Aviva adopted hyperexponential’s cutting-edge Pricing Decision Intelligence (PDI) platform, hx Renew, which resulted in the expedited processes. Aviva also announced the successful creation of 20 new insurance pricing models within nine months, all by leveraging the powerful capabilities of hx Renew.
The platform’s unique features, including the use of the popular coding language Python and a modular design approach for rating tools, enabled Aviva’s GCS team to streamline the model-building process, reducing build time by a staggering 75%. The resulting pricing models are now efficiently used by underwriters, allowing them to generate new policies in under 10 minutes— a remarkable improvement from the previous timeframe of over an hour.
The transition to hx Renew marks a departure from Aviva’s reliance on excel-based models, which often required extensive debugging and troubleshooting. The newfound reliability of the models eliminates the need for the pricing team to spend valuable time on error resolution, freeing up actuaries to engage in higher-value actuarial work and in-depth business analysis. This enhancement in model performance and dependability empowers underwriters to respond swiftly to brokers and create policies with unprecedented speed.
Furthermore, hx Renew facilitates improved access to data, reducing the time spent on data processing and fueling portfolio analysis. The team is actively exploring batch testing within hx Renew, enabling rapid impact analysis. This deeper level of analysis is proving instrumental in helping teams make more informed decisions, adding a layer of strategic depth to their operations.
Aviva’s adoption of hyperexponential’s hx Renew underscores a transformative shift in the insurance industry, emphasising the importance of advanced pricing decision intelligence for enhanced efficiency and competitiveness.
“We’re able to identify quickly where the business isn’t performing and where decisions are needed simply because we have more data,” explained Shyam Bhayani, Head of Pricing in Aviva’s Global Corporate & Specialty team. “We spend less time cleaning data and less time on workarounds to patch it up. This all means we can do the analysis, make decisions, and get back to underwriters faster.”
According to reports, Prior to the partnership with hx Renew, Aviva grappled with the limitations of Excel spreadsheets for its rating tools and pricing models. The inefficiency was evident as it took 20-30 minutes just to open the software and download the necessary data. This not only proved to be a significant drain on underwriters’ time but also resulted in pricing actuaries being entangled in mundane tasks, such as investigating and rectifying bugs across their 20 separate rating tools.
Delays in underwriters responding to broker requests, jeopardise potential conversions. Given Aviva’s extensive customer base, the Global Corporate and Specialty (GCS) team recognised the urgent need to swiftly develop and iterate pricing models and rating landscapes while upholding the highest standards of accuracy and stability.
Initially contemplating the idea of building an in-house solution, Aviva quickly realised the time-consuming nature of such an endeavor, which would divert attention from the pricing team’s value addition to the business. The solution? Aviva turned to the market and strategically chose hx Renew as the catalyst for their pricing evolution.
hyperexponential’s CEO & Co-Founder, Amrit Santhirasenan stated: “We are delighted to see Aviva achieve such a high level of pricing transformation in such a short timespan with hx Renew. Building 20 pricing models in just nine months is a remarkable achievement.”
He added: “With the GSC team’s sights now set on unlocking the full value of hx Renew’s decision intelligence capabilities through wider systems integrations and the application of Machine Learning, I’m extremely excited for the next phase of our partnership.”
Author: Joanna England