Vipr’s Paul Templar: MGAs, carriers showing an increased appetite for program revenue

Niche insurers and carriers alike are showing a healthy interest in driving up business from the program sector, according to Paul Templar, chief executive officer at Vipr Solutions, a London-based provider of information technology products for the insurance industry.

“We've certainly seen a real appetite to increase the business that's being done through programs and also through binders in the UK,” Templar said speaking to The Insurer TV during a conference organised by the Target Markets Program Administrators Association.

From Vipr’s perspective, market dynamics have gone quite well.

“Stats that I've seen suggest at least 20 percent growth in the program space over the last year, and considerably more over the last few years,” explained Templar. “It's a great way for insurers to try out new markets, bring in the specialisms and the expertise they don't necessarily have in house and try new things out.”

All of this upside for the program space has resulted in increased demands and business from clients at Vipr. “Our existing customers are growing year on year with the amount of business that they're putting through, and therefore the amount they're using our products,” Templar noted.

It all comes together through the processing of data through its commercial bordereaux management technology dubbed Vipr Intrali.

“It’s changing dramatically,” Templar said of the tech. The firm’s proprietary software was initially introduced in 2009 in an effort to satisfy regulation and other policy requirements, but has since evolved.

“Today we see much more being done with the data that’s being collected,” explained Templar. The Vipr platform features more than 150 internal parameters used to ensure a business’ data complies with binder terms and regulatory conditions, according to the company’s website.

“We're seeing an evolution towards a single collection point for multiple purposes, and also real use of analytics of the data that's being captured,” added Templar.

Vipr’s technology products have done well for business in the UK, Templar noted, having highlighted the company being first to market with its bordereaux management software. Still, further expansion into the United States and other international markets “is going to be key to our future,” he said.

“We're really passionate about bringing what we've done elsewhere to the US, driving that adoption and working towards that goal of a really simple solution to bring data from source to the insurer,” added Templar.

Watch the nine-minute interview with Vipr Solutions chief executive officer Paul Templar for a discussion about onboarding new programs, the evolution of bordereaux management, artificial intelligence and more.