By Gilbert Harrap, CEO, and Eleanor Moss, Commercial Director
Why has property become the standout success story for smart follow facilities?
Property facilities are now InsurX’s most successful line of business, driven by leading insurance clients placing and processing property risks at scale through smart follow strategies. This hasn’t happened by chance.
The property class has quietly led the way in showing how insurance can be structured, followed and managed efficiently in high volumes, offering a template for what’s possible across the market.
So why does property lend itself so well to this model, and what lessons should other classes be taking from its success right now?
We spoke with Gilbert Harrap, CEO, and Eleanor Moss, Commercial Director, to find out more.
Why do you think property insurance is ahead of other classes when it comes to facilities?
Gilbert: First, property is simply the biggest open-market class in London, so there’s a huge amount of opportunity and volume flowing through it. That naturally makes it a good testing ground for facilities and new ways of working.
Second, property sits right on the line between retail and wholesale. You’ve got local and regional markets competing directly with each other, and that competition is intense. Brokers want to move quickly and win business, and technology gives them a real edge in doing that.
What lessons can other lines of business learn from the way property has led the way in smart follow facilities?
Gilbert: One of the biggest misconceptions in the specialty market is the idea that some classes are just “too complex” to work in a more structured, technology-enabled way.
What we’ve seen with property is that complexity itself isn’t the issue. The real challenges tend to be poor data capture and a reluctance to rethink how things are done. Once those barriers are addressed, even complex risks can be handled far more efficiently.
Eleanor: Property works well because the foundations are already in place. The class benefits from long-established data standards, particularly around natural catastrophe modelling, and there’s a shared understanding across the market of how property risk should be assessed.
That structure makes it much easier to introduce things like algorithmic decisioning and digital workflows, without compromising underwriting discipline or judgement
Do you think brokers and underwriters in property are more open to innovation, and if so, why?
Eleanor: Yes, definitely. The market is modernising quickly, and in property you really do risk being left behind if you don’t keep up. But it’s important to be clear about what innovation is actually for.
The goal isn’t to replace brokers or underwriters of course - instead, it’s to support them and help them do their jobs better. People are open to innovation when they believe it will genuinely improve outcomes, not just add another layer of process. It is a very important part of the conversation going forward that we understand the nuance between innovation to aid brokers and underwriters, rather than innovation to help replace them.
Gilbert: You can see a similar pattern in cyber. That market has been forced to innovate because of new risks, new demands and new opportunities.
Ultimately, innovation gets adopted where it’s rewarded, even if that reward is indirect. Where it helps people win business, manage risk better or move faster, it tends to stick.
Get in touch with InsurX to find out how we can help you: www.insurxglobal.com
