How to select the best insurance technology system

Technology solutions continue to evolve and the need for all your systems to talk to each other has never been greater.

Clients expect access to real time information and instant quote and pay options.

From the perspective of an insurer, underwriting agency or broker, it’s important to promptly know how the financials are doing, the status of a client and nature of the policies they hold.

THE GOOD AND THE BAD 

Fully automated information flow through the insurance value chain has become increasingly sought after.

However, a large number of companies still have to put up with double entry and time-consuming processes to achieve this.

BAIS Insurance Technology has been at the forefront of insurance technology for 30 years with experience of numerous ‘war stories’ including the good, bad and the much too lengthy and expensive ways to implement technology solutions. 

INTEGRITY IS KEY

Having analysed the difference between them, it is clear from the early days that integrity is the key to successful insurance technology solutions and happy clients.

Integrity comes in two main forms:

• The human side of being a trusted partner achieving customer objectives.
• The reliability and workability of the technology.

For a partnership to work there must be trust, built on honest and regular communication, transparency and the commitment to what’s best for the customer.

A good provider will understand their customer’s business and will make sure they keep their promises including standing by prices and delivery.

WORKING AT 100 PER CENT 

Technology solutions simply have to work 100 per cent of the time. The insurance industry relies on its systems and cannot afford for things to go wrong.

Look for a partner that relishes projects and challenges that others might balk at.  

There is always a better and smarter way to do things, so a provider worth their salt will foster constant innovation and improvement in everything they do.

The challenges of 2020 have led to an increase in companies seeking new and improved online solutions.

THE ICEBERG EFFECT

BAIS has seen these conversations fall into two buckets. Firstly, those that have been looking at, but not yet got around to launching a new product, such as a client or broker portal or a quote, bind, pay solution.

Secondly, companies who have an existing online product, but it is either not working well enough or requires some form of double handling to get data integrated effectively into systems.

Discussions have often been around the stress or ‘the iceberg’ effect.

When companies have dissociated platforms, it can lead to more work for brokers and the underwriting agents who need to re-key data into the systems that actually run their businesses.

Often, existing solutions cost a lot of money and take a long time to build, and companies may then spend more trying to make the system work efficiently.

GETTING THE BEST OUTCOME

Finding a provider with experience implementing systems in the Australian insurance industry and knowledge of its compliance and data flow requirements is essential for a quicker, less expensive outcome.

Much of BAIS’ time is spent on consultancy.

This service started almost by accident as increasing numbers of clients needed help understanding their data flows and compliance requirements.

As a result, our team began to propose the solutions we knew would work for them.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

When evaluating the technology solutions and providers, BAIS recommends asking the following five questions:

1. Has the scope of the project taken into account the various insurance compliance requirements?
2. Have you stepped through every page/field requiring data to ensure the best user experience and data flows?
3. Do the integrations between the systems you are looking to connect already exist, ie, are they ‘native’ or does someone have to build a connection?
4. How accessible is the project team, both account managers and the technical developers?
5. Have you mapped out the control/reporting requirements, for example, if you are operating an authorised representative (AR) model can you control access while still maintaining business oversight

There are inevitable questions and issues that arise over the course of a technology project.

All insurance technology solutions require an ongoing dialogue between the technology providers and the client.

This is always more effective if the development team is in a similar time zone and speaks the same language, to overcome the intricacies involved.

ABOUT BAIS

BAIS provides insurance systems and solutions for the insurance. It has lived and breathed the Australian insurance market for 25 years.

The entirely Australian-based team ensures the delivery of a robust system, sound data security and flexible access for your people 24/7 — delivered via the cloud.