It was recently announced that the London Market Group (LMG) has succeeded the Market Reform Group, is this just another renaming exercise or something more significant?

The change of name and extension of remit is truly significant; it is a reflection that the market has been reformed through the implementation of Contract Certainty, ECF, A&S and Electronic Policies and now it is about wider collaboration and continuously improving the market through modernisation.

As fundamental reform draws to a close and we move through to modernisation the LMG can address wider subjects that affect our market building the appropriate consensus around any issue that affects the competitiveness of our market. This will ensure that London remains at the forefront of the global insurance industry, enhancing the competitiveness of the London market. And maintaining London’s recently enhanced position in the global marketplace with the confidence to address future challenges as they arise.

A way to save time in keeping up to date
I’m sure you all like to keep up to date with the latest blogs and news on lloyds.com but do you find it takes a long time to find the relevant website or page, or you’ve missed something as it has moved off the front page before you got to it?  Have you thought about using an RSS feed? Once setup you will be able to have all the websites and pages you are interested in, in one place and at a click of a button.  The websites and pages are then automatically updated with the latest information without you doing a thing!  Never miss an important event again!
 
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it’s really easy to setup.
 
Click the link below to find out more about what an RSS link is, how it works and how to set one up:
http://www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/RSS_feeds.htm

Tags: Market processes

ACORD standards develop over time by taking account of members’ feedback, based on their experience of implementing the standard’s specifications.
ACORD may publish up to two new releases of their existing standards a year, depending on members’ demand.
However, there has been latency—especially by early adopters—in moving on to a newer version of the standard. Up to this point, most are operating on hybrids of an ACORD Placing standard published in 2005. The market’s inherent multi-trading relationships mean that updating an existing implementation without a coordinated approach can be a resource intensive activity, with little perceived benefits for individuals.
Market participants have put in a huge effort working with ACORD in specifying the 2009.1 version of the Placing standard, especially in aligning London market specialities with international practices.  The decision to standardise on this version signifies:

• The market’s recognition of synergy—in order to reap the maximum benefits, we must work together and move in sync
• The market’s commitment in taking full advantage of the standard’s evolution through physical implementation, not stopping short at agreeing the specifications on paper only

This latest 2009 version of the standard focuses on complex business scenarios including:

• Multi section risks
• Declarations
• Subjectivities
• Management of endorsements
• Capturing a richer set of structured information

The market has agreed to implement the ACORD 2009.1 structure for Placing on   19 February 2010 and to incorporate incrementally the above business capabilities throughout 2010.
Along with this decision, the market would deter operations on any other versions of the Placing standard.  This means current implementers would need to complete their own preparations for upgrade by the market agreed deadlines, or risk missing out on their business.
The Lloyd’s Exchange will have the 2009.1 structure in place by Q4 2009.  This means current and future participants on the Exchange can have a head start on the upgrade to the 2009.1 standard should they choose to.

A way to save time in keeping up to date

I’m sure you all like to keep up to date with the latest blogs and news on lloyds.com but do you find it takes a long time to find the relevant website or page, or you’ve missed something as it has moved off the front page before you got to it?  Have you thought about using an RSS feed? Once setup you will be able to have all the websites and pages you are interested in, in one place and at a click of a button.  The websites and pages are then automatically updated with the latest information without you doing a thing!  Never miss an important event again!
 
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it’s really easy to setup.
 
Click the link below to find out more about what an RSS link is, how it works and how to set one up:

http://www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/RSS_feeds.htm

Tags: ACORD, Lloyd's Exchange

You’ll notice ACORD is a recurring theme in my blogs and this is not just a coincidence. We are moving to an electronic world and the ACORD standard, which supports the use of structured data, is at the heart of this.

Structured data, so what?

Well the ’so what’ is actually quite big and while ACORD standards may seem rather unexciting, and to some may even seem intangible – the benefits of using structured data are many.

