Norwich Union launches commercial policies online
Norwich Union (NU) plans to offer its entire small business insurance system online to brokers by the summer.
The move is a first step towards putting all its commercial policies on the internet by mid 2004.
NU director of intermediary business Ken Wallace said the company had developed a new computer system that was a "state of the art data capture platform".
"The big advantage is that we will have one set of products on one platform for commercial."
He said this was all for the broker market. Initially, policies for shops and salons will be available. These will be followed by office and surgery and then hotel and leisure.
Wallace said that later in the year NU would start putting larger commercial products on the same platform.
He added that the commercial lines system would eventually run alongside NU's new personal lines system, which would also allow access by homeowners.
"That system [for personal lines] is being piloted with about 60 brokers and is starting to be rolled out in the next few weeks," he said.
Wallace said the commercial lines system was still being tested, and would be rolled out when it was "ready and robust".
