Xchanging's electronic `warehouse' greeted with mixed reactions

The newly-launched London Market repository from technology outsourcing company Xchanging Ins-sure Services has received mixed reactions from the market and its IT service providers.

A spokesman for a large brokers said few players would buy into the repository quickly because most would want to see the system in operation before they committed to it.

"I think people will be tripping over themselves in the rush to avoid being the first to sign on," he said. "It is really about assessing whether Xchanging is market wide and, if it is adopted market wide, whether it's more advantageous than the brokers' own systems."

He added that another concern for brokers was the cost of the repository, at £34 per user per month: "The question is, will the repository be more cost effective?"

The repository is a central electronic filing system where all policy and claims information for Lloyd's and the Company Market can be stored, updated and retrieved.

It aims to speed up processes in the London Market by reducing keying errors and document production costs, improving data security, giving immediate access to required documents and real-time communication with the rest of the market.

Meanwhile, several of the market's systems providers have given the repository their backing.

Eurobase chairman John Wilson said his company had reviewed the repository's infrastructure and had confirmed that Eurobase's underwriting system, Synergy, would make the exchange of data between client systems and the Repository easier.

"Xchanging has an important role to play within the London Market as well as ambitious plans to expand its services including the launch of the repository," he said.

Rebus iS marketing director Alistair Lamb said: "We think it's a very positive move. We believe repositories are going to be at the backbone of some of the changes that the London Market Principles (LMP) require."

However, he added that Rebus was also in the process of developing its own repository: "Our belief is that there should be a freedom of choice across the market."