Q&A: Our work with Polaris ‘will support better understanding and presentation of risks’ – AXA

One area we are investigating in the Insurance Times 2021 etrading survey is the ‘quality of support’ available through etrading platforms. Please provide an update of etrading developments in this important service area?

Recognising the growing importance of e-trade, we have invested heavily in recruitment and training and development of staff. This has ensured that our underwriters have the decision-making authority to provide quick (and right) answers to our broker partners. In addition, the continued extension of our products to software houses has also created the facility for brokers to trade additional products through their chosen platform.

An important area to brokers whilst etrading is the quote & buy stage and the referral process, how are you ensuring these stages are frictionless for brokers?

AXA is working extensively with Polaris to lead on creating industry changes to question sets. These changes would support better understanding and presentation of risks. This would naturally improve the quote and buy stage from a compliance perspective, but also enable faster handling of referrals.

The use of Quick Decision capability on our Extranet for more complex risks creates clarity on which risks are likely to refer from the onset, allowing brokers to include additional notes and materials for our underwriters to assess. All of these features speed up our internal consideration process to provide faster decisions on cases.

Another area of investigation brokers are rating is the ‘usability and trading ease’ of etrading platforms they frequently use, please provide an update on this important area for etrading?

We’ve upgraded our Extranet to enhance broker experience. Both the structure and a range of functions have been improved so brokers can navigate quickly to the sections most frequently used and trade risks more effectively. With single collapsible risk pages, brokers move through question sets much faster. And thanks to quote versioning, they can outline quote variants and prices to clients ahead of being put on cover.

The feedback we’ve received has been positive, with brokers saying they’re saving time and trading more efficiently.

How do you see the arena developing?

We expect more manual business to become digitally assisted and we believe the complexity of risks being traded online will increase.

With our experience in trading packaged products online and in making technology improvements, we’re confident AXA will be able to ensure these future risks are effortlessly traded online.