Xchanging: Automated Insurance Processing Aids International Reinsurance Intermediary

The ability to capture and process information quickly and in a usable format is essential for reinsurance intermediaries. When Minneapolis-based reinsurance broker Collins (John B. Collins Associates Inc.) began looking to upgrade its reinsurance processing system in spring 2006, finding the right system to handle its complex international intermediary business was a challenge.

Collins wanted a user-friendly system that could be easily customized to handle a wide range of reinsurance contracts for its clients in the property/casualty, life, and accident and health insurance markets.

Established in 1987, Collins is a privately held reinsurance intermediary with about 190 employees in 13 offices in the United States, as well as in London and Bermuda. The company handles several specialty areas, including professional liability, workers' compensation, commercial earthquake, Florida property-catastrophe programs, industry-loss warranties, state funds and similar governmental programs. In addition, Collins provides ratings agency consulting, financial consulting, catastrophe modeling and other analytical services.

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Through its operations in London, Collins became aware of Xchanging, a fast-growing international business-process outsourcing company based in the U.K. that serves a broad range of blue-chip customers. Xchanging provides complex processing to the banking and insurance industries, such as securities processing, commercial insurance premiums and claims processing, in addition to procurement, finance and accounting, and human resources, to customers across various industries.

As part of its software and related business support services, Xchanging offers Brokasure, an automated insurance processing system designed by insurance professionals, for insurance professionals, with applications specifically geared toward the international intermediary. Xchanging's insurance platform is an established provider of business processing, products, services and software in international commercial insurance markets.

"After careful evaluation, we decided to move forward with the Brokasure system in late summer of 2006," says Vibhu Sharma, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Collins. "The individuals we worked with at Xchanging helped make the enhancements necessary to tailor the system to our needs and for the American reinsurance processing environment."

Collins went live with the system in August 2007 in the United States, followed by U.K. operations in January 2008.

The information handled by Brokasure is the backbone of Collins' work as a reinsurance intermediary.

"From a business perspective," says Sharma, "the system has helped us capture and process information far better than we did in the past. Brokasure has the ability to capture a tremendous amount of data, and users of the system appreciate its ease of use and quickness. Brokasure has made the process of inputting, processing and capturing data far more efficient," he says.

"Xchanging's partnership approach was also a major selling point," says Sharma. "They are a large service organization with a broad range of experience and a commitment to the insurance space, and their representatives were dedicated and committed to our project. Prior to the system going live, our 'super user' group was trained extensively by the Xchanging technical staff. The super users were then able to train additional employees on the use of the system."

Collins is currently working on the harvesting of data to create additional management reports and drill down deeper into the data.

"Brokasure has also enabled us to push more data into our online, e-Collins Web portal, which allows customers to access their data and view premium and claims transactions for their contracts," says Sharma. "As a result, we have more interaction with our clients and greater connectivity. The additional reporting capabilities we are currently working on will further enhance the benefits of the system."

(The above piece is part of our continuing Insights series designed to highlight key products and services to our readers. This paid-for Insights was written and edited by Risk & Insurance® on behalf of our marketing partner. Additional Insights can be found on our Web site at www.riskandinsurance.com/.)

May 7, 2008

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