Setting up

There is no data model to design and no chart of accounts to invent. The foundation arrives populated, so the first afternoon is spent choosing rather than building.

1. Say what you sell

Fifty-seven statutory classes of business are already there. Pick the ones you write and switch off the rest.

2. Assemble the products

A product is a class plus its coverages, perils, questions and wordings. Each carries a readiness state, so a half-built product cannot go on sale.

3. Price the cover

Rating tables and factors turn a risk into a premium. The rate bench prices a hypothetical risk, so the numbers are tuned before anybody sees them.

4. Turn your market on, then write business

Apply your jurisdiction and its statutory charges and commission ceilings come on. Then the day job: a submission, a quote, a bound policy, an instalment collected, a claim notified.