The new insurer set up at arms length from Munich Re’s UK reinsurance operations has opened for business to a restricted number of employee benefit consultancies.
The new company, called Ellipse, says it aims to differentiate itself from competitors by improving the adviser, employer and member service experience by modernising the way the business is handled.
Part of the Munich Re Group, but operating separately to its UK reinsurance businesses, Ellipse is undertaking a phased rollout, initially focusing on providing group life cover through a limited number of major employee benefit consultancies.
Stage two will add group income and critical illness contracts designed to integrate with benefit platforms, especially in the flexible benefits space. The third and final phase of the launch, currently scheduled for the second half of 2010, will see the introduction of web-based contracts available to all advisers.
Ellipse chief executive John Ritchie says: “As new and better ways of managing data and communicating benefits emerge, the ways in which employers and their consultants deliver benefits is also rapidly evolving. Ellipse’s processes and systems have been designed in response to this change. With no legacy systems to hold us back, we can supply a better, more efficient service to clients and positively impact adviser productivity.
“We want to avoid the problems suffered by insurers who have launched attractive products only to struggle with the volumes of business generated. By controlling the amount of business we quote for, we can ensure our service is where we want it to be. We will add resources as we broaden our product range and make it available to more advisers.”