How It Works
Relay is always adding new features and enhancements. Here are the top features our customers love:
Risk Tower Builder
When you create a submission in Relay, our Risk Tower (also known as a "mud map") helps you visualize your layer structure and confirm desired coverage. The Tower Builder is flexible enough to support simple and more complex structures.
- Proportional layer structures (Quota Share, Excess of Loss with share components)
- Non-proportional layer structures (Excess of Loss)
- Ability to send individual layers to specific markets
- See quotes received and coverage bound on the Tower
Quote Comparator
The Risk Tower carries over to the quote negotiation process to help you compare and see real-time coverage at a glance.
- Automatically calculated Rate on Line for each quote
- Color-coded coverage on the tower (how much quoted, bound, certified)
- See whether a reinsurer quoted less than or in excess of requested layer
- See overlapping quote coverage for opportunities to counter-propose
- Temporarily pin and unpin quotes to the Risk Tower to plan your coverage
(Re)Insurance Dashboard
Your Dashboard gives you all the information you need for daily operations.
- Summary breakdown: submissions sent, quotes received, coverage bound, certificates received)
- Managers can see all work assigned to direct reports and reassign from the dashboard
- Evaluate providers: what is their response rate and time to respond
- Team metrics: average time to secure coverage and total premium
- Placement list with breakdown: how many markets responded vs how many bound
- Coverage % achieved per placement
On top of this, Relay also gives you reports as well as in-app and email notifications for all critical events.
Extraction from Excel
Relay can extract data from Excel. To use this feature, you will need to provide us with a filled sample template. We will then integrate it quickly.
Different teams can use this feature for different purposes.
If your team uses a standard Excel template...
If you already use a standard Excel template to package your submission data, you can extract your data from Excel into the Relay Submission Form instead of re-entering it. Your template can include ANY custom data you wish that is specific to your business. You can get your data into Relay by emailing your file to a special email address we will provide you with. Alternatively, you can import it from inside the New Submission flow in Relay.
If you do not use a standard Excel template...
If you do not use an Excel template, you can adopt an Excel template and use it to standardize your submissions. This gives you a lot of flexibility. If your submissions include a lot of market-specific or risk-specific information, it may be easier to fill your own personal Excel template instead of Relay's form. Then in Relay, you have nothing to do but import it.
Quick Summary:
- Integrate your own Excel templates into Relay (done in days)
- Use email or browser extract data from Excel files and turn them into submissions
- Ceding teams can standardize submission requests with Excel template
- Relay provides a centralized intake email that Excel templates can be emailed to
- Export any Relay placement or all placements into Excel
Email Integration
Relay makes email even easier to work with.
- No need to log in every time - just email documents into Relay
- Your and your provider can use email, while Relay tracks all messages and documents
- All conversations and documents are automatically organized by placement
- Markets can respond via Relay or by email without creating an account
- Relay provides a centralized intake email that Excel placement details can be emailed to
- Your and providers get email notifications and reminders
Controls & Permissions
With Relay, you know your procedures are being followed and you have a complete audit trail of all activity.
- Placement limits and workflows with one or more levels of approval
- Define approved markets your team can use and grant permission to override
- Grand view-only access to visiting Auditors in seconds
- Delegate ability to bring team members on board or remove access
Interactive Reports
Relay provides a high level of visibility into your business, which enables you to improve your reinsurance operations over time.
- Powerful reports for both compliance and management controls
- Understand your placements by capacity provider, ratings, and risk type
- Visibility into placement success rates, speed, coverage, and exposure
- Filter reports to specific dates range, line of business, and more
- All reports can be exported to Excel and shared
Feature List
- Collaborate on submissions
- Centralize reinsurance requests
- Email tracking with Excel extraction
- Visualize layered submissions
- Extract data from Excel templates
- Send specific layers to markets
- Quote ComparatorTM
- Accept, decline, or counter
- Reinsurer quotes without signup
- Compliance and ratings
- Exposure to reinsurers
- Activity report
- Team activity dashboard
- Reminders and notifications
- Daily progress update
- Audit trail of all activity
- Certificates all in one place
- Access to edit or view only
- Placement limits
- Approved markets
- See activity of direct reports
- Assign and reassign work
- Single Sign-On via SAML
- Connect your existing systems
- 10 FREE Excel template integrations
Technology
Bank-grade security
We rely on advanced, industry-recognised security safeguards to keep all of your data private and protected. With password-protected login, firewall protected servers and the same encryption technology (256 bit SSL) used by the world’s top banks, we have the security elements in place to give you peace of mind.
User authentication
We provide login access to Relay with email and password. In addition, we offer two-factor authentication to provide a second level of security to your Relay accounts. Relay also supports SAML integration with enterprise authentication systems such as Microsoft Active Directory to provide Single Sign-On capabilities.
Data encryption
We encrypt all data transmitted between you and Relay using industry-standard TLS (Transport Layer Security). Your data is also encrypted at rest when it is stored on our servers, and encrypted when transferred between data centres for backup and replication.
Network protection
Relay system provides multiple layers of security controls to protect access to and within our environment, including firewalls, strict access control policies and network segregation. Relay’s security services are configured, monitored and maintained according to industry best practices.
Common Questions
Why should I bother with a new system? My current process is far from perfect, but change is hard...
Placing (re)insurance is a time-sensitive and error-prone business. Insurance brokers need to layer and secure large insurance deals, which takes a lot of back-and-forth. Underwriters need to know what reinsurance is already available, what reinsurance they need, and how fast it is going to take to get it. Ceding team need a tool to avoid wasting time on cutting-and-pasting quote requests, tracking responses, and putting together reports quickly. Reinsurance managers need to know what gets placed, whether their quotes are competitive, and that it was all done within established permissions and exposure requirements, with a full audit trail. Reinsurance represents about 10% of an insurers’ cost on average, with reinsurers overheads being 30-40% of that amount – we can do better as an industry. Start streamlining your process, and getting quotes faster, all in one place, today.
So why shouldn't I be tracking our risk transfers and quotes manually?
You may have become used to it, but you are wasting a lot of time completing repeat, grueling tasks. It is a time sink and certainly not an enjoyable pastime. Putting together reports is painful. On top of that, it is highly likely that your current process is creating potential for errors, even with all the care in the world. It is also creating legal risks - how many agreements have been left unsigned? Information is hard to track. Exposure isn't monitored in real-time. Sensitive attachments are emailed without safeguards, and mailboxes are easy to breach into... When you go on vacation, it is difficult to have someone pick up your load... The list goes on. You get the idea.
We already work with a reinsurance broker. Why do I need Relay?
Relay is not built to replace brokers, but to enhance your relationship. Brokers shine at providing advice and relevant connections. Relay shines at administering your risk transfers and supporting all the details related to securing capacity and its negotiations. That part is getting automated, even by your broker. Another important one: Relay does NOT own the data you share with us! Broker systems are useful, but there are certain things they can't do as well as Relay, because they work for the broker, not you. You need a system that doesn't create lock-in and ties you down. A system that handles small placements just as well as big ones. A system that ties into your systems, and speaks your language. If you are a broker and you're reading this: you know what we wrote here is true, already. Relay can be white-labelled, or integrated with your system. We play well with others - get in touch.
Is your system secure?
Please read the section above for all the details on how we ensure the safety of your data. We are far more secure than most systems out there, because we are built using the same technology as some leading cloud providers. If you are still relying on email, shared folders or old systems, then you are at high risk of a breach. We have passed the security requirements of many large insurance corporations, and we believe we've got you covered.