ACORD Launches Standards Development Pilot in So. Africa

Insurers and brokers are beginning a pilot of ACORD Standards in South Africa. “Piloting is the stage after development efforts where participants utilize the Standards in real-world situations to ensure all needs are met,” the announcement explained. “This effort focuses on messages passing both from and to brokers and insurers using the latest version of the ACORD Messaging.”

Jenny Theunissen, Program Manager, Short-Term Insurance Data Exchange (STRIDE), noted: “We’re very proud of all that’s been accomplished by the participants in the South African market in a relatively short time. Working with ACORD to bring Standards into our market has made it possible for us to not only improve how we share data, but also meet new regulatory requirements.”

The bulletin pointed out that the “process began in 2009 when the Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA), which represents South Africa’s independent brokers, and the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) joined ACORD with a goal of standardizing and streamlining the communications process across the market. The FIA, along with SAIA formed STRIDE to offer a method of transferring customer information and underwriting data.

Those activities led to the current version of the ACORD Standard that meets the needs of the South African market. To date, they have completed work on Personal Vehicle, Commercial Vehicle, Personal Property, Commercial Property (including Accounts Receivable, Buildings Combined, Fire, Glass, Theft, etc.), Watercraft, Liability, and Accident.”

Alan Stitzer, Program Manager, ACORD, added: “Working closely with the market leaders, we’ve been able to address their specific needs through ACORD’s Standards. By having an overwhelming majority of market participants involved in the process, we were able to get from requirements to pilot incredibly fast. At the same time, work is already underway on the next phases of development.” This will involve the development by the group of Claims, “with Claims Status being the first message tackled.”

Source: ACORD