Celebrating 10 years of QBE FastFlow

It’s been 10 years since QBE launched FastFlow, an insurance extranet platform offering brokers free online access to quote, buy and manage insurance policies, backed up by access to experienced and empowered underwriters, in what we call ‘E-trade with a human touch’.

The idea for FastFlow drew upon QBE’s expertise in specialist products, which we wanted to make instantly accessible to brokers through an E-traded platform.

At the start of this decade long journey, we were looking to offer SME insurance products which had never sold online before, starting with Professional Indemnity Combined, followed by Contractors Combined and Minibus. Office and Commercial Property Owners were added, and our E-trade proposition has continued to develop over the years, now offering nine fully E-traded products that cater for small to large SMEs.

Crucially, in those early days of E-trade we knew from broker partner feedback how much they valued and wanted us to retain the ‘people’ element in this new automated space. Our tagline – ‘E-trade with a human touch’ – helped allay broker concerns and made it clear that behind the screens, we have knowledgeable, expert teams available, empowered to make decisions on any referrals on the spot.

What is the user experience like for brokers?

After registering to use FastFlow, brokers can quote and buy, download policy documents, and handle adjustments and renewals 24 hours a day from their computer or mobile device.

The system has been designed to be easy, convenient, and fast to use, with dynamic question sets laid out alongside user prompts for quoting, buying, mid-term adjustments and/or renewals.

Brokers have access to an innovative set of products which are constantly being developed and improved. The linked access to empowered underwriters (via freephone, email, or Live Chat) means that it’s a very streamlined process, which users quickly get to grips with and find intuitive to use.

Brokers also find the transparency of the platform very efficient; thanks to built-in en-route validation, any risk that QBE will not consider is flagged early on so that time isn’t wasted.

Breaking new ground: the E-trade evolution

Innovation has been central to FastFlow’s growth, and we haven’t been shy about leading the way on product development. QBE was the first insurer to develop Professional Indemnity Combined and Contractors Combined on E-trade. We’re seen as the market leader in Minibus insurance so were naturally the first to develop an E-trade Minibus product. We were also first to make CyberCrime insurance available on E-trade.

We regularly seek feedback from our broker partners regarding product improvements, system functionality and the way we quote, refer and decline, to help improve their user experience.

Over the years we have done a great deal of work to develop products, reduce question sets, minimise referrals and make E-trade easier and faster so that more quotes go straight through the system with minimal underwriter intervention. Recent examples include streamlining CyberCrime quotes with our new ‘quick quote’ functionality, whereby brokers can obtain a quote by answering just a few simple questions.

We’ve been leading the way on pushing the boundaries of E-trade and have expanded our Mini Fleet product to now quote for up to 20 vehicles at new business and with no maximum number of vehicles for existing business (renewals / MTAs).

If we think back 10 years to the early days of E-trade, few would have imagined you could insure a 20-vehicle fleet in an E-trade environment as easily as insuring your own car.

In the 10 years since FastFlow launched, we’ve seen a huge leap in broker adoption and confidence in E-trade. Contract certain quotes, reliable pricing, instant documentation, and access to empowered underwriters have helped increase the volume, size and complexity of business being E-traded.

FastFlow in the future

Looking to the future, I believe insurer extranets like QBE FastFlow will remain a relevant distribution channel for brokers that don’t subscribe to a broker management system.

Whilst we also offer QBE products across other E-trade platforms (Acturis, Applied, Open GI and SSP), it’s important for us to continue to support brokers who may not be trading on these platforms and to offer them the benefits of E-trading in as simple and efficient way as possible.

As we mark the first 10 years of QBE FastFlow, we are now entering a next stage where the knowledge gained from the micro and small end of SME business is now seeing brokers feeling more confident to E-trade larger and more complex risks.

The technological advances of the last decade have allowed us to build a powerful and effective online platform. Enhancements in data science and data enrichment will continue to lead to a better customer experience, with reduced question sets, faster quoting and further reductions in referrals.

We will work hard to stay relevant, demonstrate our capabilities and give brokers more reasons to E-trade with QBE.

Take a look at QBE FastFlow here