Aviva cuts critical illness review time in half with AI medical summaries
Aviva has expanded its generative AI underwriting tool to process critical illness insurance applications, reducing medical report review times by 50%. The system analyzes lengthy clinical documentation and extracts only the information underwriters need to make coverage decisions.
The tool launched for individual life insurance in November 2025 and now handles the more complex medical data required for critical illness cases. During development, Aviva tested the system across a wider range of health conditions and clinical risk factors to validate accuracy.
How the technology works
The AI system reads comprehensive patient medical records and produces concise summaries containing clinically relevant information. This addresses a standard problem in insurance administration: extracting key data from dense documentation takes time.
By automating the initial review, underwriters shift from administrative work to complex decision-making. Patients with serious health conditions get coverage decisions faster.
The system handles the specifics critical illness underwriting demands. Unlike standard life insurance, CI cases require analysis of multiple health conditions, treatment histories, and ongoing medical management. The AI filters out non-essential data while identifying what matters for risk assessment.
Next steps and industry trends
Robert Morrison, Chief Underwriting Officer at Aviva, said the expansion represents "another important step in our commitment to making protection insurance faster, simpler and more accessible for our customers using generative AI."
Aviva's current capability extends to post-application auditing. The company plans to apply the same approach to income protection underwriting next.
The move reflects broader adoption of AI across insurance and healthcare. In February 2026, Neptune Flood Insurance and Experian began offering insurance products through OpenAI's ChatGPT. In January 2026, Allianz completed a global upskilling program reaching 144,000 employees across 70 countries, with its AI tools reducing claims processing times by 80%.
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