50 Distribution Lloyd’s Lab Impact Report 51 Digitising the SME insurance value The Lloyd’s Lab boost The bene昀椀ts to Layr of taking part in the 昀氀edgling chain with the power of AI and ML Lloyd’s Lab project were immediate. Cohort 1, 2020 Not only was it one of the 昀椀rst companies to receive investment from Lloyd’s following completion of cohort one, but the additional credibility conferred by involvement in the Lab and the capital injection from Layr is committed to digitising the entire insurance value chain, Lloyd’s, soon brought it to the notice of venture capital enabling brokers and agencies to sell policies to SME businesses providers in a pre-seed funding round. Layr used a portion of the funds from Lloyd’s for more quickly and service accounts more cost e昀昀ectively, when they surplus lines licensing, enabling it to operate in the UK. Following successive funding rounds, it also grew its integrate with its AI-powered platform. portfolio of insurance agencies in the US, from seven 昀椀rms in the 昀椀rst 18 months of operations, to around 35 agencies currently. Shortening the distribution chain When Layr joined the 昀椀rst-ever cohort of the Lloyd’s Building a data ecosystem Lab, its aim was to attract as many carriers as possible to its platform, and to build its technology around Layr’s decision to transform its o昀昀ering from a direct- predicting carrier pricing and appetite faster. to-consumer play to a broker enablement tool meant it was one of the 昀椀rst insurtechs to o昀昀er this service. However, in the US market where Layr operates, the great majority of buyers rely on brokers or agents to It now supports insurance agencies and brokerages source coverage. Layr soon realised that the challenge across all 50 US states, providing technology to sell it needed to overcome was how to connect to thousands of policies and services tens of millions of intermediaries in order to shorten the distribution chain dollars of premium. between insurer and buyer. “ The way our technology works, it allows the But the longer-term bene昀椀t is the creation of a digital customer to do most of the work online, asset that provides the foundations for a data ecosystem that can ultimately be used by brokers to Re-focusing on service without having to speak to a human, creating perform analytics, by carriers to determine where to deploy their policies most e昀昀ectively, and by clients to Layr was partnered with three mentors, who provided an optimal experience for the policyholder. access quotes based on pre-populated forms, making the 昀椀rm with insights into how their companies Our retention rates are around 94–95% the experience of buying or renewing coverage almost transacted business with the SME space. across all the books of business on our frictionless. Comparing how some insurers used technology to platform, which can mean a 15–20% onboard business with the more manual approach taken with post-binding and servicing of policies increase in retentions for each brokerage. encouraged Layr to re-orient its e昀昀orts, away from So we're not only boosting their margins, but front-end capture and placement of business. also extending their revenue over a longer Instead, it focused on building technology that time period.” addressed the servicing aspect, making placement more e昀漀cient for brokers and creating a genuine pro昀椀t Phillip Naples – Founder and CEO, Layr centre for businesses integrated with its platform. © Lloyd’s