IT Case Study : Broker Technology

IT Case Study : Broker Technology

With a GWP of £25m and 83 staff, leading provider of car, bike and home insurance, MCE Insurance, has always understood the benefits of IT, when it comes to business growth - which is why they invest year on year in their Misys system.

The continued consolidation of the insurance industry has led more astute brokers to seek ways to secure and develop their market position. Those that survive post-regulation will have the opportunity to gain additional business. Why? Because customers will still require the service that only brokers can provide - and MCE has the right IT infrastructure in place to accommodate this.

MCE’s objectives
Michael Edwards, Director, believes that MCE couldn’t have got to where it is today without a solid IT platform. He explains: "We have been in business since 1975 and throughout this time it has always been clear to us that we couldn't move forward without the right technology - which is why we took the decision to install the Misys system 20 years ago.

"At this time there were a number of systems on the market all claiming to streamline a broker's business - but Misys was the only provider that could meet our specific objectives and is one of the few that is still around today.

"At MCE, we are constantly assessing the market and setting new business goals, which means our system needs to be flexible enough to accommodate change. As the market becomes increasingly competitive it is also vital to have a system that improves efficiency and saves on administration costs. At the same time, it is important to have the ability to quickly capture new business data for cross-selling opportunities."

"All of this enables us to continue to provide a quality service for our clients - hence the MCE philosophy, 'insurance made easy'."

The Misys solution
The Misys solution that MCE has in place is a combination of OASys (Windows) front-office quotation products, the BROOMS back-office system and Advanced Prospect Management.

According to James Gamble, Misys General Insurance Sales Director, this is a common solution amongst the 1,800 broking firms that use Misys and who want the benefits of integration.

He said: "Many of our customers choose to remain with their reliable and robust traditional operating system whilst incorporating front-office PC applications. This gives brokers a mix of traditional reliability in their back-office and modern day Windows applications in their front-office."

These are views echoed by Michael Edwards. He says: "The ease, speed, flexibility and integration of OASys can be combined with the proven capabilities of BROOMS. And Advanced Prospect Management (APM) helps us sell more products and to measure our business.

"APM is particularly useful when running a telesales operation or for bespoke schemes - as it can be tailored to suit our individual needs and allows us to validate prospect data and store it within the Misys system."

Misys today
Misys has been providing insurance brokers with IT solutions for 25 years this year, making it the software house with the longest history, and with 25,000 users, one of the largest.

The company puts its success down to the partnerships it has with its customers. James Gamble says: "We listen to our customer needs and provide solutions that suit their individual requirements and we deliver on our promises - something that does not always happen in the technology industry. This has enabled MCE to deliver tangible results."

Tangible results

• MCE Insurance can print up to 750 policies a day using the Misys system
• MCE Insurance has doubled its policy count in three years
• The Misys system has reduced MCE’s average cost of processing documents from £26 to £16, leaving money in the budget to spend on advertising and marketing.
• The Misys system has reduced MCE’s average time taken to process a transaction to just 6.5 minutes, enabling them to handle a higher volume of business.
• MCE Insurance handles over 2,000 calls per day and arranges over 1,900 policies per week.

More benefits
There are many other benefits of using the Misys system, one of which, according to Michael Edwards, is reliability. He said: "With only one day of 'down time' in the last three and a half years, Misys is an incredibly robust system with excellent functionality. In fact, our business would cease to function without it. The Misys system is also ideal for new staff as it's easy to use."

MCE and the future: online routes to market
MCE is seeking to grow the business in a number of ways. Following market research, the company found that clients and prospects increasingly want to use the internet to gain information and more importantly a quote. And because of this, MCE is soon to implement OASys e-Quotes - a new product from Misys that allows brokers to provide quotes over the web.

Michael said: "We have traditionally always generated client business through advertising, direct mail, affinity schemes and customer recommendation. The great thing about OASys e-Quotes is that it gives us an additional route to market, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through integration between the Internet and the Misys back office system.

"In addition, we are looking to use Misys' new premium finance software, which will allow us to automatically process premium finance requests and payments within the Misys system. And In terms of preparing for regulation, we will be making system enhancements that will automate many of the compliance process, via the new Misys FSA Regulation Module."

Award winning
MCE's success is reflected in the number of awards it has won. At the 2003 Insurance Age awards, MCE received the accolade of UK Personal Lines Intermediary of the Year - in recognition of their development into one of the UK's fastest growing and most dynamic insurance brokers.

The future
Michael concludes: "We are aiming for 25% growth this year and we are confident of reaching our goal. We have the right infrastructure in place and believes that Misys is a partner who will help us drive forward".