Collaboration Aims To Provide Digital Commercial Insurance Platform

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) and insurers Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) and Markel are collaborating on the pilot phase of a digital commercial insurance platform.

In a statement, WTW said that digital connectivity and trading of commercial risks between all stakeholders is increasingly seen as essential to modernizing the insurance value chain, maintaining competitiveness, driving better client solutions, and sustaining the relevance of the insurance industry. Yet inflexible legacy systems and incompatible digital practices often result in fragmented end-to-end operations.

"One of the market's greatest challenges is to make doing business easier from beginning to end—not just one part of the transaction," Richard Clarkson, head of London Market Consulting at WTW, said in the statement. "Developed in collaboration with LSM and Markel, this new platform signals a step-change in digital trading, especially in a market as complex as London.

"Underpinned by cutting-edge technology that will transform how brokers and underwriters connect and trade, users will benefit from significant operational efficiencies by improving the speed and cost of doing business through digitization, automation, and better use of data," Mr. Clarkson said.

Using globally recognized data standards, the new platform is designed to enable multiple insurers and brokers to trade complex specialty risks in real time. Covering both renewals and new business, the pilot phase of the platform is supported by various insurers, including LSM and Markel, across short-tail and long-tail product lines, WTW said.