Insurance Application Testing: Guide & Best Practices

Katalon Team

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The insurance industry was once deemed reluctant to change due to its outdated, heavily regulated system. However, the expectations for insurance software have changed. We are witnessing a digital transformation in the industry.

Insurance companies now improve customer experience and stay competitive through top-notch insurance software quality. The adoption of these new tech brings in the need for rigorous insurance application testing.

Let's dive in! P&C Insurance Application Testing

Importance of insurance application testing

The insurance industry itself is vast, including P&C insurance, health, car, life, and more.

No matter which area, a software bug or system failure can potentially result in significant financial losses, damage to reputation, and even legal liabilities.

That's why it's important to implement insurance application testing as a quality gatekeeper for the insurance software development process.

Automation testing further boosts the insurance software’s performance, reliability, and security. When app-breaking bugs are quickly found and resolved, your insurance software becomes more stable, gaining for itself a unique competitive edge in the marketplace.

📚 Resources: A Practical Guide to Automation Testing

Why centralized test automation is best for insurance

Many automation testing tools available on the market do streamline the testing effort. However, in reality, many teams struggle with the extensive configuration to connect those tools.

This is why teams need software quality management platform:

Comprehensive quality management: We need end-to-end quality management, ensuring that all test activities, from planning, test creation, execution, to test management and test analytics are covered.
Unification of testing activities: P&C insurance systems are really complex, consisting of web, mobile apps, policy management systems, and embedded devices. Each of them requires a different testing tool, leading to fragmented and inefficient testing processes. With a centralized insurance application testing platform, teams can test web, mobile apps, and even API, in 1 single place.
Reduced maintenance and system configuration: With everything under 1 roof, maintenance efforts become more concentrated. This opens up resources to be re-allocated to other critical quality assurance areas.
Centralized reporting: Business leaders need comprehensive actionable insights across the entire STLC to make data-driven decisions and provide visibility for multiple stakeholders. An end-to-end testing platform brings exactly that thorough kind of insight.
Centralized planning and scheduling: Testing platform provides integration with popular DevOps tools, connecting teams involved in the project for better coordination, speeding up the feedback loop, allowing for continuous testing.

Adopting a software quality management platform is how insurance companies add another competitive edge to their services.

Here's an insightful webinar featuring QA leaders from SAGA and Katalon about how to do Software Quality for Insurance, which you may want to take a look:

Webinar Software quality for insurance.png

How to test an insurance application

An insurance domain application consists of many subsystems, each performing a specific task. To achieve comprehensive quality, testers must check if these subsystems function well individually and as a unified entity.

Framework of an insurance application

An insurance application is built on a framework including components, data flows, and communication protocols. This framework facilitates the connection between individual modules in the application. Below is an example of a typical framework for an insurance app:

test cases for insurance application testing

Let’s examine how each framework of a P&C insurance software should be tested.

Module	What to be tested
New Business	Accuracy and completeness of data entry for new policyholders and their policies. Verification of policy information, including premium amount, coverage limits, and effective date. Verification of underwriting decisions and compliance with eligibility requirements. Verification of the generation of policy documents and the correct application of discounts or promotions.



Policy admin	The ability to update and modify policy information, including policyholder and agent information. Verification of premium adjustments, renewals, cancellations, and endorsements. Verification of policyholder requests and correspondence, including the correct updates to policy information.


Claims	Verification of the claims process, including the ability to record and track claims. Verification of claimant identity and policy coverage, including proper authorization and documentation. Verification of claim validity and the appropriate payout of claims, including compliance with policy terms and limits.


Underwriting	Verification of the proper evaluation of potential policyholders and risk assessment. Verification of compliance with regulations and underwriting guidelines. Verification of underwriting decisions and the resulting policy terms, including verification of data sources and accuracy of risk assessment models.


Product life cycle management	Testing the product development process, including product design, pricing, and distribution. Verification of product performance and identification of opportunities for improvement, including market research and analysis.

Error handling	Testing for any possible error scenarios and ensuring that the system can recover from them, including data recovery and backups. Proper error messaging and escalation procedures, including detailed error logs and reporting.

Printing	Verification of the ability to generate and print policy documents accurately and efficiently. Verification of formatting and layout of documents, including branding and regulatory requirements, and the ability to print to different types of printers.

Security	Verification of system security and access controls to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data, including user authentication and authorization. Monitoring and preventing potential cyber threats, such as hacking or data breaches, including regular security audits and penetration testing.

Document management system	Verification of the functionality of the document management system, including storage, retrieval, and sharing, version control and access controls. Verification of the system's ability to organize and classify documents, such as policies or claims, and the ability to search and retrieve them efficiently.

Sample test cases for insurance application testing

Test Case	Test steps	Expected results
User Registration	Enter valid data in all mandatory fields and submit the form	User account is created successfully
Login functionality	Enter valid username and password and click on the login button	User is logged in successfully
Policy creation	Enter valid data in all mandatory fields and submit the form	Policy is created successfully
Policy cancellation	Select a policy to be canceled, enter reason and submit the form	Policy is canceled successfully
Policy renewal	Select a policy to be renewed, enter payment details and submit the form	Policy is renewed successfully
Endorsement processing	Select a policy, make changes and submit the endorsement form	Endorsement is processed successfully
Claim submission	Enter valid claim details and submit the form	Claim is submitted successfully
Claim processing	Select a claim, review the details and approve or reject the claim	Claim is processed and status is updated accordingly
Premium calculation	Enter policy details and verify the calculated premium amount	Premium amount is calculated correctly
User roles	Verify that different user roles have appropriate access and permissions	User roles have correct access and permissions
Data validation	Enter invalid data in mandatory fields and verify the error messages	Error messages are displayed correctly
Integration testing	Test the integration of the insurance application with external systems	Integration with external systems is seamless
Performance testing	Test the application performance under different load conditions	Application performance is acceptable and stable
Security testing	Test the application security measures to ensure data protection	Application data is secure and protected
Compatibility testing	Test the application compatibility with different browsers and devices	Application is compatible with different browsers and devices
Mobile App testing	Test the mobile app version of the application	Mobile app version is functioning correctly with no major discrepancy in the visual aspects
Localization testing	Test the application language support for different regions	Application supports different languages and regions. No major layout impact when changing to other languages
Reporting functionality	Verify that the application can generate reports for various aspects of the insurance process	Reports are generated accurately with all of the fields required
Document management	Test the application document management system for policy documents and other important files	Documents are uploaded and managed correctly

