AXA UK signs data deal with LexisNexis

AXA UK has signed a deal to use customer data from LexisNexis Risk Solutions to inform its pricing decisions.

The insurer will use the data to inform quotes, a process known as data enrichment, across its home, motor and commercial vehicle books of business.

It is also looking at using the data in its wider commercial book.

AXA said using the data to generate customer scores will allow it to create a more accurate and detailed portrayal of individual risks, which will in turn result in more competitive quotes to brokers.

The deal follows AXA’s introduction of insurer-hosted pricing last year.

AXA has been working with LexisNexis subsidiary Mapflow for several years to detect property risk exposures.

The insurer said the combination of centrally-hosted pricing, data enrichment from multiple sources and mapping technology allow it to apply a complex set of pricing algorithms across all of its distribution channels much more quickly than was previously possible for brokered business.

AXA Commercial Lines and Personal Intermediary operations director Jon Mitchell said: ““This is a quantum step forward in our underwriting capabilities and increases the sophistication of our rating by a massive margin.

“The application of this data gives us a much more detailed view of individual risks and allows us to offer brokers and their clients a level of accuracy and speed of change in the pricing of risk that was previously only available in the direct market.”

He added: “The investment we have made in this capability is significant as is the further investment we are making in building our own teams to support this data enrichment and its analysis.

“We are now turning to the possibilities of applying this data to our wider commercial book.”

LexisNexis UK managing director Bill McCarthy added: “Sophisticated data and analytics will become the norm to understand the complex picture of behaviour and risk that emerges through varied data sources.

“AXA is spearheading the industry’s expanded use of vast data, analytics and our high performance computing technology, HPCC Systems, to better understand motor customers and their risks.”