[Hidden-tech] Great Use of LLMs for Insurance Policy Scrutiny; Many Hopeful Implications

[Alan Frank]

Many of us are deducting home office costs on our Schedule C's.  It's 
probably worth considering how much you are saving by doing so compared 
with the risk and expense of noncoverage if you have a clause in your 
policy similar to Rob's.

--Alan

-------- Original Message --------

  		SUBJECT:
  		[Hidden-tech] Great Use of LLMs for Insurance Policy Scrutiny; Many 
Hopeful Implications

  		DATE:
  		2025-02-02 11:59

  		FROM:
  		Rob Laporte via Hidden-discuss <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>

  		TO:
  		"hidden-discuss" <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>

Hi All,

The following intrigue-laced home insurance drama suggests great uses 
for LLMs, as well as entrepreneurial vistas.

Insurance Policy Skulduggery

Customized LLM tools like OpenAI GPTs, Google NoteBook LM, and Claude 
Projects enable brilliant unpacking of insurance policies and their tiny 
annual text changes that can undermine your coverage and increase risk. 
Given news about surprise clauses denying or reducing coverage for CA 
wildfire victims, and given that all, even non-CA, insurance 
corporations will have to increase rates (due in part to how 
re-insurance works to insure insurance companies), I thought it wise to 
use LLMs to scrutinize my formerly trustworthy Amica home and auto 
policies.

I uploaded all past and current docs to three top LLMs, and discovered 
that little word changes meant that my home would not actually be 
covered. The details are many and important, but I'll mention just 
salient issues:

	*

Language regarding home office use changed such that, say, a demolishing 
fire would not be covered, or at best would result in costly court 
battles to get the coverage one had in prior years. And guess what 
increased enormously since the pandemic? Home office coverage subdivides 
by important distinctions too involved to get into here.
	*

A little new text about security devices rendered a future claim easily 
dismissed. The new policy itemizes various wireless security and fire 
subsystems, inputting some I did not have, which gave a $35 discount. In 
prior years, none of those devices were listed. ChatGPT explained that 
this is one of several tricks insurance companies use: If I had not 
found it, and my home burned down, the insurance company could claim the 
misrepresentation is a kind of fraud nullifying the contract. And one of 
the features Amica pre-filled for me was a "Wi-Fi connected fire alarm" 
I don't have.

	*

Yes, you could fight that in court, but you'd likely have to settle for 
less than full coverage or else risk losing all at trial.

	*

Other little text changes since last year impacted full replacement 
costs, personal property coverage, town building ordinance costs during 
rebuild, and more. All of the changes either reduced coverage or 
injected ambiguity that corporate insurance lawyers love in denying 
claims.

When I called the insurance company rep (and got permission to record as 
they too record), she claimed that they had not gotten my contact form 
submission of questions I sent via a linked Google doc. I had gotten a 
reply that a rep would get back to me--after the renewal and auto-pay 
date I disabled. While spoke with a rep, I arranged emailing it directly 
to her, and she claimed she did not get it--while Google showed 6 new 
live viewers streaming in (the doc was viewable only via that emailed 
link). After some talk, I pointed out that several people just started 
looking at the doc right now, prompting the live viewers to drop off one 
after another like cockroaches when the light goes on. She said she'd 
have to refer this matter to the local branch who would call me Monday. 
A long hold early in the conversation--after I explained my LLM 
use--suggests she had already looped in managers and probably legal, who 
were not only viewing the doc but also must have been listening live. It 
seems insurance companies are gearing up for a trend of people using 
LLMs to scrutinize policies.

Lesson: LLMs empower us to vet contracts rapidly.

Similar LLM Uses and Related Career Opportunities

One can vet one's town property taxes. A neighbor into LLMs is currently 
making a little interactive app which (1) shows how much more or less 
one's home tax appraisal went up relative to one's street or any 
selected area, and (2) shows the maximum, minimum, and range of 
increases in a town. This enables detecting errors costing homeowners, 
and then getting LLM guidance on resolving the issue/s.

One can quickly assess Terms of Service (ToS) and Privacy Policy 
changes. I signed up for a crypto IRA ~5 years ago. Subsequently, they 
had some shady changes in storage and banking custodians. A few months 
ago, I could not log in to view or act unless I agreed to a new ToS. An 
LLM highlighted new risks in the new ToS, which were buried in the many 
pages. Now, after each login that requires clicking agreement, I email 
and post to customer service that I do not concede to the new terms. 
(I'll be moving from them soon; and BTW, how screwy is it that a 
long-term financial contract can be changed at any time?).
Business Opportunity:  An enterprising soul could launch an LLM service 
that automatically scrutinizes one's ever changing ToS and Privacy 
Policies. I recall one scholar's research showing the typical person 
would need ~85 days per year to actually read all these shifting terms 
and policies. I bet people would pay $10+/mo to get alerts and summaries 
of risks for all the services they easily select for tracking.

Imagine the many ways people with LLM proficiency could launch service 
businesses that help people and businesses manage vital information.

Broader Implications for We The People

A bright side of LLMs, especially open-source ones that aren't censored, 
is that we can verify what officials, agencies, or governments said and 
when. News is for sale, but now, or very soon, truth is quickly 
available. There's a reason that the protagonist Winston in Orwell's 
1984 works in the Ministry of Truth editing current and past news. And 
there's a reason the Internet Archive's WayBack Machine, which offers 
searchable, past date-stamped views of all important websites and pages, 
was attacked last year by lawfare and heavy DDoS attacks to take it 
down.

LLMs could be potent truth machines supporting the informed consent that 
is the lifeblood of Democracy.

Oh yes, LLMs pose menace too, but let's not overlook their bright 
potentials.

Best Regards,

Rob Laporte

CEO  |  R&D Manager

DISC - Making Websites Make Money
Rob at 2disc.com, 413-584-6500
www.2disc.com [1]

NOTE: Emails can be blocked by spam filters throughout the web. If you 
don't get a reply within an expected span of time, please call.

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------
[1] https://www.2disc.com
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