Average underwriter response times rise to 2.3 days – PPL

Average response times for firm orders in the London market increased to 2.3 days in 2025, compared with 2.0 days in 2024, according to data published by PPL.

The platform provider revealed the figures as part of the launch of its new Service Benchmarks tool, which allows carriers to compare response times for firm orders and endorsements against wider market performance.

PPL said carriers in the top quartile responded to firm orders in an average of 1.2 days during 2025.

The data also showed that endorsement response times were nearly twice as long as firm order response times, with follow markets around 70% slower than lead markets.

Response times for marine, contingency and political risks business were consistently faster than the market average, while casualty and engineering risks typically recorded slower responses.

Benchmarking tool

The new dashboard allows carriers to analyse performance by class of business, organisation, team and individual underwriter.

Colin O’Malley, chief operating officer at PPL, said: “For years, service performance has been recognised as an important differentiator in the London market, but firms have lacked a consistent and objective way of measuring themselves against their peers.

“Service Benchmarks changes that. Leveraging the scale of transactional data flowing through the PPL platform, we can provide carriers with an independent market benchmark that helps them understand how they are performing and where there may be opportunities to improve.”

Chris Read, chief operating officer for UK and Lloyd’s at Axa XL, added: “We have worked closely with PPL throughout the design and delivery of this tool and our contributions have helped to shape it to deliver the best value to the market.

“This data gives us the insight we need to raise the bar for good customer service across the board.”