EY and Guardtime launch marine insurance blockchain platform

Consultant EY and software security firm Guardtime have launched what they claim is the world's first blockchain platform for marine insurance. The project also involves a number of other partners including shipping firm AP Møller-Maersk, Microsoft, insurers MS Amlin, Willis Towers Watson and XL Catlin, and ACORD, the insurance industry’s non-profit data standards body. The as yet unnamed platform, which is built on Microsoft’s cloud technology Azure, underwent a 20-week proof of concept before today’s launch. It will be a phased rollout and is expected to be fully implemented by 2018. The project’s partners claim that the platform will connect clients, brokers, insurers and third parties to distributed common ledgers that capture relevant data about identities, risks and exposures and then integrates this data into contracts. The platform will also be able to hold and maintain asset data from multiple parties, link it to policy contracts, act on any changes to pricing information, facilitate transactions and payments and validate first notification or loss data. Shaun Crawford, EY global insurance leader, said that the new platform represents a move forward from blockchain’s recognised potential to a reality: “This solution is the first to apply blockchain’s transparency, security and standardisation to marine insurance and is ready for commercial use.” Marine insurance is one of the more complex sectors in the commercial insurance market and is typified by lengthy paper trails involving multiple parties and high transaction volumes, making the insurance process prone to duplication and manual error. By employing blockchain’s ability to connect disparate data and processes and to mitigate process errors, it is hoped that the new platform can address some of the longstanding frustrations for marine risk and insurance managers. “It is a priority for us to leverage technology to streamline and automate our interaction with the insurance market. Insurance transactions are currently far too tedious and frictional,” said Lars Henneberg, AP Møller-Maersk, head of risk and insurance. “The distance between risk and capital is simply too far. Blockchain technology has the potential to facilitate the desired development that is long overdue.” The platform is also well backed by a number of insurers, who claim that it will increase their efficiency and reduce their administration costs. “We started this work in 2016 with an intuitive belief that blockchain technology could transform the marine insurance market,” said Dr Paul Taffinder, director of strategy and innovation, MS Amlin. “We are excited that we are already in a position to test a practical platform, through which we will be transacting business in a completely new way.” “Redesigning the insurance process is critical for the evolution of our industry,” added Simon Gaffney, chief data officer, Willis Towers Watson. “This initiative has the potential to streamline and simplify insurance transaction efficiency using new technologies, an essential development for the insurance industry.” And Martin Henley, chief information officer, XL Catlin, referred to the “groundbreaking” nature of the successful proof of concept. “While the insurance industry has been looking at blockchain as a way to disrupt some of its processes and become more efficient, this will lead to ‘real-life’ innovations. We will learn from those and apply them to other insurance segments – and ultimately better delivery for our clients across the industry.”

EY and Guardtime launch marine insurance blockchain platform

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