With 13 carriers total now contributing to the implementation of commercial lines data standards via a working group headed up by the Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) and joined by the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada, CSIO’s years-old goal is that much closer to becoming a reality.
“CSIO has been maintaining the commercial lines (cl) data standards over the years, but there hasn’t been necessarily an appetite to implement them,” said Catherine Smola, CSIO’s president and chief executive officer. “When I talked to carriers and to people in the industry, everybody agreed that in principle, it made perfect sense, but the industry couldn’t seem to move the needle on cl data standards implementation.”
A months-long research initiative spurred on by Smola and led by the Conference Board of Canada saw many senior executives, broker management system vendors, and brokers interviewed to understand why there were roadblocks to implementation. CSIO then took the findings and developed a strategy to finally put commercial lines data standards into place.
“The number one [finding was] that no one company wanted to be the first mover – it’s too costly,” explained Smola, adding that if a carrier programs commercial lines data standards into their systems, but BMS vendors don’t follow, that carrier now has a language that only they can speak. “Somebody else needs to speak it too, or it’s useless.”
Once the working group was formed, its participants’ first task was to reach a consensus on the mandatory data elements required to underwrite any commercial risk without getting too specific, such as trying to determine what needed to be asked to underwrite and rate a restaurant risk versus a garage mechanic risk versus a laundry mat. The group has finalized 36 data elements that all of its participants agree are required to underwrite and rate all types of commercial lines risks.
The next phase is inviting BMS vendors to meet with the working group and learn about those elements, and mapping out an implementation strategy. CSIO will then provide implementation guides and certification support to make sure that the elements are programmed correctly as per those data standards.
While they’ve been in the works for a long time, these standards have the potential to streamline the work of commercial brokers.
“Because nobody has really programmed commercial lines data standards, when a carrier sends a commercial eDoc to a broker, it doesn’t attach to the client file,” said Smola. In personal lines, on the other hand, those data standards are already programmed so when a carrier sends over a policy, it automatically attaches to the customer’s file because the system can identify that individual’s policy number and name, so it knows where to put the eDoc. “By programming these data elements, even a subset of these data elements, now the commercial lines eDoc can attach to the client file, which means time savings for a brokerage.”
That means no one has to go into the system every morning, search for the eDocs, drag, drop, and repeat for however many policies.
“That alone is a quick win right from the start if these get programmed,” said Smola, “and we expect them to.”
