Underwriters association calls for radical rethink of technology

The formation of the International Underwriting Association (IUA) was marked yesterday with a call for a radical shake up of the technology used by the industry.

Formed through the merger of the Institute of London Underwriters and the London International Insurance and Reinsurance Market Association, the group claims it represents 60 per cent of the UK's underwriters and constitutes the worlds largest trade association for the insurance sector.

At the launch, Tim Carroll, chairman of the association, called for wide-ranging reforms to make the London insurance market more efficient and accessible. Central to this is the drive to force the two processing bureaux - the London Processing Centre and the Lloyds-based LPSO - to integrate with each other.

A spokesman for the IUA said: "The big issue is that insurance as a market hasn't used IT as well as other financial services. Specific to international insurance, there are several networks which are shared by the industry - Limnet, Rinet and Win - which could be converged to increase efficiencies.

"The wider issue is the need to foster a culture within the industry which embraces technology, rather than relying on people to process claims and premiums manually."