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Webline Limited was established in
1995, and became the first company to provide real time, online
quotations for the UK life (protection) market via the Internet
in the following year. The original service used "rate tables"
and "premium calculation algorithms" in order to dynamically
create quotes from just three insurers - Zurich Insurance, Scottish
Provident and Scottish Widows - but it proved the concepts, and
enabled us to give Internet users (consumers) a comparative quotation,
based on their specific and personal needs.
origo
In 1999, Webline met with Origo, and
was encouraged to join the market place in order to present some
competition in the "quote arena". This was a turning point
in our company, as we made the fundamental decision to replace the
"old" quote engine with a completely new one, based on
Origo Message Standards (in XML formats). Software development took
place during 2000, and dialogue with the major insurers continued.
In early 2000 we had a system that generated quotes using the Origo
standards. Only three Providers were working at that time - Zurich,
Friends Provident and Scottish Provident. This small group enabled
us to test the IT systems, but was insufficient to let us compete
with The Exchange - IFAs would simply not have enough of a comparison
to rely on. However, it did enable Webline
to actively promote the facility for users to provide quotes on
an "execution only" basis from their websites, at marginal
extra cost. And it formed a firm basis for a service that was to
grow during 2001 - to such an extent that Providers tell us that
we now accommodate more protection quotes using the Origo standards
that any of our competitors.
We also handle more online quotation messages to the Origo standards
than any other quote service in the UK.
financial intermediary coverage
In the second half of 2001 we were in a unique position of being
able to offer quote services to non-regulated agencies, (in the
same way that we support IFAs). Only small changes to our system
(to ensure that the old style non-regulated users were blocked from quoting a
regulated product) were required. General Insurance Intermediaries (previously non-regulated users)
now generate about 50% of our total quote volume.
B2B and B2B2C
What also became clear during the year was that our ability to
let IFAs and non-regulated users incorporate a simple link to our
quote engine in order to provide quotes direct to consumers (B2B2C
quotes) was going to bring in higher quote volumes than we had initially
expected. This has - in part - been the platform we have used to
increase our intermediary (B2B - Business to Business) quotes to
the volumes they are today.
Another nuance of our implementation is that a trade may begin
life as "B2B2C" - when a consumer gets a product price
- but then becomes "B2B" - because Webline's
engine can prompt the broker with an e-mail following a proposal
form download. (Or the broker may look at their Webline
transaction log to see there was an "Internet Quote" which
they may pursue offline). These prompts enable the brokers to proactively
chase the applicant, and (our users claim) can result in a higher
conversion rates.
Today, the "direct B2B users" account for less than two-thirds
of our quote volumes, while consumers (B2B2C) generate the remaining
third.
networks and large organisations
In the first quarter of 2002 we introduced the network group and
sub-agent systems, providing new and rich functionality to these
user sets. (See the network support
section). These two features enable financial networks and larger
organisations to better manage their members / agents / introducers
and benefit from improved charges (per user firm) on Webline.
This has been an exceptionally popular facility with unprecedented
take-up by networks - over twenty networks, individuals and other
large organisations now use these facilities.
the Capita Group plc
In January 2006, The Capita Group plc (www.capita.co.uk) acquired Webline Ltd by purchasing
100% of Webline’s share capital. All the directors and employees of webline remain committed to
providing innovative technology solutions to help intermediaries better manage their business.
the future
Webline continues to grow its product
and Provider base, along with new and innovative services that continue
to enhance the Internet services available to financial intermediaries.
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