Blueprint Two announces further delays, with an earliest go-live of 2028, says WCL’s James Willison

In an interview with Reinsurance News around RVS 2025, James Willison, Managing Director at Web Connectivity Limited (WCL), said the Velonetic build of the new Blueprint Two infrastructure was reported as being complete in May this year and the challenging testing phases could begin to prepare for a safe go-live. Further discussions included WCL’s initiatives to streamline digital distribution in both the Bermuda and London markets.

Founded in 2003, WCL, a Zywave company, provides messaging services to the London and global (re)insurance market. The company offers software solutions to organisations seeking to implement digital distribution, electronic accounting and settlement, and electronic claim initiatives.

Willison shared that Velonetic had previously announced completing the build of Blueprint Two’s new infrastructure and the project was now entering the testing phases.

He emphasised that there are only a limited number of windows each year when go-live can occur due to quarter ends, renewal periods, and other constraints, meaning a considerable amount of testing must be completed and appropriately signed off before any go-live, and the recent Lloyd’s announcement confirmed that market testing will not commence before 2026.

The recently announced delay has come to be expected in the market, given the complexity of the task and the need for the re-platformed technologies (which manage the premiums and claims paid in the market) to be accurate.

He stressed that the scope of Blueprint Two should not be underestimated, calling it “a once-in-a-generation transformation change for the market.”

At its heart, Blueprint Two Phase 1 is replacing core infrastructure (POSH and LIDS) some of which was first built in the 1980s, with modern technology, whilst maintaining the current messaging flows, including existing ACORD messaging capabilities, and nuances that are used today.

He continued, “Since EDI messaging was first used in the market many alterations have occurred to accommodate the needs of different insurance organisations and different message flows, as well as evolving nature of underlying risks. Many of these alterations have not been properly documented, and a lack of proper documentation combined with specific knowledge being held by individuals who are often no longer working in the market, has meant the build has been extremely challenging.”

Willison also discussed WCL’s work on streamlining digital distribution in key markets.

He explained that in Bermuda, many reinsurance brokers have developed —or are developing—their own trading platforms, including Aon’s ABConnect, Guy Carpenter’s Marketplace, and Lockton’s Sagelink. While these platforms provide a single process for brokers, reinsurers are required to log into multiple systems to access relevant placing submissions from different brokers.

“In November of last year, WCL arranged a workshop inviting brokers and reinsurers to discuss the future of digital distribution. Whilst there was a general consensus on the direction of travel, the key challenge posed was how and where to start the journey,” said Willison.

“A subset of this group, including three brokers and three reinsurers, agreed to work on an industry first solution with the support of WCL. This deliverable was to utilise a placing aggregator which allows the reinsurers to view submissions from different brokers in one place as well as provide access to all supporting documentation.”

This MVP is currently in User Acceptance Testing among the six parties, with more reinsurers expected to join this quarter, he revealed.

Willison added that similar distribution challenges exist in the London market, albeit with a higher prevalence of third-party platforms such as PPL, Whitespace, and Placing Hub, all widely used by brokers.

He explained, “The issue is that underwriters have to log into the different platforms to access their electronic placements. WCL have resolved this issue by providing a single hub which provides two-way connectivity to the various trading platforms and provides a single place for all placing submissions (including quotes, orders, signed line advices and endorsements).

“The outcome of having this single view is that downstream integrations to underwriter workbenches/Policy Administration Systems (PAS)s are greatly simplified. Once structured data is available from brokers in a consistent format, the real digitisation of the London market can begin.”

In a rapidly evolving technology landscape, Willison also commented on how WCL stays ahead in terms of innovation and ensures its offerings remain relevant and competitive.

“Most notably is staying close to our customers and understanding the challenges that they are facing. This is achieved through a combination of regular account reviews and user groups,” he said.

“Having been involved in all the major transformation initiatives in the London market and many in the global community over the last 20 years, WCL has a unique insight into the direction the market is moving in, especially as it transitions from document-centric to data-centric, and the implications this has for process efficiency and improving client experience.”

He noted that artificial intelligence (AI) is currently a key focus area for WCL, exploring its impact on the market.

“WCL is actively leveraging AI in a number of its current initiatives and has been able to demonstrate significant benefits to our customers,” Willison stated.

Looking ahead, Willison anticipates that evolving market demands will increasingly shape WCL’s strategy.

“As more structured data is made available from brokers in the placing process, the benefits of reusing this accurate data in (re)insurance processes will become increasingly obvious,” he said. “Once companies start to leverage data in risk selection, auto-follow, pricing, triage etc, then the demand for more data from more trading parties will increase dramatically.

“Once data is readily available in the placement process, there will be a drive to link and automate the placing process with the accounting and settlement, and ultimately the claims processes.”