Today, marine insurance professionals spend a substantial amount of time retyping data they have received. This data is required for quoting on a risk, binding a risk, or performing premium settlements. The manual re-entry of data is both time-consuming and error-prone, leading to increased costs in terms of labour and slowing down the entire process. Moreover, it is arguably one of the less engaging aspects of the job.
Other industries, such as banking and securities trading, have successfully eliminated most of the manual data handling in their processes. They achieve this through the automatic exchange of data between the parties involved, enabling Straight-Through-Processing (STP). This efficiency is made possible through agreed-upon data standards and protocols, which define how data is exchanged and formatted.
To address this challenge in the marine insurance industry, the adoption of data standards and protocols is essential. When a broker submits a quote to a carrier, having a system that has adopted data standards and protocols means that exposure values and schedule data can be automatically transferred to the carrier’s system. This minimises the need for manual re-typing, allowing underwriters to perform risk assessments, evaluate premium rates, and return quotes more efficiently.
You might raise the question; “but this will only work if both parties are using the same system, for example Etuity Core?”. If each vendor made its own proprietary solution yes, but at Instech Solutions we believe in leveraging industry wide standards. More specifically, cooperate with and utilize standards from Acord, that Instech believes has the potential to be adopted by the industry. The answer would then be, “yes, for everyone that uses Etuity Core and all other systems that have adopted Acord standards”.
The adoption of data standards and exchange protocols promises significant benefits. Users will be able to exchange data not just directly with partners, but also with any systems that have adopted the same standards. This promotes greater efficiency, reduces the risk of errors, and prepares the marine insurance industry for a more interconnected and automated future.
