Insurance Age - Imarket users eye personal lines addition

Insurance Age - Imarket users eye personal lines addition: "Imarket users eye personal lines addition
Allianz Cornhill's imarket chief has stated that the system could be extended to include personal lines within 18 months if it proves a success.
Jason Potter, the insurer's commercial lines e-trading manager, told Insurance Age he was preparing for a campaign to persuade brokers of the benefits of the trading system, and convince them it was not another technological flash in the pan.
If this was a success, Mr Potter said the established personal lines EDI model may adapt to integrate with imarket.
'Familiarity is the key with imarket, the same as any piece of kit,' Mr Potter explained. 'This is an opportunity to help improve brokers' awareness, which is why we are now talking to larger brokerages and producing a benefits sheet with Acturis.'
Mr Potter acknowledged the potential of the system to create a common broking portal for the distribution of a variety of products, such as the email marketing service now available to users.
However, he said there was no desire to 'overload' brokers with products and move away from its core functions.
In addition, Royal & Sun Alliance (RSA) has become the latest insurer to go 'live' on imarket. Its first integrated product, Enterprise Shops, is now available to Acturis users, and RSA expects to follow this move with the launch of Enterprise Offices in early 2006.
Peter Knowles, strategy and marketing director at Polaris, the company behind imarket, said RSA's addition reinforced the 'building momentum' behind the industry initiative."