Bright Grey win innovation award with a little help from FST
FST are delighted to announce that Bright Grey - the Edinburgh based Insurance provider - has won the Innovation of the Year Award at the recent National Business Awards for Scotland. The award is in recognition for Bright Grey’s new Expert Underwriting service – supported by FST Technologies.
For many financial products time is the critical factor in any product application; providers must guide customers through the application process as quickly as possible, guarding against failure and loss of business. The traditional insurance underwriting process was identified as being slow and unresponsive to the needs of Bright Grey’s customers - in some cases it could take weeks to provide protection cover. To address this, Bright Grey took the decision to completely redefine their underwriting platform and document processes.
The new EUW (Expert Underwriting) solution was designed to give IFA’s (Independent Financial Advisors) greater control over the customer engagement. Delivered via an online system, the solution utilises an extensive database of risk factors, qualification questions and rules to generate immediate insurance application decisions. These decisions result in the creation of a wide variety of customer communications that support the product application process.
Such an innovative solution could not simply be bought “off-the-shelf”. As such, Bright Grey made the decision to commission a bespoke system guaranteed to meet their exact requirements. FST were selected to build a new PED (Print Event Dispatcher) platform in order to control the workflow of the documentation utilised throughout the application process.
This new PED platform was supported by a range of enhancements to Bright Grey’s existing customer communications. FST designed a range of new document templates specifically for the EUW solution, allowing for greater flexibility in the number of formats that can be processed and a faster turnaround.
The EUW solution has already exceeded Bright Grey’s expectations, helping to reduce both application servicing and underwriting costs, whilst improvements in processing time and customer service have led to a higher proportion of successful applications and increased product sales.
Roger Edwards, Proposition Director at Bright Grey said "We now have a versatile platform, which will allow us to develop and strengthen our proposition through initiatives such as a telephone-based application service." Commenting on the reaction of the intermediaries he added, "The take up rate on the new service has been excellent. It means that the system is now the preferred path to purchase for all Bright Grey business."
Alan Wade, Commercial Director of FST said "We are delighted with the new functionality we have developed for Bright Grey. The Expert Underwriting solution is a great example of FST innovative approach and our commitment to helping our clients exploit the opportunities the latest technology can offer, ensuring delivery of real business advantage through innovative communication strategies.”
