RDT’s rating hub helps Markerstudy scoop international award

April 2, 2015

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Award for Markerstudy

Insurer Markerstudy discovered a new benefit of using RDT’s products this week when it was named as a 2015 Celent Model Insurer – thanks to its implementation of the software provider’s Insurer-Hosted Rating Hub.

The motor specialist won the award, in the Data Mastery and Analytics category, because of its success with RDT’s hub and its new Big Data Insight Project, built using platforms from two other providers. The combined projects scored highly with the judges, who rated nominations based on quantitative success, level of innovation, technology or integration excellence, and best practice.

The trophy was presented on Monday (March 23) at New York’s Carnegie Hall during research and advisory firm Celent’s annual Innovation and Insight Day.

After the presentation RDT CEO Mark Bates said:

“Everyone at RDT is very happy to see the Insurer-Hosted Rating Hub get the recognition it deserves. It’s an industry-disruptive product and in the past two years it has revolutionised the way Markerstudy sells to its customers. I believe it will change the way insurance is sold throughout the industry.”

Markerstudy’s head of IT Dan Fiehn added:

“We are delighted to have won the Data Mastery and Analytics Award. Working closely with RDT, SAS and Cloudera, we’ve taken significant steps in putting our digital strategy at the forefront of our business and we’re thrilled to have our accomplishments in this arena recognised.”

Markerstudy was the first insurer to implement RDT’s rating hub, going live with it in 2013. Since then the insurer has seen a steady growth in volume and a 3.5 percent reduction in loss ratio on an already profitable book of business. The hub currently processes 20 million quotes a day, predicted to rise to a staggering 40 million a day by 2016.

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 percent 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.

RDT hub is a ratings hit

March 24, 2015

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Impressive volume figures from Markerstudy underline the benefits of using the RDT insurer-hosted rating hub

You may have seen recent media reports that the RDT rating hub is driving both value and volume for Markerstudy, the first insurer to implement the hub. Below are some of the benefits that Markerstudy is gaining and the advantages you could achieve for your business.

12 million quotes a day and rising

The UK and European motor specialist went live with RDT’s revolutionary platform in 2013 and has seen a rapid growth in transaction volume over the last 18 months as well as a 3.5% reduction in its loss ratio over the same period. The hub is now processing over 12 million quotes a day and is predicted to reach 20 million a day within the next year.

Sixty percent reduction in application fraud

The figures underline the hub’s capability to centralise, accelerate and streamline the distribution of quotes, while data enrichment at the point of quote and during the claims process enables insurers to know far more about prospective and existing customers. The result is a 60% reduction in application fraud, achieving enhanced business performance and a better bottom line – a big advantage in highly competitive insurance markets.

Markerstudy wanted a controllable platform that would improve sales and increase its competitive position by avoiding the need to rely upon intermediary and broker channels to distribute rates – a laborious process often taking up to eight weeks via broker software houses. By implementing the RDT hub Markerstudy has achieved its objective.

Real-time results and market intelligence

Commenting on the performance of the hub, Markerstudy group underwriting director Gary Humphreys said:

“We wanted a platform where 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 process more than 20 million 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.”

Centralise and conquer

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 its recently reported results show that it is making the right technology choices.

Data enrichment and product differentiation

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 remains confidential, enabling insurers to customise and differentiate their products.

Summary of benefits

• Centralises and unifies rates

• Makes rates accessible for sales channels to retrieve

• Uses third-party data enrichment from a wide variety of sources

• Supports all aggregators and broker software houses including BGL, Open GI and CDL

• Integrates with all websites and most insurance systems

RDT rating hub driving volume and value for Markerstudy

February 6, 2015

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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

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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.