The fair was a real success with over 100 attendees.
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Connecting to the Lloyd's Exchange
Participants will be able to connect to the Lloyd’s Exchange in a variety of ways. These options are detailed below as broad ‘catagories’ of connection.
Basic – Starter Connection Pack Light – Message Management ToolFull – Back Office System Integration
The same connectivity options are available to all market participants; brokers, Lloyd’s Managing Agents and company market carriers.
The following further questions are also answered:
Will the company market be able to connect? What if a broker or Managing Agent does not want to connect to the Lloyd’s Exchange? How much is this going to cost and how is this paid for? How will the costs work for the company market participants?
Basic – Starter Connection Pack
The starter connection pack is a very basic tool, designed to be a low-risk, zero-cost option – it will be supplied for free for use during the pilot phase.
This pack can be regarded as a taster, designed to enable participants to engage with the Exchange on a ‘try and see’ basis.
The starter connection pack will support two-way messaging, providing the ability to view, compose and send ACORD placing messages.
However, the starter connection pack offers minimal functionality in terms of message management. Also, the package is a stand-alone offering and therefore offers no upgrade path or development potential.
For those participants looking to fully engage with e-trading this does not represent an appropriate solution due to limitations around message audit history, limited scope of forms interface and the lack of integration possibilities. It is recommended that organisations strongly consider the ‘light’ connectivity option detailed below as a more strategic point of entry, with a natural migration path involving much lower disruption.
Will there be an audit trail of messages a user can view using the SCP?
Can the SCP be used to send attachments?
Can a user electronically bind risks over the SCP?
Light – Message Management Tool
Message management tools are provided to the market by third party suppliers.
These packages are rich in functionality, providing message history, tracking and status indicators, over and above the basic functionality contained in the starter connection package. Additionally, message management is enhanced as inbound messages can be routed to individual inboxes.
Whilst a message management tool does not initially integrate with back-office systems there is a clear upgrade path available from most suppliers which will enable integration if desired. This allows participants to engage and fully participate in the electronic transfer of information at relatively low cost whilst offering continuity throughout future development.
Many suppliers offer the message management tool on a short-term ‘rental’ basis which will allow organisations to limit costs.
The message management tool is an appropriate connection option for those who want to engage with e-trading without committing to the expenditure and time commitments of full integration.
For more information on which third party suppliers offer such tools, please contact:
Sharmi.bakrania@lloyds.com
Full – Back Office System Integration
Full back-office integration can involve the integration of a message management tool with the back office systems used by organisations.
The exact working structure of integration is dependent upon the back office system and the connectivity supplier selected – however Lloyd’s have been in communication with key players in this field to ensure the appropriate connectivity options are available.
As an alternative, some organisations can develop their own direct ACORD compliant connectivity to the Exchange from internal systems. This allows messages to be composed from internal systems, and ensures that data contained within responses is appropriately downloaded and managed.
These fully integrated options deliver the greatest value to the organisation and are most appropriate for those participants who are fully committed to the electronic transfer of information.
Will the company market be able to connect?
Yes, the company market will be able to connect. The connectivity options are detailed above.
The IUA has pledged its support for the Lloyd's Exchange and announced it will take part in the pilot which is due to start in early 2009.
David Matcham, Chief Executive of the IUA, said: “The Lloyd’s Exchange will be a big step forward and key to driving standards and modernising the London market, enabling brokers, managing agents and insurers to electronically exchange data to the ACORD standards more effectively.
The IUA will be joining the pilot and, if successful, will be encouraging our members to engage when the full implementation occurs.”
What if a broker or Managing Agent does not want to connect to the Lloyd’s Exchange?
Lloyd’s does not plan to mandate use of the Lloyd’s Exchange at this time.
How long will it take to get set up to use the Exchange?
If using the Exchange via a starter connection pack, connectivity could be established in a matter of hours. Typical training to use the applications would not require more than a day, at which point the Exchange would be ready to use.
Full integration, where ACORD messages are generated directly from back-office systems via gateways is a longer process likely to take around two months depending on each organisations set up.
In both cases, some time would need to be allowed for the relevant changes in internal business processes.
How much is this going to cost and how is this paid for?
The costs for the Lloyd's Exchange are not substantial. Lloyd’s will fund the pilot of the Lloyd’s Exchange and, if successful, it is anticipated that message costs will also be covered for the first three years of operation.
How will the costs work for the company market participants?
The IUA is in discussion with its members as to how the cost of the pilot for their selective participants will be covered across the company market.
Will there be an audit trail of messages a user can view using the SCP?
No, there is not audit trail which will allow you to find out what messages have been sent using the SCP. A save facility is provided to allow messages to be locally saved.
The Exchange does not keep a store of the content of messages, only a log of the fact a message was sent and delivered.
Can the SCP be used to send attachments?
Yes, but the SCP can only be used to send in-line attachments. However, if the SCP receives a message with a DRI link it will allow that document to be retrieved.
Some organisations who have integrated to back office systems in order to process messages have typically been built to support DRI Download only and so a limitation of the SCP is that whilst messages can be exchanged with these organisations, in-line attachments will not be accepted by these organisations.
Can a user electronically bind risks over the SCP?
This will depend on the ‘electronic trading agreement’ you have in place with your trading partner. This agreement should make explicit reference to the intention of each party as far as the interpretation of each message is concerned. Binding of risks via the SCP is not recommended unless stringent business processes have been agreed surrounding its usage.
