The plan is for the electronic transfer of risk data between companies to replace the large quantities of paper currently required at each stage of the insurance process – most of which repeats information already held.
The platform aims to enable insurance underwriters - the professionals who assess each insurance risk and agree a premium to accept the risk - to improve their daily working practices by giving them better accuracy and timeliness of incoming data, increased time to analyse risks and better exposure management.
Brokers - the professionals who place risks on behalf of the insured - can benefit from a reduction in time-consuming administration processes and reduced errors and omissions.
Baltimore Technologies is providing web access control and authorisation for the venture. Using the company's SelectAccess, individual brokers and underwriters will be able to authenticate themselves to the platform and gain access to specific resources based on their individual rights and entitlements.
International insurance brokers Marsh and Willis and four major London-based insurers (ACE European Group, Amlin, Beazley and Wellington) recently became the first to sign letters-of-intent to use the system.
It is likely that Kinnect will become operational in the third quarter of this year.