Member Reports - Acord

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Reinsurance
@ACORD_RE
acord.org/re
SHArING eXPerIeNCe ANd eXPerTISe ACroSS THe GLoBe To INCreASe e-TrAdING eFFICIeNCY.
ACord Standards play a key role in driving major initiatives in the global reinsurance community for both “front
office” placing activity and “back office” premiums and claims processing and settlement.
Placing
There are various initiatives underway:
• The London insurance market is using ACORD messages to administer contract changes and
endorsements. During 2011, 28 broking firms processed more than 30,000 endorsements with 52
Lloyd’s Managing Agents and 21 insurance companies.
• The Exposure Reporting standard has been developed for the collection and reporting of exposure
information which can be used throughout the insurance value chain. The standard was developed
with the assistance of many of the catastrophe modeling software vendors. This group includes
representatives from reinsurance firms from the US and Europe.
Premiums and claims
The reinsurance standards for premiums and claims processing, the electronic Back
office Transaction Standard (eBoT) and electronic Claims office Transaction Standard
(eCoT), are now a global success. Brokers and insurers have implemented them in
more than 30 countries spread across six continents. details include:
• The US Reinsurance Committee is overseeing and promoting implementation
of the standards in the US. Various marketing activities during 2011 have
raised the profile of this work and this will continue in 2012 with specific
activities aimed at cedents.
• The Ruschlikon Initiative is focusing on the implementation activities of some
of the largest firms in the industry who are coordinating their activities globally.
Aon, Willis, Guy Carpenter, Swiss Re, SCOR and Munich Re processed more
than 200,000 messages in 2011 and are set to double that in 2012.
• There are also groups focusing on implementation within other areas such
as Bermuda and London market. Both of these markets already have some
implementations and this is set to increase in 2012.
• Low cost options are in development, including Cedent Bordereau in the US
and Ruschlikon Lite, that allow smaller firms or cedents to participate without
full standards implementation.
• Many insurers in the London market share a common back office and a
version of the standards called E-Accounts has been developed to support this.
8 London brokers are now processing transactions with all Lloyds syndicates
and more than 80 insurance companies.
ACord’s reinsurance standards benefit each member of the value chain. The ceding
company sees reduction in cycle time and paperwork and improvements in data
consistency. For the broker, standards make it easier to analyze data and respond to
queries. For the reinsurer, standards mean faster payment turnaround to the cedent,
and better data, which results in better pricing.
As the reinsurance industry’s understanding deepens about what it gains from
standards implementation, more organizations are taking the important step
toward ACord.
graham clarke
ceo, miller Insurance
Services ltd
“Using ACORD messages
to obtain agreement to our
clients’ endorsements is a
real step forward. It can be
used to support the face to
face negotiation necessary
for complex transactions
but also allows simple
administrative endorsements
to be processed and agreed
without the overhead of
a face to face visit thus
allowing us to concentrate our
efforts where they support
our clients’ needs best.”
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