Think:

• Validation of data before submission – recipients receive accurate and reliable data directly into their back office systems, no more re-keying!
• Support for regulatory compliance – better quality and more accurate data is available faster and more securely (great for complying Solvency II, data protection and transparency rules)
• Better management information available = better business decisions
• The data becomes international and portable – businesses can easily hook into lower value but profitable global business
• Exchange of information quietly running in the background leaving brokers and underwriters to focus on trading

And whilst in some individual cases it is difficult to define ‘how much bang for your buck’ it is important to realise what these changes are really about – and that’s modernising the Market. 

The standards are already being implemented to support key business processes in the Market, I’ve highlighted some examples below:

• Technical /financial accounts messages are being used in the eAccounting project. And these message types have been enhanced to support both bureau and non-bureau transactions
• Placements and endorsements are supported. The 2009.1 standard, which will support multisection risks and declarations, is likely to be implemented within the next 6 months and tools such as the Lloyd’s Exchange will validate against this standard. First steps on the way to ensure single interpretation and use across the Market.
• The ACORD standard for document repository interoperability (DRI) allows brokers and insurers to exchange documents, already in use for the Accounting and Settlement repository and the Electronic Claims File

And the technology is there to support this change – the Market have already laid the foundations with the Electronic Claims File, Accounting and Settlement and now the Lloyd’s Exchange – demonstrating the commitment there is to using technology to fulfil the vision of an efficient, modern market place.

The decision by underwriters and brokers to start this modernisation journey with the Electronic Claims File was bold, a step into the unknown. But here we are, five years on, the benefits of that decision are now real with quarter by quarter reduction in claims settlement time probably now halving the average time for claims handled on paper.

Any dilemma around an electronic world is less about the technology, the standards to support this, or even the pounds and pence business case (remember this is about modernisation) and more about the cultural change this brings.

A way to save time in keeping up to date

I’m sure you all like to keep up to date with the latest blogs and news on lloyds.com but do you find it takes a long time to find the relevant website or page, or you’ve missed something as it has moved off the front page before you got to it?  Have you thought about using an RSS feed? Once setup you will be able to have all the websites and pages you are interested in one place and at a click of a button.  The websites and pages are then automatically updated with the latest information without you doing a thing!  Never miss an important event again!

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it’s really easy to setup.

Click the link below to find out more about what an RSS link is, how it works and how to set one up.

http://www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/RSS_feeds.htm

Tags: ACORD, Lloyd's Exchange

Whether or not there should be a standardised risk bordereau has been much discussed over the years. 

Risk bordereaux are reports listing all the risks that have been written in a given time period, usually a month, which the coverholder creates to keep the managing agents and brokers up to date with the business they have written.

Coverholders were keen on having a standard way of reporting risks they’d written. Managing agents and brokers were keen on getting standard data in a standard format so that they could more easily manage risks and wouldn’t need to spend so much time cleaning and reformatting data.

Late last year, the ACORD standard ER3001 was created. This is the ACORD Exposure Reporting Binder Standard. 

The first application is to US coverholders reporting property risks. The format’s an Excel spreadsheet template, which is easy to create.

And as this standard isn’t peculiar to Lloyd’s—it’s an ACORD standard—people can use it when they’re doing business in the Lloyd’s market or outside it.

The standard was designed by Lloyd’s managing agents and brokers with support from Lloyd’s and ACORD so it’ll include the kind of information that people actually need.

But creating a standard template was only the first step. The focus now is on applying the standard.

The good news is that the standard has already been included in some binder contracts and it’s expected that the next renewal season will see it more commonly used.

Some submissions have already been received in the format. As system vendors start to implement standard functionality it will become easier for more and more data to be produced in the standard format.

AIR has just announced the implementation of an import facility for data in the standard format. That means data can now be imported into their catastrophe modelling tools (which is the end point for much data).

So, if your business has anything to do with US Property it’s probably time you took action too.

Go to www.lloyds.com/acord for more information

 A way to save time in keeping up to date
I’m sure you all like to keep up to date with the latest blogs and news on lloyds.com but do you find it takes a long time to find the relevant website or page, or you’ve missed something as it has moved off the front page before you got to it?  Have you thought about using an RSS feed? Once setup you will be able to have all the websites and pages you are interested in one place and at a click of a button.  The websites and pages are then automatically updated with the latest information without you doing a thing!  Never miss an important event again!

