
2. When using a comparison-shopping website, verify information on which you rely directly with the insurer or one of its licensed agents.
3. Review your policy documents carefully and ask questions if you have queries.
4. Ensure AI has customized your policy to consider your military status, balancing the coverage you need with the premium you can afford.
5. Make sure your claim documents are accurate, complete, and free of conflicting information.

DON’T:

1. Rely solely on a comparison-shopping site’s AI recommendations.
2. Fail to verify your coverage details directly with the insurer or its licensed agent.
3. Submit incomplete or contradictory claim information.
4. Ignore the unique insurance laws and regulations where you live or will live.

The Bottom Line

AI is already common in the insurance industry and will likely become increasingly more so. It helps insurers save money and delivers superior service to customers overall. 

However, AI is far from infallible. It can and does make mistakes. And you need to remain alert to that possibility.

More than most, military families can benefit from the speed and accessibility of insurers’ AI. But those families in particular also need precision. President Ronald Reagan had the right idea: “Trust, but verify.”

To sum up, the smartest approach is to use AI to assist, not replace, informed decision-making.