Insurance companies are rapidly facing the challenge of a need for more data visibility and delays across the reporting chain. This primarily occurs as most of the policy, premium & claim data reported by spreadsheet, and it takes a tremendous amount of time to process it manually. distriBind is on the mission to eliminate tiresome bordereaux and allow for the seamless data flow between MGAs, insurers, and re-insurers.
We are aware that the full digitisation of the data will take time, that's why we can process traditional bordereaux provided in a variety of formats and present data back to the insurer in a clear and coherent manner, in order to make better business decisions, as well as handling structured digital formats like XML and JSON, and unstructured PDFs"
says Dave Connors, founder and CEO of distriBind.
London-based distriBind is built from a basis of empathy for the user, made from the experience of Dave and Head of Product Charlie Rock - both of whom have worked on the "business" side before working for vendors. This gives distriBind the insight that the problem they are solving is not "bordereaux." It's data exchange, not about hammering out a common data standard but facilitating the movement of data in a way that makes sense to sender and recipient and elegantly handling variation. It's about minimising manual touchpoints and maximising data visibility via actionable insights. "We deliver the information our clients need, when they need it, in simple yet powerful visuals creating a Digital Workbench for DA," adds Dave.
Building a solution to a long-term problems is a considerable investment. distriBind as a company has build a culture that people want to invest in and want to be a part of. Every point of contact with prospective customers is part of a journey, and this journey is what sets distriBind apart from other software providers. To distriBind, a new customer is such an essential piece of the puzzle that they will do everything in their power to deliver on time and to the best of their ability. Dave meets every prospect personally and selects the right project team for each customer. This personal approach ensurers that the prospects know they matter and that each project gets the care and attention it needs.
MGAs typically send bordereaux (reports listing the assets covered and claims paid), in the form of a spreadsheet, to their insurance capacity partners monthly. distriBind's technology can help MGAs report their risk, premium and claim data to the insurers they are working with without setting up a separate integrations with each insurer. Where an MGA's capacity partner requires bordereaux, distriBind provides data ingestion tools that are reported to save up to 45 minutes of pre-processing time per spreadsheet. Optical character recognition technology automatically extracts data from broker submissions, reducing the manual work required to create bordereaux. Making this process more efficient enables informed business decisions and eliminates friction between business partners. distriBind also provides analytics dashboards so insurers can view insights into their delegated authority risks, premiums, and claims. This can be viewed on an account level, a binder level, and even an individual transaction level to help insurers decide if they want to provide more or less capacity to the MGAs they support.
distriBind's cloud-based API offers an alternative way for the relevant data to be transferred between MGAs, insurers, and re-insurers in real-time. This allows data to flow in real-time, removing systematic risk inherent in delay-based distribution. It also prevents digital MGAs from needing to incur a cost burden of back-office staff de-digitise data to send to insurers. The API supports the entire DA lifestyle and provides easy integration across the value chain. Where bordereuax can't be avoided, distriBind simplifies the receipt of data in different formats and standards, providing internal data consistency. distriBind processes spreadsheets, XML, and PDFs and receives JSON via API. Insurers can use distriBind's solution to ingest bordereaux in any format and maintain a consistent internal standard without externalising that to business partners. "The power of our ingestion layer removes manual processes and even eliminated the use of bordereaux where distriBind's API can be used instead," adds Dave.
Coral Insurance began its collaboration with distriBind back in 2021. As an organization, Coral Insurance had seen an opportunity to provide something very different from its competitors. It needed a solution that would provide a service to the previously unmet needs of its clients, both Insurers and Brokers, and be able to handle and process a large volume of data.
We deliver the information our clients need, when they need it, in simple yet powerful visuals creating a Digital Workbench for DA
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Partnering with distriBind proves its worth in its innovation, culture, and capability. It purposefully wasn't a digital spreadsheet or a cumbersome, off-the-shelf bordereaux management solution with a highly monthly price tag. Still, it is a refreshing, straightforward, and flexible data solution to help bring specific data and data management into a growing business. Coral Insurance believes that its business growth is underpinned by core data processing systems and the ability to scale without needing extra resources.
From the initial plot, Coral Insurance and distriBind have and will continue to work together to ensure the product roadmap meets all expectations and requirements. The regulatory environment is constantly changing, and regulatory bodies now require organisations to prove their products add value to their customers. distriBind's dashboard and reporting capability are set to do this for Coral Insurance in the future and provide data to both Insurers and Brokers that they currently cannot see. distriBind is a route to achieving great data solutions and is not about digitising spreadsheets.
At distriBind, the roadmap is constantly growing. The company must keep up with demand and market changes, which means it must continually review the product roadmap and infrastructure. The company's current priorities are around automating configuration via Machine Learning and AI into further predictions and anomaly detection, and adding pricing and quote/bind to offer a complete MGA solution. "We work with all our customers to ensure that their business needs are met, and to ensure we are fully compliant with ever changing regulatory requirements," elucidates Dave. "distriBind has a global presence. With strong interest from the USA and having already held some positive conversations with companies looking to implement in America, we will look to expand and set up a permanent base there in the future."