Polaris and Cytora partner to enhance insurance ratings

The UK’s largest insurance rating engine provider, Polaris, has established a new integration with API platform Cytora, paving the way for insurers to enhance their ratings with verified, real-time data from third-party sources.

Insurers or MGAs using Polaris’ rating engine ProductWriter are now able to draw in data from Cytora to influence their rating decisions on property and commercial risks in real time before providing a quote to clients. ProductWriter is the software used by two thirds of the UK insurance market to develop rating tables.

Cytora uses data to help commercial insurers underwrite more accurately, reduce frictional costs and achieve profitable growth. It continuously captures information such as property construction data and company financials to build a more accurate view of risk. It then provides a risk score to the underwriter from an A-grade to an F-grade, which can be used within ProductWriter to influence the rating in real time. As new data is added, customers integrated with Cytora can access new information instantaneously, improving the quality and integrity of their own data over time.

Polaris managing director Vivek Banga said: “Our core remit is to develop technology that benefits the whole industry. Creating an interface between ProductWriter and Cytora makes it easier for insurers to access emerging innovation in commercial lines risk assessment while continuing to use their existing technology for the bulk of their rating decisions.

“Insurance has always been a data-heavy industry and data enrichment technologies have been around for a few years. It’s what you do with the data that counts. Hence we are committed to making it easier for ProductWriter customers to quickly access emerging technologies in better risk selection so that they can focus on the insights that such technologies can provide to support better and faster underwriting decisions”.

Richard Hartley, CEO, Cytora said: “Some of the world’s leading insurers are already benefiting from Cytora’s platform to enrich and speed up their underwriting and pricing decisions. Working with Polaris makes it easy for insurers and MGAs to access our insights from an already familiar platform. We are really pleased to see an industry-owned body committed to making it easier for insurtechs and existing market participants to work together, and look forward to seeing the partnership grow.”

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