Imarket transaction figures almost double

The number of transactions made by brokers via Imarket has nearly doubled in the last 12 months.

Monthly transactions, which include quotes, click throughs and new business, have risen from 25,000 to 45,000 last month, according to Polaris.

The number is expected to rise further with the integration of three more software houses. Insurecom and SSP are understood to be on the verge of joining the already integrated Acturis and Sirius. Open GI is also set to join once it completes piloting the system.

Meanwhile, the number of registered brokers has gone up in the last 12 months from 2,250 to more than 2,700.

Peter Knowles, strategy and marketing director at Polaris, the company behind the commercial trading platform, told Insurance Times: "One thing that pushes [the number of transactions] up the most is insurer products, and where you get the most direct correlation is with software house integration.

“As a software house goes live with integration you see a ramping up in the number of transactions made via Imarket

Peter Knowles, strategy and marketing director of Polaris

"As a software house goes live with integration you see a ramping up in the number of transactions made via Imarket."

Knowles said that although Imarket still has some way to go to improve its functionality as well as adding and refining product lines, the platform had proved itself as an effective way for brokers to trade electronically with the UK's largest insurers.

"I think Imarket in the last year has got to a position where it is beyond the point of no return," he said.

"The history of general insurance is littered with IT initiatives that haven't made it for various reasons but I feel confident that Imarket is beyond that point."