Lloyd’s has confirmed that insurance broker UIB is the first to successfully send a live endorsement request message through the London Market’s ACORD messaging hub, The Exchange. The message, sent to specialist underwriting business Canopius, was sent using Trace Isys’s Messaging Service software and was subsequently agreed by cargo underwriter Joe Mellen. This first complete endorsement agreement process was achieved well before the e-Endorsement official live date of 1st October 2010.
The result comes towards the end of the four month London-Market-Group-sponsored e-Endorsement pilot, which involved all Lloyd’s Managing Agents, a number of company market carriers and the majority of the major brokers. The pilot, which is built around the ACORD messaging standards, is the first market-wide e-placing delivery for the London Market. The technology will eventually eradicate the need for brokers to queue at a Lloyd’s box to make adjustments or amendments to policies. This will free up both broker’s and underwriter’s time, saving face-to-face contact for when it is most necessary and valuable.
To ensure the success of the Exchange, all participating carriers have signed up to a service level agreement to respond to endorsement requests from brokers within 24 hours, although in practice they are likely to respond far sooner.
Steven Pallett, technical director, UIB Marine Division said: “This genuinely is a breakthrough as it greatly improves the efficiency of how brokers and underwriters can trade at Lloyd’s and in the company market. Currently brokers are queuing even for something as minor as a typo on a document. So this will not only save broker’s time and shoe leather it also gives underwriters the ability to manage and prioritise broker inquiries as at present they cannot manage who or what is waiting for them in the queue.
“There is obviously a cultural dimension to this as people get used to the change in the way they have done things traditionally. However, it has been very pleasing to see the real enthusiasm for the pilot and the efficiency savings that are now within reach. Furthermore the global economic crisis of the last two years has shown everyone that we simply no longer have the time to queue up when there is a faster alternative. Also, in today’s increasingly regulated marketplace, this new system provides brokers and carriers alike with structured audit trail as to what, when and by whom a contract change was agreed. UIB has proved the technology is there and is capable so the next step for UIB and all participating brokers will be to roll it out to the rest of marine, then across all classes of business in the London market.”
Source : UIB press Release
