Lloyd�s reached a major milestone today, as Willis passed the first risk through the Kinnect Platform.
Kinnect is funded by Lloyd’s to provide technology and supporting services that enable brokers and underwriters to exchange data electronically.
Willis, the global insurance broker, is one of six initial customers that are set to use the Kinnect Platform.
Kinnect�s Chief Executive, Ashok Gupta, said:
�This is a defining moment for Kinnect. Everything we�ve done over the last two years has been laying the foundations for the first risk to be placed using our platform. Our thanks go to the Willis team for all their help and support this year.
�This is a big step towards our goal – for Kinnect to be adopted across the insurance industry, bringing improved efficiency and reducing errors by cutting out the endless re-keying of data from one system into another.�
Joe Plumeri, Chairman and CEO of Willis said:
�We�re delighted to be the first users of the Kinnect Platform. Willis is determined to play a leading role in the use of new technology to improve the efficiency and service of the insurance industry. By working with Kinnect we can help to accomplish that.
�Kinnect enables us to send risk data to a wide range of underwriters, and for the market to respond quickly and efficiently to bind that risk. That can only be good for our clients and good for the industry as a whole.�
Kinnect is an important element in Lloyd�s reform of business processes.
Iain Saville, Lloyd�s Head of Business Process Reform and Kinnect�s new Chairman, said:
�This first transfer of data shows the industry�s commitment to modernise its processes to reduce risk, and improve speed and efficiency. Electronic capture and secure storage of risk data is a major step to improving contract certainty, and reinforces the recent adoption of the LMP slip in our drive to the goal of contract certainty at inception.
�A number of key players in Lloyd�s are working with Kinnect. I expect that it will quickly build critical mass in the months ahead, so that it becomes a key technology enabler for the industry as a whole.�
About Kinnect
Kinnect is an international venture, sponsored by Lloyd’s. It enables commercial lines trading partners to communicate risk data electronically for quicker and higher quality business completion, greater productivity and profit via an adaptable, accessible and secure platform. Kinnect began in December 2001, operating under the project title of Blue Mountain. Kinnect currently operates in the United States and United Kingdom. For more information on Kinnect please visit www.kinnect.com.