Figures for the month of May 2018 show a steady increase in firms adopting the London Market Group’s Placing Platform Limited (PPL) but there is more to do in getting companies to use the system, according to the PPL Board.
PPL is a core component of the London Market Target Operating Model (TOM) that allows brokers and re/insurers to quote, negotiate, bind, and endorse business digitally.
The new figures show that daily average practitioner log-ins have doubled since January 2017, while the number of risks placed has increased from 300 per week at the end of December 2017 to around 400 per week at the end of May 2018.
Additionally, most major classes of business are now binding over 10% of their risks on PPL, with Financial and Professional Lines at just under 60%.
Bronek Masojada, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Hiscox and Chair of the PPL Board, said: “Levels of activity on the platform inevitably ebb and flow reflecting renewal activity in the market, but the adoption trend on PPL is moving upwards. Lloyd’s, the IUA and LIIBA will all be looking to their members to report their activity on all live classes of business in Q2, and we hope that this increased transparency over usage will encourage firms to widen and deepen their activity on the platform.
“There are still too many firms who have not yet gone live – or even signed up, so I ask all those interested in the long-term success of London to identify what they need to do to get on board and get on with it.”
Masojada explained that the Board’s goal is to drive PPL adoption levels to 30% by the end of 2018 and ensure that risks start from submission, noting that submissions had already doubled since the beginning of the year.
He continued: “If we don’t get it right, right from the start, we are squandering the opportunity to get accurate data at the front end of the placement process and then the critical structured data at the end. We will only be doing part of the job we need to do.”
Commenting on the latest PPL statistics, Christopher Croft, CEO of the London & International Insurance Brokers’ Association (LIIBA), said: “Everything about these numbers is moving in the right direction. Endorsement requests and acceptances show solid growth as do firm orders. Quote requests received made a particularly big leap forward in May.
“LIIBA is working with those members yet to sign up for PPL to help them come on board. We have weekly demos of the system in our offices and these are attracting 40–50 people at a time. We have also now co-opted the help of our board members, each of whom is targeting a specific firm and seeking to persuade them that now is the time.
“It’s not just about signing up, though; it’s about using PPL in the most effective way possible. That means not waiting till the risk is bound to put the data onto the system, but to ensure its used from initial submission. This is how we can ensure that our clients will reap the maximum benefit possible from the market-wide adoption of this innovative technology.”
The PPL Board recently announced that Aviation risks had gone live on platform, following Accident & Health (A&H) in April 2018 and Property & Casualty (P&C) in November 2017.
