A group of executives from U.K. insurance firms, trade bodies, and standard-setting organizations published an open letter urging the insurance industry and related sectors to adopt a single data standard.
The signatories include CEOs from Lloyd’s, Verisk, Velonetic, ACORD, and the International Underwriting Association, coordinated under a campaign led by the London Market Group.
Lloyd’s Market Association CEO Sheila Cameron, who chairs the initiative, said adopting a unified data format would reduce costs and eliminate structural barriers between the London market and the broader global sector.
She referenced open banking as an example of how standardization can produce widespread efficiency.
We can unlock magic when we all use the same standard. Look at other sectors, like open banking, and imagine what we can do across our industry, which is far more interwoven especially at Lloyd’s, than banking has ever been.
Sheila Cameron, Lloyd’s Market Association CEO
The campaign, described as a “hearts and minds” effort, seeks broad participation across the insurance value chain, including underwriters, analysts, and finance teams.
A key obstacle remains the perception that data standards are complex, according to Velonetic CEO Bob James, who noted that standardized formats are designed to simplify processes and reduce duplication of effort.
ACORD noted that a common data standard enables the creation of third-party, off-the-shelf solutions that are more cost-effective than proprietary systems.
The organization added that as adoption increases, software vendors will have greater incentive to align their products with the standard.
Chris Newman, international president at ACORD, said consistent data formats reduce the need for large-scale transformation projects, enabling smaller, local efforts to produce meaningful results across the market.
If data is held in a single format, you often don’t need complex and challenging projects to deliver real benefits — local projects have tremendous potential for all parts of the market if we can only align to one data standard
Chris Newman, president, international, at ACORD
This initiative follows ACORD research showing that only 25% of insurers fully apply digital tools across their operations, highlighting a significant gap in the industry’s digital maturity.
