RDT rating hub driving volume and value for Markerstudy

February 6, 2015

Read on our website

Motor insurer processes more than 12 million quotes a day and cuts loss ratio by 3.5 per cent thanks to RDT’s insurer-hosted rating hub

Insurance software provider RDT’s innovative rating solution is achieving impressive results for motor specialist Markerstudy, figures have revealed.

Markerstudy, the first insurer to implement the hub, went live with it in 2013. Since then the company has seen a steady growth in volume and a 3.5 per cent reduction in loss ratio on an already profitable book of business. The hub currently processes more than 12 million quotes a day for Markerstudy, predicted to rise to 20 million a day by next year.

These figures underline the hub’s ability to centralise, accelerate and streamline the distribution of quotes, while its use of data enrichment at point of quote enables the insurer to know far more about its customers than before. The result for Markerstudy is a 60 per cent cut in application fraud which, added to the other benefits, means enhanced business performance and a better bottom line – a significant advantage in the highly competitive motor market.

Markerstudy implemented the hub because it was looking for a controllable platform that would improve sales, and it no longer wanted to be reliant on intermediary and broker channels to distribute rates – a laborious process that could take up to eight weeks via broker software houses.

Markerstudy’s group underwriting director, Gary Humphreys, said:

“We wanted a platform on which we could implement weekly updates and make changes immediately, rather than face long delays that undermine our competitive strength. The hub has achieved this admirably, giving us greater agility and speed to market, and much better market intelligence. We expect to be processing more than 20million quotes a day by 2016, with the hub returning prices in a fraction of a second using real-time enrichment. That’s a very big step forward.”

RDT’s CEO, Mark Bates, said:

“The hub allows insurers to take control of distribution and achieve efficiencies that are not possible in complex information chains. Markerstudy has proved that a centralised approach is the way forward for the industry, and it’s very encouraging to see recent media coverage that Markerstudy has reported good business results that it attributes in large part to its technology choices. The RDT hub provides real-time competitively priced products via a single source, with third-party data enrichment from companies such as Experian and LexisNexis. In addition, everything stays in-house and confidential, enabling Markerstudy to analyse, customise and differentiate its products, giving it another business advantage. Following the Markerstudy example, we are now talking to other insurers and expect to see multiple further implementations of the hub in the near future.”

RDT sponsors ABI Motor Conference 2014 and leads debate on distribution

December 17, 2014

Read on our website

The Road to 2020

The future of the motor insurance industry was comprehensively discussed during the ABI’s Motor Conference 2014 at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel on 2 December. Hosted by the broadcaster Sian Williams, and with keynote speeches from Huw Evans, Assistant Director General of the ABI, and Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Justice, the plenary sessions and panel discussions covered the key issues facing insurers and consumers as technological advances, complex legislative reforms and political changes shape the future of the marketplace. Richard Burden, MP, Shadow Roads Minister, and Heather Wheeler, MP, PPS to the Attorney General, added a political dimension and provided expert industry comments.

As a leading technology supplier for motor providers, RDT is closely aware of and involved with the issues and challenges that the industry must confront over the next five years. Not least is the MyLicence initiative (see the RDT press release) and the fight against fraud, as well as credit hire, vehicle technology, big data, and the future of distribution – all of which were discussed in individual breakout sessions.

The distribution session, entitled ‘The evolving distribution model’, was sponsored by RDT and included RDT CEO Mark Bates as one of the panel speakers. The other panellists were James Reader (CEO of Covea), Graeme Trudgill (BIBA) and James Daley (Fairer Finance). The session was chaired by Saxon East of Insurance Times.

With current and emerging technologies providing many more routes to market, the panellists highlighted price comparison websites and the rise of social media as defining features of the current marketplace. However, they emphasised that this need not spell the demise of the broker, who will remain a valued intermediary in today’s price-competitive “supermarket” environment. They agreed that despite the benefits of accessibility and a real-time pricing, consumers should never lose sight of a fundamental principle of good insurance – namely, cheap cover is not necessarily adequate cover.

Other discussion points focused on the limitations of mobile technology when insurers are not dealing directly with the consumer. For example, how do you accommodate “small print” in the fast-moving and transient world of smart phones and tablets? The role of telematics was also discussed, with Mark Bates sounding a note of caution because there are many variables to consider.

“It’s not always easy to quantify the benefits,” he maintained, “because there are numerous grey areas that can lead to inaccurate information.”

The breakout debate concluded with a discussion of MFN (most-favoured nation) clauses. A contentious issue, MFN clauses are fueling arguments about fair competition and restrictive practices, and the industry needs to find the right balance as price comparison sites continue to grow and the marketplace becomes more crowded.

The conference closed with a speech from Paul Evans, ABI Chairman and Group CEO of AXA. His final remarks reiterated the themes of technological, legislative and political change, and the certainty that the marketplace for motor insurance will look very different by 2020.

RDT programmers attend Microsoft TechEd 2014 Conference in Barcelona

December 4, 2014

Read on our website

Staying connected

RDT is a company committed to innovation and research and development, which leads to technical advances and business benefits that we pass on to our insurance clients.

That’s why we employ software engineers who have a creative energy and an aptitude for learning – key attributes that enhance our reputation as a technology leader. It’s also why we embrace the latest technology developments and attend and participate in relevant technology conferences and seminars. In particular, as a Microsoft Gold Partner for many years, we are supporters of the annual Microsoft Global TechEd Conference.

This year’s event, held in October in Barcelona, was attended by several RDT staff who participated in sessions covering a wide range of emerging technologies that will help to define the IT agenda and future roadmap within the Microsoft community. (For example, “The future of .Net in the cloud with Microsoft vNext”; “Big data in the cloud with HDInsight, DocumentDB, Data Factory and Machine Learning”; and “Application lifecycle management using Desired State Configuration”).

The RDT attendees have brought the conference insights and shared wisdom back with them and will now work with the rest of the RDT team to inspire their colleagues and shape our ever-evolving product set.

Live since May 2013, the hub is the future of insurance distribution – now. Moreover, it has a wide range of potential uses beyond traditional insurance data.

RDT & Celent hold London event to discuss the future of insurer-hosted rating

November 14, 2014

Read on our website

Doing business in the information age

On 7 October 2014, at London’s One Aldwych Hotel in Covent Garden, RDT and Celent jointly hosted a seminar to examine opportunities and goals for more efficient insurance in today’s information-rich digital world.

The event, attended by major insurers such as Zurich, Axa, Covea, RSA, LV, Markerstudy, Service, Direct Line and Sterling, focused on straight-through processing and the ground-breaking benefits of RDT’s insurer-hosted rating hub.

Craig Beattie, a senior analyst at Celent, delivered a presentation entitled: Agility in a Digital Market. He described how business models must evolve and adapt in response to the wealth of new media channels that are helping insurers to gather and share data across the marketplace. The challenge is the sheer volume of data: how do you create a true ‘internet of things’ that will enable insurers to access critical information and manage risks swiftly and efficiently?

RDT responded that they have the answer – a revolutionary insurer-hosted rating hub. The hub is a disruptive innovation, a technology that will reshape and improve the way insurers do business. In a presentation entitled Redefining the Rating Paradigm, RDT’s CEO Mark Bates looked at how RDT’s new platform will allow insurers to utilise vital market information and distribute products, thereby minimising fraud, shortening business cycles, and benefiting the honest end user.

Live since May 2013, the hub is the future of insurance distribution – now. Moreover, it has a wide range of potential uses beyond traditional insurance data.