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it’s really easy to setup. 

Click the link below to find out more about what an RSS link is, how it works and how to set one up.

http://www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/RSS_feeds.htm

Tags: ACORD, Bordereau, Standardisation

Little more than five months after signing the contract to create the Lloyd’s Exchange the market sent its first live placement message over the Lloyd’s Exchange on Tuesday. The message was sent by Miller to Aspen Re.

The significance of this event is that it validates the statements made about the Exchange and satisfies the market’s expectations that it is:

• Simple technology
• Quick to install
• Easy to use
• Follows the small steps approach
• Proves the value of a messaging hub

When the market is ready the Exchange will validate the messages to the ACORD 2009-1 placement standard. This is the version that the market has decided to standardise on (more on this topic in an upcoming post).

The challenge now (as a comment to a previous post pointed out) is to involve the ‘grassroots’— the guys with the slip cases and the guys with the rubber stamps. That’s now viewed as a priority for the market associations.

A way to save time in keeping up to date
I’m sure you all like to keep up to date with the latest blogs and news on lloyds.com but do you find it takes a long time to find the relevant website or page, or you’ve missed something as it has moved off the front page before you got to it?  Have you thought about using an RSS feed? Once setup you will be able to have all the websites and pages you are interested in one place and at a click of a button.  The websites and pages are then automatically updated with the latest information without you doing a thing!  Never miss an important event again!

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it’s really easy to setup. 

Click the link below to find out more about what an RSS link is, how it works and how to set one up.

http://www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/RSS_feeds.htm

Tags: ACORD, Lloyd's Exchange

Lloyd’s is a global marketplace: it’s licensed to underwrite business in 79 territories and can accept risks from over 200 countries and territories. Like many international organisations working in multiple regulatory environments, Lloyd’s needs to adhere to the rules of each.

In other words, local tax authorities and industry regulators need to know about any and all business that Lloyd’s does in their locale, whether it be covering a race horse in Australia or insuring a cargo ship sailing out of Chile.

Providing authorities with information about our business activities ensures that we maintain the terms of our licences in each location and can settle taxes centrally on behalf of the syndicates.

Given that information needs vary from territory to territory (one authority will ask for information in a slightly different way from the next), Lloyd’s Corporation needs to collect a lot of data about individual risks. By and large, this data is currently obtained as a by-product of the Xchanging accounting & settlement process.

But as demand for more flexible ways of doing business within the Lloyd’s market grows, and as initiatives such as the Lloyd’s Exchange gain momentum, alternative methods of collecting this kind of data need to be set up.

To help that along, we’ve just finished a consultation process to identify the core tax and regulatory reporting data requirements for all business conducted within Lloyd’s. That was no mean feat given the varying reporting needs of authorities around the world. Market Operations teams consulted professionals from all Lloyd’s directorates. It was a difficult (but not insurmountable) task given the weight of the detail, regulatory complexity, and the sheer number of people we needed to seek advice from.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Having established the data requirements our next task is to make sure we can deliver the information. More formally, we need to define a delivery format that’s compatible with the goals of electronic placement. We’re working with ACORD to develop a new reporting method based on the minimum data requirements.  We’ll be sharing that with the Lloyd’s market before this process is complete.

There’s more, too: while we’ve defined the current data set, it will likely need refinement due to upcoming regulatory changes such as Solvency II.  We’ll keep you posted.

A way to save time in keeping up to date
I’m sure you all like to keep up to date with the latest blogs and news on lloyds.com but do you find it takes a long time to find the relevant website or page, or you’ve missed something as it has moved off the front page before you got to it?  Have you thought about using an RSS feed? Once setup you will be able to have all the websites and pages you are interested in one place and at a click of a button.  The websites and pages are then automatically updated with the latest information without you doing a thing!  Never miss an important event again!

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it’s really easy to setup. 

