Understanding Why Insurance Interpreters & Translation Services Matter
Insurance is a highly regulated, document-heavy industry that exists to protect people and property. The language used in policies and claims is dense and full of jargon. It’s hard to understand, and even harder for non-native speakers. This leads to misunderstandings that can delay claims, damage trust, or trigger legal action. Given the legal and ethical stakes, insurance companies need reliable translation and interpretation to serve a growing base of non-native customers.
Translating insurance documents requires precision and accuracy to avoid mistranslations that can lead to legal cases. In this article, we explain more about why insurance companies need translation and interpretation services.
What Documents Require Translation in Insurance
Insurance transactions involve several documents during policy documentation and the claim application process. These documents contain industry-specific terminology that can be misunderstood if professionals do not translate them.
Insurance Policies & Contracts
Policy holders need to understand precisely what they’re agreeing to. Unlike typical terms and conditions that people might ignore, insurance contracts are often reviewed closely, especially by those who don’t speak English as a first language.
Native English speakers may skim through the wording because they’re familiar with the structure and terminology. But non-native speakers are more likely to read carefully to make sure they understand the details. Translating these documents removes that barrier and helps them make informed decisions.
Claims Forms and Statements
Applying for insurance claims involves heavy paperwork for you and the insured. Working with non-English speakers means that you will have to seek insurance translation occasionally. Documents such as accident reports and recorded police statements must be understood clearly by both parties. This starts with accurate translations.
Translating claim forms and statements ensures that documents are filled out correctly by the claimants. This reduces delays that could have been caused if either party misunderstood the forms and statements.
Marketing and Educational Materials
Expanding your insurance company to new markets requires a lot of marketing efforts to connect with the locals. This becomes a challenge when the local speaks a language that does not share linguistic features with English. Think Mandarin. You need educational materials translated accurately, accounting for cultural nuances and other markers of language.
Legal and Regulatory Documents
Insurance by itself is a legal agreement. This agreement is supported by several legally binding documents, such as privacy policies, terms of service, consumer rights, and so on. These documents must be translated for non-English speakers to ensure they understand the agreement and its limitations.
Translated insurance documents are not just a nice-to-have thing. In several jurisdictions, it’s a requirement for these documents to be provided in threshold languages, meaning languages spoken by the large majority. Therefore, translating insurance documents ensures you fulfill this disclosure agreement.
Benefits of Interpretation During Claims and Investigations
Claims and investigations are closely linked and form essential processes in insurance delivery. When facilitating these processes, you need professional interpretation services for effective communication.
The benefits of real-time interpretation during claims and investigations go beyond effective communication. More benefits include:
- Avoiding disputes: Interpreters ensure that no language barrier can lead to disputes in the claim process.
- Promotes fairness in claims: When all parties can communicate clearly, decisions are based on facts, which reduces the risk of bias or unequal treatment.
- Increased customer satisfaction: Fast outcomes contributed by insurance interpretation build customer confidence in your products and services.
- Guaranteed accuracy in recording: Material will be stored with accurate information for future reference if it’s interpreted correctly.Â
Unlike translation, interpretation mostly happens in real-time. When the non-English speaker is speaking, your interpreter will be converting what they’re saying to English for direct conversation. Rather than waiting for transcripts to be translated, you get the raw conversation from the source.
Choosing the Right Language Partner for Insurance Providers
Investing in the right language partner is key in insurance, much like other regulated industries; accuracy and precision impact most insurance processes. The right language partner is one who is certified, experienced, and reliable for complex industries like Insurance.
Certified insurance translators guarantee accuracy because they have been vetted by a recognized licensing or certification body. Essentially, demand at least ISO 17100 or ATA certifications when choosing a language partner.Â
Experience develops when a language partner translates multiple insurance documents over extended periods. Most experienced insurance translators have over a decade of experience or more. Experience also comes from working on various insurance cases to gain perspective of the whole industry.
Getting reliability without compromising quality, speed, or cost is not unheard off in the industry. Some language partners can guarantee reliable services and still maintain high levels of speed and accuracy at affordable rates. That should be your baseline when evaluating which language partners to work with.
Work with TLD for Accurate Insurance Translation
The Language Doctors (TLD) is your go-to insurance translator. With over two decades in the industry, we have the experience necessary to accurately translate your insurance documents. Our services are fast, reliable, and affordable, ensuring you get excellent results for less. Contact us today and get the language support you need for your insurance company.