Benefiting from a two-way learning process

About MAP  

Managing Agency Partners (MAP) is an independent, largely employee-owned agency underwriting in the Lloyd’s insurance market through its Syndicate 2791. Founded in 2000, MAP rapidly established itself as a leading underwriter in each of the classes of business in which it specialises. The security behind the syndicate reflects a broad spread of third-party capital providers from both inside and outside the insurance industry

A longstanding partnership  

MAP was one of DOCOsoft’s first clients in the insurance space. When MAP Systems Manager, Adrian Duggleby, joined what was then a new venture in 2000 he worked closely with DOCOsoft to develop a document management system (DMS) used by underwriters to automatically deposit and reference policy documents, which could then be accessed directly from the Policy Administration System. 

Following the introduction of Electronic Claims Files (ECF) between 2004 and 2006, DOCOsoft worked with MAP to develop a dedicated claims workflow solution. After the introduction of Write-Back in 2015, DOCOsoft delivered a complete claims management system (CMS) for MAP, building on the collaboration and innovation that had gone into the original DMS.  

MAP is a deliberately lean operation, and from the start, its claims team were looking for an effective, streamlined system that would enable them to do more, with less. DOCOsoft’s ability to respond rapidly and efficiently to that original brief with a robust, elegant, effective solution was an early indication of its continuing ability to meet the developing technology needs of market-leading (re)insurance claims teams.

The need for change  

MAP Head of Claims since 2017, Graham Morris has played a key role in the partnership between the two businesses since he joined the company in 2001. He recalls the old days when claims work items arrived as basic spreadsheets, prompting the thought that ‘surely there’s a better way of working?’. He remembers the exploratory discussions that led to DOCOsoft designing and delivering a bespoke technology solution that turned this unpromising input into something more manageable, something that enabled MAP’s claims team to prioritise and allocate work efficiently.  

Over the years, DOCOsoft has responded to MAP’s evolving requirements with a steady stream of innovation and enhancements, all of which flowed into the development of the advanced CMS that DOCOsoft users benefit from today. One by one, DOCOsoft has found new ways of extending functionality and automating tasks that take time without generating significant value – a process that has enabled Graham’s team to focus their energies ever more productively.   

Opportunities from upgrading  

This pattern of continuous improvement is evident in the fact that Version 9 of DOCOsoft’s CMS, to which MAP will be upgrading early in 2023, contains no fewer than 46 enhancements from Version 8. One of the most welcome of these, from Graham’s perspective, is a new Gemini module. This provides users with API integration with the market’s expert management and settlement platform Gemini. Using the Gemini module within the DOCOsoft CMS reduces the cost per transaction while enabling claims managers to see where their spend on expert fees is arising

The DOCOsoft difference  

Without diluting its core competence in applying leading-edge technology solutions to its clients’ challenges, DOCOsoft is also very much about direct human relationships and staying close to its users. DOCOsoft may have grown many times over since the early days of its relationship with MAP, but strong personal relationships have endured at every level within both organisations – helping to sustain an ongoing, mutually-beneficial two-way learning process.  

‘One of DOCOsoft’s biggest strengths,’ Graham says, ‘is that they’re always actively concerned to understand what we need, what can help us operate more efficiently and effectively. Just as importantly, I’ve come to trust in their ability to take away what we’re asking for and find a way of making it happen. On a day-to-day basis, they’ve never been less than responsive. If we have an issue of any kind, I can always get hold of someone at DOCOsoft who will get it resolved quickly. That kind of relationship with a technology provider is not something to take for granted.’  

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