Hiscox, the global specialist insurer, has launched the London insurance market’s first lead underwriting platform enhanced by generative AI, aiming to provide sabotage and terrorism insurance quotes to customers faster and more efficiently than ever before.
Initially developed as a proof of concept in December 2023 in collaboration with Google Cloud, the new underwriting platform enables Hiscox’s sabotage and terrorism line of business to significantly reduce the time taken from the submission of a risk through to the quote stage.
The genAI-enhanced lead underwriting platform will initially focus on the renewal of existing sabotage and terrorism risks from the US and Canada, and will exclude the metro areas of New York and Chicago.
By combining Hiscox AI Laboratories (known as Hailo) with Google Cloud’s generative AI, Hiscox now has the ability to remove manual elements of the underwriting process. (In 2021, Hiscox London Market developed Hailo as its first proprietary AI tool).
Risks that are in scope are assessed using Google Cloud’s Gemini large language model, and the process generates an email for the broker with pricing and other data already completed, ready for underwriter review. As a result, Hiscox can provide a broker with an insurance quote in a matter of minutes.
While the new underwriting platform is available to all brokers, the first risk was written with insurance broker WTW. Hiscox and Google Cloud will continue to explore additional capabilities as well as potential applications in other lines of business.
“We were really excited by the potential shown by the proof of concept, so to see it now making a tangible impact on our business – starting with sabotage and terrorism – is fantastic,” commented Kate Markham, Hiscox London Market CEO, in a statement.
The aim of the platform is to harness technology to “deliver tangible benefits for customers, while freeing up our underwriters from manual tasks and allowing them to focus on more complex risks where human expertise is critical,” Markham added.
“Through this collaboration we have proven the power of generative AI in transforming complex insurance underwriting processes,” according to Graham Drury, head of Financial Services Industry UK, Google Cloud. “We continue to work closely with Hiscox to evolve and refine the augmented underwriting model for lead submissions as we look to deliver this same value across other lines of insurance.”
“WTW has long recognized the enhanced use of digitization as critical to the future of the insurance market,” according to Jo Holliday, global head of Crisis Management, at WTW. “By harnessing AI to help streamline processes and deliver much quicker turnaround times from risk submission to quote, we are taking a step forward in the evolution of the digital marketplace, which is great news for our clients.”
Headquartered in Bermuda and listed on the London Stock Exchange, Hiscox employs over 3,000 people in 14 countries. Through its retail businesses in the UK, Europe, Asia and the USA, it offers a range of specialist insurance products in commercial and personal lines. Internationally traded, bigger ticket business and reinsurance is underwritten through Hiscox London Market and Hiscox Re & ILS.
Source: Hiscox
Topics InsurTech Tech Underwriting
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