Quality assurance for insurance best practices

1. Leverage data-driven automated testing

In Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance, premiums are influenced by claim frequency and severity, which depend on numerous variables, like driver age, location, vehicle type, past claims, and coverage options. The sheer volume of combinations makes manual testing impractical and error-prone.

Data-driven testing solves this by allowing testers to:

Systematically validate premium calculation logic across a wide matrix of real-world risk profiles.
Identify edge cases or inconsistencies in rating engines.
Ensure accuracy and reliability at scale.

Here's an example of the steps you need to use data-driven testing to run premium calculation tests:

List input variables: e.g. age, ZIP code, vehicle value, claim history, etc.
Create test datasets: Input values + expected premium output.
Bind data to test scripts: Each row becomes a unique test case.
Execute & verify: Compare actual vs. expected premiums.
Analyze discrepancies: Adjust logic or flag rating errors.

With Katalon, you can easily integrate Excel, CSV, XML, or database files as your data sources. Its data binding feature streamlines execution across hundreds of scenarios.

2. Identify breaking points leading to system crashes and downtime with performance testing

During high-demand periods such as open enrollment, insurance applications often face a dramatic spike in user activity. Thousands of users may try to enroll in new policies or update existing coverage at the same time. Without preparation, this surge can lead to:

System crashes
Slow response times
Complete outages

This is where performance testing becomes essential. It simulates large volumes of traffic under controlled conditions, helping teams identify bottlenecks, latency issues, and resource limitations before they affect real users.

3. Leverage integration testing to discover data inconsistencies

The policy administration system (PAS), claims management system (CMS), and the customer relationship management (CRM) system are among the most critical parts of an insurance software. Even if they work perfectly fine individually, bugs may still arise when they are integrated. Errors lie in the touchpoints between them, leading to data inconsistencies and operational inefficiencies.

For example, if a claims adjuster updates the claim status in the claims processing module but the billing module is not updated with the new information, the customer may receive an incorrect bill, causing confusion and frustration.The resources it takes to reverse these errors have bottom-line impacts. Integration testing verifies these interactions to ensure a smooth communication between modules.

4. Strategically Employ Test Automation

Start by identifying which parts of the testing process to be automated.

Repetitive tasks, such as regression testing or performance testing, as well as tasks that require a large number of test cases, are great candidates. After that, organizations should start evaluating available automation testing tools and frameworks to determine which is best suited.

Approach this from the build vs buy perspective: ask yourself if you should invest in building an automation testing framework from scratch or buying an automation testing tool with pre-built features.

5. Foster a culture of quality

The insurance industry values risk management, compliance, and customer service. Quality management is equally critical to ensure a smooth digital experience.

To support this, build a shared culture of quality across all teams, not just QA. Invest in tools that enable automated testing, code reviews, and continuous integration. Encourage user feedback to guide customer-centric, data-driven improvements.

QA leaders should champion this mindset by committing to quality, promoting continuous improvement, and recognizing those who drive it forward.

Insurance application testing with Katalon

As a comprehensive software testing solution, Katalon is the solution for P&C Insurance Software Companies wanting to upgrade their testing activities.

1. Cover all aspects of insurance software testing

With one single workspace of Katalon, testers can perform:

Test planning
Test authoring
Test management
Test execution
Test analysis

You can effortlessly test insurance websites, mobile apps, APIs, and policy management platforms thanks to the low-code test creation capabilities. Team members with varied programming expertise can contribute to the testing effort. Katalon also supports visual testing.

Instead of spending hours manually reviewing screens and spot tiny visual bugs with our own eyes, testers can now leverage AI-driven visual testing to accurately detect visual changes that impact user experience.

2. Improved execution speed and agility

Katalon speeds up testing with self-healing, data-driven testing, parallel testing, and test artifact sharing across multiple teams and product lines. The platform also supports CI/CD pipeline integration for faster and more efficient deployment. After testing, you can export detailed reports, view analytics dashboard, and actionable insights to make timely data-driven decisions.

3. Global customer support

Katalon provides global customer support through various channels to help its customers through a ticket system. Customers can easily gain access to a large knowledge base at the Katalon Blog and product documentation.

At Katalon Community, you can find many quality professionals around the world discussing technical-related topics about testing on the Katalon Platform. Engagement level is high among community members, who are ready to offer support and provide answers to any questions you may have. Katalon has a dedicated Community team to regulate the forum, maintaining a healthy and collaborative culture.

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Katalon Team

Contributors

The Katalon Team is composed of a diverse group of dedicated professionals, including subject matter experts with deep domain knowledge, experienced technical writers skilled, and QA specialists who bring a practical, real-world perspective. Together, they contribute to the Katalon Blog, delivering high-quality, insightful articles that empower users to make the most of Katalon’s tools and stay updated on the latest trends in test automation and software quality.