VIPR: responding to data challenges in a modern era

Today, handling and managing data is an ongoing challenge across many industries. The efficiency of advanced technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence directly depends on the quality of data collected. Things are not so different in the insurance industry. “Thousands of spreadsheets are being presented each month, containing information on premiums written, premiums paid, and claims made,” explains Bob Brown, CEO at VIPR. “Each spreadsheet can contain thousands of rows of data with multiple columns, so a single document could contain millions of individual cells of data. Technology is therefore essential to allow organizations to understand their business and keep up-to-date with industry regulations.”

Bob, along with his brother Richard launched VIPR in 2009 to provide much needed advanced software solutions to the insurance industry. From its humble beginning as a local software solution provider in the London insurance market, VIPR has grown into one of the leading Insuretech solution providers in the UK. And now, the company is expanding into US and European territories.

Bob credits the success of VIPR to his skilled team and the products they deliver. “Our talented staff are passionate about what they do and have the technical expertise to deliver products that our customers need.  These are products that work and do ‘as it says on the tin.” For VIPR, delivering the latest software solutions is just part of forging long-term customer relationships. The company prides themselves on working with its clients, crafting tailored products to their specific needs, as well as helping them to understand and use the products to their advantage. For clients who are under resourced, VIPR offers a managed service to take the pressure off clients who may have difficulties sourcing the right staff to manage its systems. Furthermore, the company runs regular user group meetings inviting clients to share industry insights. Outcomes from these meetings can even lead to VIPR developing new products.

One key benefit of VIPR’s products is their simplicity. As Bob explains, “ Unfortunately, the IT industry is littered with products that often do not achieve what they promise and are simply just not fit for purpose. Our products are designed to make the complicated simple, allowing the industry to effectively improve processes and understand their business.” The company’s flagship product is its best-selling bordereaux management solution – Intrali.  It is one of the most extensive self-administered bordereaux management solutions in the London Market and is currently utilized by over 30 of VIPR’s clients. The system can import and convert mass data from various sources into a standard template predefined by the user. After cleansing the data Intrali will also check it against the contract terms, rendering apparent risks, as well as assisting in producing various reports that the market needs in order to comply to industry regulations.

Additionally, the company has a portfolio of other products including; Active Underwriter; a quote and bind solution, Intagra; an online workflow tool, Active Reports; a reporting tool and VIPR Managed Service (VMS), an end-to-end management service of VIPR’s clients bordereaux and reporting requirements, in collaboration with London Consultants, JDX Consulting.

Delivering what they promise is VIPR’s priority when dealing with clients. MGAM, a Managing General Agent was looking for sophisticated technological solutions so they could offer its clients first-class underwriting management solutions, improved services and deliver better underwriting results to insurers. VIPR delivered a core systems package including Intrali, Intarga and Active Reports as well as a completely bespoke Insurance Broking Accounts (IBA) platform that was faster, more intuitive and user-friendly than anything else on the market.  All systems were integrated to avoid mishandling of information through the software and deliver the best of the best on the market.

MGAM Founder, Jason Anthony, stated, “We now have the infrastructure in place to sustain in the MGA sector, enabling us to add value to carriers and our clients by disrupting the market and finding untapped distribution channels. Our focus is on delivering exceptional service to our clients, and with VIPR we have the IT solutions to help us do just that.”

VIPR constantly strive to build solutions based on both the challenges in the industry and the speed with which technology is advancing – and so recently launched an industry-first solution, in partnership with ACORD Solutions Group, Inc (ASG). ASG provides full scale automation services and solutions for the global insurance industry. Joining forces, the two have launched an automated ‘US to London’ data exchange between global Managing General Agents and London carriers, which enables straight-through processing of bordereaux data.

Bob states, “In an age of modernisation in the insurance industry, much of the market is moving away from manual practices and embracing the benefits of standards-driven automation. However, until now, there have been no major advances in straight-through bordereaux processing between the US and London markets. This initiative is a major step forward for the market which will hugely benefit the global industry.”