NFU Mutual, the UK’s leading rural insurer, has realised process efficiency savings, improved premium collection services and reduced payment administration following the implementation of a new billing system, BillingCenter, developed by Guidewire Software®, a leading global provider of solutions to general insurers.
BillingCenter now manages premium billing and collection processes and agency commission payments across NFU Mutual’s motor, personal and commercial business lines. The system enables NFU Mutual to streamline the payment collection process, reduce manual activities and significantly simplify premium reconciliation.
Guidewire BillingCenter® is not simply a credit control function. It provides NFU Mutual with greater visibility of its billing processes and premium debt and, as a result, has improved governance. The streamlining of administrative processes has also improved audit control and enabled NFU Mutual to reduce its auditing overhead.
In addition to the benefits to NFU Mutual, its agency network has reported improvements in areas such as the ability to collect premiums at the point of sale and more efficient reconciliation routines.
NFU Mutual selected the Guidewire system to provide greater flexibility both in terms of improving premium collection and processing and its ability to interface easily with NFU Mutual’s policy system. BillingCenter replaces a number of existing standalone and bespoke systems with a single web-based solution.
Nigel Bryan, group finance manager at NFU Mutual, commented: “BillingCenter has an important role to play in ensuring the continual improvement of our operational processes. It is delivering tangible benefits to both the business and our agency network and provides us with the scope to make further enhancements to meet our needs in the future. ”
The implementation of the system has been phased by regions following a successful pilot involving a group of NFU Mutual agents. On 1st May the final three regions went live on the system and this completed the agency network rollout.
The level of premium being processed by BillingCenter is set to increase significantly over the coming months as business is transferred on a controlled basis as policy books renew and also as the system is rolled out to NFU Mutual’s corporate unit working with independent brokers.
Commenting on the introduction of BillingCenter, Janet Shuttleworth, development lead of NFU Mutual, said: “Any system implementation process of this scale has its challenges. Guidewire’s straightforward and honest approach has been integral to the successful implementation of the system.”
Janet continued, “BillingCenter is easily configurable so we have been able to integrate it fully with our policy processing system and obtain real-time information. In addition, we are now able to respond quickly to changes identified by agents improving their experience of working with us to develop their businesses.”
Aaron Howell, head of European consulting for Guidewire, commented: “This is our first BillingCenter implementation in the UK. The results and reactions from NFU Mutual’s staff and Agents show how the system has helped to deliver service and process improvements, and to provide a platform for future growth. By working closely with NFU Mutual to achieve their objectives effectively and efficiently we have been able to demonstrate the important benefits a modern billing system can provide.”
Guidewire BillingCenter is a 100% web-based system designed to: make it easier for insurers to manage agent commissions; automate the billing lifecycle; design flexible billing, payment and delinquency plans; and enable rapid integration with external payment systems – i.e. BACs, cheque writing and payroll deduction. BillingCenter is available as a standalone system or as part of the Guidewire Insurance Suite™ and can be integrated to an insurer’s legacy systems or third party applications.
About Guidewire Software
Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. We combine digital, core, analytics, and machine learning to deliver our platform as a cloud service. More than 540 insurers in 40 countries, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire.
As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record, with 1,600+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation.
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