Commercial lines eTrading has seen a number of false dawns over the last decade, partly due to a lack of integrated technology and product solutions, but also through a feeling amongst some brokers that embracing it may hasten their own demise in terms of smaller, more commoditised, commercial risks. But the world has changed, and expectations from customers, acceptance from brokers, and the ability underwriters have are changing fast, creating new opportunities and demand.

For many commercial risks, eTrading has the potential to bring huge benefits to the insurance market by enabling brokers to quickly and efficiently access and place cover, reduce insurers’ costs and improve the customer journey. However, the insurance market is having to play catch-up in terms of accessibility as the Insurance Times’ Digital Adoption Report clearly highlights. Its research shows that 66% of brokers visit insurer extranet sites up to 20 times a week to generate multiple quotes for the same commercial lines risk. Worryingly, a further 27% of brokers visit insurer extranet sites between 21 and 40 times per week to generate multiple quotes for the same commercial risk. This is certainly not ideal and wastes time that could otherwise be better spent working closely with customers and growing the customer base.

The demand and appetite for eTrading is undoubtedly growing, so how best can the insurance market respond and meet the call for easily accessible, eTradeable, high-quality, commercial lines insurance products?

The answer is collaboration. That is, for insurers and software house providers to work together to ensure a broad range of eTradeable commercial lines products that are readily available via their Broker Management Systems (BMS). The timing is right. Insurers are now able to automate far more complex commercial lines than in the past, and using a BMS that is open and flexible will enable fast integration and ensure that new products are available online as quickly as possible. That is what Applied Systems is doing. Working closely with our insurance partners, we are enabling the commercial lines panel to expand rapidly.

There are already numerous commercial lines eTrade products available, and the panel is expanding out further during 2024 & beyond to enable the trading of standard and non-standard risks for our broker partners.

Good commercial lines eTrading platforms can reduce the time to process quotes by an impressive 70-75%, and deliver the speed, accessibility and breadth of choice that forward thinking brokers crave - and that customers increasingly expect.

So don’t get left behind. Unlock your commercial lines eTrading potential today and discover how Applied can help you accelerate your wider digital strategy.