Accelerated implementation unlocks middle market growth outcomes

Deloitte’s rapid implementation of Guidewire PolicyCenter helped a global insurance provider streamline and scale legacy processes and products for the US middle market.

THE SITUATION

The US insurance middle market, serving companies with annual revenues that could range from $100 million to $1 billion, is experiencing increased competition due to an expanding customer base. Leaders of one global insurance provider—a leader in the large commercial, financial lines and specialty insurance segments—recognized the challenges of capturing a market with such a strong presence from both national and regional carriers, but they also recognized significant opportunities for growth.

With an impressive track record meeting the property and casualty insurance needs of large corporations, the insurer felt its products could be adapted and sold to businesses with less than $1 billion in revenue. The insurer assembled a team of seasoned underwriters and entered the middle market.

However, the legacy systems and processes that drove the insurance provider’s success with large commercial businesses weren’t built with volume in mind. They were bespoke, designed for tailoring complex policies and products to individual organizations’ highly specific circumstances. In the larger middle market segment, speed and scale are crucial.

To succeed in the mid-market segment, underwriters needed the ability to respond to broker requests quickly and manage multi-line submissions efficiently so prospective customers wouldn’t have to wait days—or weeks—for a quote or bind order. Very large organizations usually require full customization, smaller companies often choose to keep it simple with off-the-shelf products and services. The insurer needed to define a middle market strategy that was somewhere in between—and could be implemented rapidly.

LEGACY SYSTEMS LIMIT SPEED TO MARKET AND AGILITY, IMPACTING GROWTH OPPORTUNTIES

THE SOLVE

Lead strategists within the company envisioned a modern, intuitive policy administration system that could provide the speed underwriters needed while maintaining the insurer’s commitment to high-quality service and products. With less need for customization in the middle market, underwriters could benefit from streamlined technology combinations. The middle market strategy team considered building a platform internally and consulted multiple software vendors and service providers. The large scope, high cost and ambitious timeline—one year—were important considerations that influenced the decision to go with an external platform … and a trusted collaborator.

A team of Deloitte specialists—leveraging product, actuarial and underwriting capabilities together—was engaged: first, to help the insurer assess different policy administration platforms that could meet the company’s needs and then, to implement a new platform and support the teams that would use and maintain it. Along with years of experience in underwriting and policy administration, the multidisciplinary team used the Deloitte IndustryAdvantage™ approach to align the technology advancements with an enhanced customer experience that could help drive business growth. With a focus on the end users, the Deloitte team engaged underwriters and operations staff to help them feel confident that a new system could fit real workflows and help facilitate intelligent quoting, smooth policy processing, competitive pricing, and shortened wait times for customers.

Following a three-month platform assessment, the insurer selected Guidewire PolicyCenter on Guidewire Cloud Platform, a policy administration platform designed to support the full policy lifecycle, from product development and quoting to underwriting, policy issuance, and servicing. Deloitte had deep knowledge of Guidewire’s core system applications, built from more than 10 years of successful collaboration.

Next, Deloitte worked with the insurer’s strategy team to develop a minimum viable product (MVP) and timeline. The scope of the MVP was expansive. While many other MVPs implement a single pilot product to only two or three states, this MVP encompassed five insurance products for all 50 US states: general liability, workers compensation, commercial auto, commercial property, and lead umbrella. The 12-month timeline was challenging, but the value that could be delivered through such an MVP could be significant.

Guidewire essential services were engaged, supporting cloud deployment readiness and adherence to best practices through design and fitment reviews of critical components, including deep code scan. Throughout the engagement, Deloitte professionals filled capability and resource gaps as needed, enabling Deloitte to serve as both an accelerator and a means for the company’s internal teams to maintain focus without reallocating resources.

Early executive support from the insurer’s global and US leaders was key to the effective collaboration. A Deloitte change management team, that assisted with robust training on the new platform, recognized company stakeholders’ readiness to embrace change and their shared understanding of the end goal. Leaders from both the Deloitte and client’s teams embraced the concept of “radical transparency” by raising potential risks before they become actual issues. The focus of status meetings became less about status reporting and more about addressing roadblocks.

When the MVP launched—within the desired 12-month timeframe—it represented a significant technology transformation for the insurer. The shift from an on-premises amalgam of systems to a single cloud-based platform unified underwriting and servicing while effectively integrating dataflows and processes. These included document generation, storage, single sign-on, email, name clearance, and address standardization.

Underwriters quickly saw processing time decrease from days to hours. And for customers who might have waited weeks for a bind order to be secured? The first order was completed just four days after the MVP went live.

MAXIMIZING VALUE FROM MINIMUM VIABLE? AN ACCELERATED IMPLEMENTATION IS THE REAL MVP

THE IMPACT

Creating “value beyond the policy.”

The rapid implementation of Guidewire PolicyCenter benefits the insurer’s middle market brokers and clients, who now receive faster, more reliable service. Their time-to-quote, even for a multi-line submission, has been reduced from several days to hours.

Underwriters’ experience is enhanced with a single platform, rather than multiple systems and technologies, to generate a rating and quote. This saves them time and enables their quick response to a broker.

The MVP represents the first chapter in an ambitious transformation story.

Deloitte helped implement PolicyCenter for five products in all 50 US states. The modern, scalable platform helps underwriters and operations teams meet middle market customers’ needs for commercial auto, general liability, workers compensation, commercial property and lead umbrella coverage. The MVP established a strong foundation for the insurer to leverage advanced technology and further scale its US middle market business.

Subsequent releases have brought additional capabilities to the PolicyCenter implementation, and Deloitte is working with the insurer to add specified products geared toward various industries and circumstances. Just as the insurer made an impact on its target market serving the unique needs of large commercial organizations around the world, Deloitte is helping its US teams bring that differentiated experience to the middle market at scale.