Feb 02, 2004-- Salmon Ltd, the IT services and consulting firm, today announced the launch of its new underwriting solution. Unlike traditional underwriting solutions, Salmon's is fully Web-based and covers all the key elements of the insurance lifecycle with an integrated solution including claims, reinsurance and management information systems (MIS).
This will provide underwriters with a complete end-to-end capability that will increase efficiency and reduce costs through automation of the typically vast amounts of paper-based manual administration of policies that occurs today. The thin client architecture also means that an underwriting team is able to access the system from any location via the Web. At the same time the solution makes the underwriting process far more transparent and accommodates peer and management approval, throughout the lifecycle.
The solution was developed by Salmon for Xchanging on behalf of PRI (now part of Brit Insurance Holdings PLC) and is also already in use at Illium and WR Berkley. From January 2004, Salmon will offer the solution direct to the London insurance market, as well as globally through the company's New York and Sydney subsidiaries. This will form part of a best-of-breed underwriting offering that can be deployed within an extremely short deployment timeframe, and includes the build, integration, implementation and support of the underwriting system.
A key feature of the solution is the integrated expression analyser that facilitates accurate premium calculations and system validation. Importantly this can support all classes of business as well as wholesale, retail and direct markets in addition to 100% and subscription business.
This will mean that insurers will not be prevented from moving into new classes or lines of business due to the vast amount of time it traditionally takes to make the necessary modifications to their IT infrastructure. Moreover, the Salmon solution allows the insurance company to make the necessary changes themselves, as opposed to relying on third party software or services companies.
As one of the first insurance underwriting systems in the industry to be truly web-based, underwriting firms will be able to dramatically reduce fixed costs associated with traditional policy and claims administration. These cost savings are possible because the underwriting solution is integrated with other key insurance areas. Normally, information is passed between disparate systems and is paper-based, requiring manual input at each end leading to duplication of policies and claims across multiple back office systems. This is all eliminated within the Salmon solution.
This process automation is not only a significant step toward streamlining many insurance processes, but also creates greater efficiencies for insurers by reducing error rates caused by manual inputting. Greater accuracy and reduced errors in policy creation will also assist insurers in their quest to obtain better management information and increased visibility of policies and claims throughout their life cycle. The solution also includes a MIS and reporting module to facilitate management reporting.
Source: Salmon Ltd.
