Senior insurance figures have raised doubts over the ability of the Lloyd’s and London market to process all new claims electronically by the end of 2007.
Insurers and brokers have until the end of the year to start transacting claims through document repository, the electronic claims file (ECF), as set out by Lloyd’s chief executive, Richard Ward, in November 2006.
But one senior industry source insists the market will struggle to meet the deadline despite the threat of disciplinary measures announced by Ward last month.
“It is good to have challenging statements but the market is too diverse and handles too many claims to realistically meet this deadline,” he said. “Unlike contract certainty, the market does not have the force of the FSA to make sure it meets these targets.”
Ward has stated that if the market does not begin to increase its use of ECF he will look to introduce measures such as publishing league tables showing relative performance, mandating the use of ECF and making ECF compulsory for newly registered UK brokers.
G6 chairman Sue Langley, who later this year joins Lloyd’s to help drive operational reform, said: “The pressure needs to be kept on, volumes are growing and if the targets are not hit then there are things Lloyd’s can consider to encourage take up.
“I don’t think anyone ever said it would be easy, but with no target we wouldn’t get anywhere at all.”
