The Challenge
The Solution
MONTHS TO IMPLEMENT POLICYCENTER ON GUIDEWIRE CLOUD
REDUCTION IN QUOTE-TO-BIND TIME
REDUCTION IN POLICY ISSUANCE TIME
WEEKS TO LAUNCH NEW SPECIALTY PRODUCTS
We like what Guidewire has done with InsuranceSuite on Guidewire Cloud in the last few years. We also like the product roadmap and their commitment to the future. They knew going into [our implementation] that we would be moving really, really fast and they were 100% prepared for it.
Manoj Jain, CIO
Westfield Specialty
In 2020, Westfield Insurance, a mid-market personal and small commercial lines insurer in the United States, saw hints of a hardening market. With excess surplus capital, the insurer decided to launch a new specialty business, Westfield Specialty.
The launch and early success of Westfield Specialty were crucially supported by the strategic implementation of InsuranceSuite on Guidewire Cloud, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right talent and technological partnership to navigate the industry's complexities.
When we started the selection process we wanted to make sure our partner understood where we were headed and what we were going to be doing. Because of the nature of specialty lines, some of this we don't know today; we might know in 6 months or 12 months. Guidewire gives us a sense of flexibility, understanding, and the willingness to adapt to changes in the business plan.
Jack Kuhn, President
Westfield Specialty
COO Brad Kass shares the unique technology needs of a successful specialty insurer.
Westfield Specialty's strategic emphasis on talent acquisition, combined with a decisive technological partnership with Guidewire and integration specialists like Deloitte and Value Momentum, facilitated its remarkable growth trajectory.
It's extremely important for us to have the right team as we integrate various systems and enable business to scale. Deloitte has enabled us to deliver this in an expedited timeline, and Value Momentum enabled us to build our custom software and also integrate that with Guidewire.
Terence Dundi, SVP of Technology
Westfield Specialty
A 4.5 month core system implementation is no longer unheard of. Hear from Westfield Speciality leaders on how they did it.
Westfield Specialty's strategic emphasis on talent acquisition, combined with a decisive technological partnership with Guidewire and integration specialists like Deloitte and Value Momentum, facilitated its remarkable growth trajectory.
The quick 4.5-month implementation of PolicyCenter not only optimized Westfield Specialty’s operational efficiency by significantly reducing quote-to-bind and policy issuance times but also enabled the insurer to double its gross written premium in the second year and achieve close to $1.2 billion GWP across its platforms in 2023.
Westfield Specialty leaders lay out the benefits realized one year after implementation.
Westfield Specialty is the first specialty lines insurer to take advantage of Advanced Product Designer, which was one of the factors that led them to select Guidewire.
“It has already enabled us to implement new products really quickly and bring compliments to coverages that we write so we only have to do work once and not multiple times,” said Jain. “With PolicyCenter and Advanced Product Designer, we built a very strong foundation and have been able to launch multiple products in about four to eight weeks.”
Westfield Specialty leaders talk about how Advanced Product Designer is helping the insurer quickly bring new products to market.
