Smart Follow: The Train Has Already Left the Station, Are You On Board?

September 2025
By Gilbert Harrap, CEO, InsurX

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The Lloyd’s and open insurance market has always thrived on its ability to adapt. For centuries, relationships, expertise, and reputation have been its foundation. Those remain, but the new pillars are speed, scale, and data. Smart follow is the technology making that shift possible,  and the momentum is already unstoppable.

Why the Market is Moving
For brokers, the placement journey has become slower and more complex. Bureaucracy now entangles the process, creating a service gap between how long placements should take and how long they do. At the same time, competition from other global hubs is intensifying. Market leaders recognise that 60% of typical Lloyd’s placements could be written on an automated follow basis.

The message is clear: relying only on traditional ways of working risks falling behind.

How Smart Follow Works

InsurX’s smart follow technology digitises insurer appetite into 3D algorithmic rules, structures broker submissions, and matches the two in real time. The process is simple:

1. A broker emails a submission,  no logins or admin required.
   
   
2. InsurX matches the risk to insurers’ precise appetite rules in minutes.
   
   
3. Quotes are returned, risks bound, and data insights shared back instantly.

It is underwriting judgment at scale, without the drag of manual processes.

Speed, Simplicity, and Scale for Brokers

Smart follow is already delivering measurable advantages:

• 93% of submissions are handled in under two hours, with many turned around even faster.
  
  
• Brokers can launch with confidence in under two weeks,  with no operational overheads or costly setup.
  
  
• More than 50 brokers and insurers are already connected, creating a vibrant, data-driven marketplace.

This speed of response is becoming a differentiator in itself. Independent brokers especially are seeing access to capacity and tailored placement routes that previously required deeper networks or lengthy processes.

Efficiency and Growth for Insurers

For insurers, the benefits go beyond efficiency. Smart follow enables growth at pace:

• Appetite can be structured and refined in real time.
  
  
• Portfolios are monitored dynamically with data delivered back on every risk bound.
  
  
• Insurers can enter new classes in months rather than years.

The result: scale without adding headcount, while gaining sharper insight into portfolio performance.

The Flywheel Effect
Smart follow sets off a growth flywheel. Faster placement attracts more deals, which drives more insurer demand. That demand generates new capacity and fees for service, which in turn supports further investment and simplification. The effect compounds, pulling the market forward.

And this is not theoretical. Facilities are already live, risks already bound, and feedback already strong. As one market leader put it, “once you have vibrant leads, the follow market can be placed algorithmically.”

The Train Has Already Left the Station
The shift is happening now. In 2026, smart follow technology will grow into core infrastructure underpinning our market. Quotes in under an hour will be expected. Placement strategies will blend traditional leadership with smart follow capacity as standard. Data-driven insight will be the lens through which portfolios are run.

For brokers and insurers, the opportunity is to get on board now, and help shape the journey,  rather than risk being left behind on the platform.