The UK arm of global insurance broker Aon has started to pilot a new repository service developed by London-based software company August.
An Aon statement said the move underlined Aon's commitment to "the modernisation of the London Insurance market" and that it was in line with guidelines set out by the LMP (London Market Principles).
Aon's decision to use the repository, called Advance, comes a week after Xchanging Ins-sure Services launched its own repository for the London Market.
Aon Limited business operations director Bill Oram said both announcements were good for the market.
"It's positively moving the marketplace forward. Good solutions and multiple solutions. It's that openness that we need," he said.
August Group chief executive officer David Ives said August wanted to be in a position where companies could use both repositories and both repositories could talk to each other.
"We think it (Advance) gives Aon a competitive edge because it links in very well with their internal business process management system that we put in, our augANISER product based on FileNET."
Advance is an independent service managed by August, which specialises in business process management (BPM) solutions, and hosted by its partner, Digex. It will be piloted over the next three months by selected divisions within Aon, to work with markets in both London and overseas.
Advance will enable Aon to share documents electronically with underwriters and other parties involved in the claims management process. The aim is to streamline existing paper based processes, improve operational efficiencies, increase productivity and reduce costs.
