Jacqueline McNamee: ‘Transparency of data’ is key challenge facing MGA market

As brokers complete 2024’s MGA Survey, how is C-Quence looking to develop its service to match and exceed brokers’ expectations?

Our broker partners attest to our market-leading service standards, as evidenced by our quote to bind metrics.

Our algorithmic underwriting services 70% of business automatically, achieving quote to bind within minutes. On referrals, as an example, 35% of management liability risks are cleared within 15 minutes, 70% within three hours and all broker queries are addressed daily.

Integral to our platform is artificial intelligence (AI) learning from underwriter decisions, improving algorithms for fewer referrals, greater accuracy and speed. This refinement is a cornerstone of our commitment to enhancing broker service.

Other enhancements we have made include batch quoting, automated submission ingestion and an automated renewal process.

With these improvements, we aim to ensure that brokers experience unmatched efficiency, accuracy, speed and competitiveness, allowing them to focus on clients and business growth.

How is C-Quence seeking to deepen its relationships with brokers?

For C-Quence, the relationship begins before we agree terms of business with a broker. Our approach relies on the relationship being beneficial to both parties in terms of products, competitiveness, efficiency gains and the levels of service we provide.

If the relationship and risk appetites are compatible, then all our capabilities will be applied to build a long-term partnership.

For example, we can develop schemes and facilities unique to each broker. This means:

• Creating a sophisticated and tailored product and platform journey.
• Establishing bespoke and pre-agreed underwriting criteria, supported by third party data.
• Providing customised portfolio pricing models, ensuring attractive pricing for clients.
• White labelling products for seamless integration with brokers’ offerings.
• Providing portfolio dashboard management information to support enhanced decision-making.

Which of C-Quence’s products have faced the most development or changes as a result of broker feedback?

Collaborating with brokers is key to innovation. Developing propositions independently of brokers raises the likelihood that products don’t meet end customers’ needs.

Our approach allows brokers to construct client specific products by picking and mixing from our 23 cover modules across property and casualty and financial lines, or by developing broker specific schemes and facilities.

Two recent developments we introduced were done to meet specific needs.

This year, we added legal expenses cover as an option within our management liability suite and added a range of client services that included tax, crisis communications, employment practices and employee counselling support.

We also created a digital property owners’ product that was heavily influenced by brokers.

Using our technology and data ingestion expertise, we were able to develop a multipremises capability to simplify the quote and underwriting process, making it easier and quicker for brokers to service this type of client and risk. Shortly, we will be adding additional legal solutions to this suite.

Looking ahead, we plan to add professional indemnity cover to our property and casualty suite.

Brokers remain concerned about MGA capacity. Should they have any concerns about C-Quence’s capacity arrangements?

We have always been very clear about the importance of the capacity providers for our proposition. We have sustained long-term relationships with blue chip capacity providers because we believe it is important to brokers and their clients that A+ rated capacity underpins the products they buy.

It is also critical that we work collaboratively with our capacity providers to expand our offering and to leverage our data and technology expertise for mutual benefit.

What is C-Quence’s approach to data sharing with broker partners to inform better risk selection, forensic pricing and better customer outcomes?

As a modern, technology led MGA, we have an unparalleled data infrastructure that includes over 1,500 structured data points captured on every risk. Each risk is also enhanced with third party data from more than 50 data providers. In addition, every interaction on our platform is captured in our data warehouse to inform continuous improvement of our user interface and experience.

We are comfortable sharing analytics, trends and portfolio management information with our brokers and capacity partners.

Broker information is also very useful if available to support batch quoting for portfolio or industry rollovers or cross-selling, real estate portfolio underwriting and creating unique schemes and facilities.

What can brokers expect from C-Quence in the next 12 months? 

Perpetual innovation is a core part of our culture and business model. We release a platform upgrade every eight weeks, continuously bringing new enhancements and features for brokers

We have some key areas of focus for the next 12 months:

• Adding additional modules of cover.
• Expanding third party data to include areas such as escape of water, health and safety.
• Expanding batch quoting to include more granular peer analysis using AI.
• More unique features for schemes and facilities for even faster configuration.
• Open set of application programming interfaces (APIs) for easier integration with broker partners.

What are the major challenges facing the MGA market in the year ahead?

Transparency of data is fundamental to our technology proposition.

We believe in open architecture and find it frustrating that certain systems impose what we regard as artificial or protectionist barriers that unnecessarily complicate underwriting processes and which, arguably, inhibit brokers from delivering their best service.

By eliminating unnecessary barriers, a quicker and easier method of gathering and sharing information could be applied for the benefit of brokers and their clients.

What technological developments has C-Quence implemented to improve broker and customer outcomes?

As a technology-based MGA, our ambition is to modernise and transform mid-market commercial insurance by radically improving broker and customer service through the use of smart technology and data enrichment.

Some examples of what this looks like in practice include:

• Automated submission ingestion for property and casualty risks.
• Batch quoting for management liability risks.
• Automated production of tenant certificates for property owners’ risks.
• All risks are data enriched from over 50 sources.
• Real-time automated document production for quotes and at point of sale, including bespoke client specific policies.
• Automated pre-quote compliance checks.
• Virtual assistants that automate routine processes, providing reliable broker support for renewals, quote reminders and premium collection.