Given the ’special relationship’ enjoyed between the UK and the US, key communication advances have helped support growth and development in political, social and commercial relations. In Pocahontas’ time, in the early 17th century, information would have had to travel by ship to cross the Atlantic. Transatlantic telegraph (1858), radio (1901), passenger flight (1927) and now the ubiquitous internet have all, in their own ways, represented paradigm shifts in transatlantic communication.

Today’s computing power, analytical techniques and email technology, make us increasingly hungry for information to support the significant volume of transatlantic business written in London, but we’ve often struggled to communicate effectively with our colleagues ‘across the pond’. Why? Because as an industry, we have failed to agree on which data elements are important and how best to structure the data. Until now, that is.

Just in time for Christmas, ACORD (the standards organisation) have published the first set of data standards for communicating US Property exposures between underwriters in the US and the London market. Specifically aimed at Delegated Undewriting contracts, where exposure information is reported on a monthly basis throughout the lifetime of a contract, the establishment of data standards presents significant opportunities for streamlining business processes, and trimming expenses, on both sides of the Atlantic. Clearly welcome given the economic climate.

The new US Property reporting template is part of a wider ACORD initiative that is global in scope and already has the support of over 70% of Lloyd’s underwriting capacity in this class. Simply developing a standard may not be as momentous as Marconi’s first transatlantic radio communication and doesn’t instantly deliver the anticipated business benefits – but it is a necessary and important first step.

More information about the data standards, and supporting companies can be found in the ACORD document: ACORD standards guide (pdf, 155kb).

Tags: ACORD, Data, Standards

This entry was posted by Paul Nunn on Friday, December 19th, 2008 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Exposure Management.