Click the link below to find out more about what an RSS link is, how it works and how to set one up.

http://www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/RSS_feeds.htm

Tags: ACORD, Lloyd's Exchange

You might be asking yourself ‘what’s a Londonism?’

Simply put, a Londonism is a difference in the way that business is processed in London compared to other markets, such as Bermuda, the US and Continental Europe.

In 2008 Market Operations, supported by the Market Reform Office, started work on a project to analyse Londonisms, trying to capture them all in one place and determine whether they actually add value.

The motivation behind this project was to identify why processing business in London is perceived as more difficult than in other markets.

This in turn would allow us to tackle individual problems and ultimately encourage more high-quality business to be placed in London.

To achieve this we needed to:

• Identify and analyse where ‘Londonisms’ add positive value and ensure that this value is communicated to the market
• Identify and analyse where ‘Londonisms’ have a negative impact and are creating a burden on the business; and agree a way to remove these over time

A project team was created to identify the Londonisms and determine whether they were positive or negative.
The team was made up of representatives from insurers (from both Lloyd’s and companies markets; and of varying sizes), brokers, the LMA, LMBC (now LIIBA), IUA, ACORD and Lloyd’s.

The team spent a considerable amount of time and effort considering and detailing as many Londonisms as possible, to the point where everyone was confident that we’d captured most, if not all, of them.

In total we identified 51 Londonisms and held a number of reviews to discuss the value of each. We found approximately half of the Londonisms are negative and, therefore, need resolved.

Performing this exercise gave us a much better understanding of the issues to be resolved in the London market and brought us closer to achieving the requirement to transact business in London like any other broker or insurer would elsewhere in the world.

However, the Londonisms project doesn’t stop there: the findings are now being fed into the Future of Central Services project. More on that project in the near future.

A way to save time in keeping up to date
I’m sure you all like to keep up to date with the latest blogs and news on lloyds.com but do you find it takes a long time to find the relevant website or page, or you’ve missed something as it has moved off the front page before you got to it?  Have you thought about using an RSS feed? Once setup you will be able to have all the websites and pages you are interested in one place and at a click of a button.  The websites and pages are then automatically updated with the latest information without you doing a thing!  Never miss an important event again!

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it’s really easy to setup. 

Click the link below to find out more about what an RSS link is, how it works and how to set one up.

http://www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/RSS_feeds.htm

Tags: ACORD, Lloyd's Exchange, Londonisms

The fact that the IBM technology underpinning the Lloyd’s Exchange had been tried and tested (and is fully operational in another insurance market) instilled confidence in the project team that technology wouldn’t be an obstacle to delivering the Lloyd’s Exchange to the market.

This confidence was well placed. Phase 1 of the pilot is now drawing to a close with no outstanding technology issues.

So far, so good.

Now the success of the Lloyd’s Exchange depends largely on winning ‘hearts and minds’. We need to secure the support of the market.  And we know that’s a challenge because the Lloyd’s Exchange is a significant cultural change.

With that in mind, we’ve been keen to talk through the Exchange project with market participants. One way we’ll do that is by meeting with as many managing agents and Lloyd’s brokers as we can over the next few months.

The recent Lloyd’s Exchange IT Service Providers Trade Fair was designed to engage directly with the market on the matter of the Exchange. Its success has proved its value and we’ll be doing another later in the year.

The event, held on 15 June at Lloyd’s, involved 17 exhibiting IT service providers. They ran demos of their offerings covering a wide variety of services, such as gateways into message management tools (enabling participants to send and receive messages via the Lloyd’s Exchange right away) and sophisticated integration tools that take participants to the next stage of e-placing (straight through processing).

A common thread running through all 17 exhibitors’ offerings was relevance to the Lloyd’s Exchange: either assisting with connectivity, ongoing usage, or integration to back office systems. 

Also at the Fair was an ACORD stand (relevant because the Lloyd’s Exchange is underpinned by ACORD data standards); and a Lloyd’s/IBM stand. Teams were available throughout the event to answer questions.

The Fair was well attended and there was a steady stream of interested people making their way around the stands. Feedback has been extremely positive.

