ERS widens appetite on car offering with digital expansion

According to the insurer the move reflects its strategy to create the most efficient experience for brokers to bind and manage risks, by bringing more of its specialist products online either through software houses, ERS eTrade or Plug-in to ERS.

ERS Car’s footprint expansion is now live and is available through CDL, OpenGI and SSP. The update will automatically rate vehicles of up to £100,000; drivers with blemished records; and includes a wider appetite for electric and hybrid vehicles.

The insurer, which refinanced with Aubry Partners last year, claimed that the expansion provides brokers with one of the broadest range of vehicle products available digitally in the market.

Additionally, the insurer has confirmed that two of its manually traded products, ERS Prestige and ERS Enthusiast will join the roster of commercial motor products available on ERS eTrade later this year.

The insurer claimed it would quote via e-trade platforms within two hours for high-end single vehicles such as Ferraris or Aston Martins, as well as other luxury vehicles as part of a wider collection.

Partnership

ERS partnered with Dataiku, and AI platform, to redevelop its digital proposition.

The partnership has seen ERS rebuild its pricing models from the ground up so it can update and release new prices to market in real-time, allowing it to test, learn and further expand its new footprint quickly and provide brokers with the capability to expand into market cold-spots, the provider claimed.

ERS active underwriter Martin Hall commented: “Our ERS Car footprint expansion and future launch of Prestige and Enthusiast on eTrade reflects our ongoing strategy and commitment to make our specialist products more accessible to brokers.

“I am delighted that the relationship with Dataiku has provided us with the confidence to deliver true real-time, fully enriched and optimised pricing, which will help us continue to expand our appetite into traditional cold-spots and let brokers bind risks, that would have typically been referred to an underwriter, in real-time. As the broker market remains ultra-competitive, brokers that can bind specialist risks quickly will remain a step-ahead of their competition.”

Specialist

Hall continued: “Being a specialist means we see some of the UK’s most complex motor risks that still need human judgement and expertise. That’s why we have dedicated teams who specialise in providing a more tailored underwriting service for the larger Fleet, Agriculture and Collections risks and even the weird and wonderful such as the Batmobile or the Gumball Rally.

“These more complex risks will always need an expert underwriter’s experience to provide the right cover at the right price, and our expert underwriters will always remain on hand to support brokers to find the right solution for the more specialist vehicle and driver needs.”

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