Anecdotally, a number of the IT service providers pointed to a significant shift in the market’s attitude towards the Lloyd’s Exchange. Indeed, one provider remarked on the absence of the initial scepticism shown by the market in 2008, commenting on the supportive and eager attitude that had replaced it.

Feedback from the attendees suggests that the Fair was helpful, particularly for those who were aware of the Lloyd’s Exchange but unsure how and where to take part.

And we also know that more organisations have approached IT suppliers to find out how they can access the Lloyd’s Exchange.

We’re still at the early stages of bringing people on board. But through events such as the Lloyd’s Exchange IT Service Providers Trade Fair, we hope we can make the process of electronic messaging easier to understand and get involved with. As said, we intend to hold similar events at a later stage of the pilot.

A way to save time in keeping up to date
I’m sure you all like to keep up to date with the latest blogs and news on lloyds.com but do you find it takes a long time to find the relevant website or page, or you’ve missed something as it has moved off the front page before you got to it?  Have you thought about using an RSS feed? Once setup you will be able to have all the websites and pages you are interested in one place and at a click of a button.  The websites and pages are then automatically updated with the latest information without you doing a thing!  Never miss an important event again!

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it’s really easy to setup. 

Click the link below to find out more about what an RSS link is, how it works and how to set one up.

http://www.lloyds.com/News_Centre/RSS_feeds.htm

Tags: ACORD, Lloyd's Exchange

It’s not unusual to see assertions made about the benefits of products and services that don’t tally with the reality. 
That’s not the case with the Lloyd’s Exchange. To borrow a line from a popular TV ad: Lloyd’s Exchange: ‘Does what it says on the tin’.

Many of you in Operations will have already been notified that as a result of the upgrade to the Insurer’s Market Repository (IMR), which provides Electronic Claims File (ECF) and Account and Settlement (A&S) in the market, that some changes to your systems will be necessary. These changes are mainly to do with alterations to IP addresses and subsequent testing.

Individually, these changes are relatively small. But when the changes are applied across the market (which currently stands at more than 50 companies but potentially as many as 250) the effort could be considerable.
One of the benefits of the Lloyd’s Exchange is that it’s a gateway based on a single connection. Companies connect to it and that’s all they need to do.

Changes to the access (or IP) address happen at the gateway not in the companies’ systems. In other words, the principal change (to the access address to the Insurer’s Market Repository) happened once and only at the Lloyd’s Exchange—not 50 (or 250) times at the various companies.

Any firms connected to the IMR (or e-Accounting when implemented) through the Lloyd’s Exchange therefore wouldn’t be affected by these changes—they won’t have to do a thing.

Like I said…‘Does what it says on the tin.’

Tags: Lloyd's Exchange

In 2006 the Electronic Claims File (ECF) and Accounting & Settlement (A&S) systems were implemented, with the aim of enabling brokers to transmit documents to insurers and Xchanging instantly from their desktops.

Part of our role at Market Operations is to check the perceived benefits at the outset of a project against the actual performance/benefits that are realised from a Lloyd’s perspective.

The delivery of the ECF and A&S systems is one of the market initiatives we’ve been supporting: the aim is to enhance systems and remove any remaining obstacles to e-processing all transactions.

When the projects began, we anticipated the benefits of ECF and A&S systems would be:

• 20% reduction in claims settlement time
• Faster settlement of premium transactions
• Reduced administration costs for brokers
• Simultaneous access to the claims file for all parties
• Ability to present claims outside of normal UK office hours
• Ability to present claims from any global location

We’ve recently begun work that will try to identify whether these benefits are being realised. Early indications are that the market is experiencing genuine benefits in terms of cycle time reduction and a faster, more efficient end–to-end process.

These efficiencies have in turn led to tangible financial benefits in areas ranging from increased opportunity from investment income (on premium received faster) through to reduced transport costs of paper from broker offices to London and then on to Chatham (and of course back again!).

As said, we’ve just begun this benefits assessment and we’ll keep you updated.

Tags: Accounting & Settlement, Electronic claims files