Dublin, Friday 29th January 2008 - The New Year got off to a bright start for the Dublin Office of Ecclesiastical Insurance, the Gloucester- based insurance group, when they became the fourteenth and final business unit to go live on the Phoenix developed Underwriting solution based on Global360 technology. In parallel their Claims Handling team have implemented CHIPS2, the enigmatic name meaning Claims Handling Image Processing System phase 2 also delivered by Phoenix.

Ecclesiastical has long been proponents of the use of technology to improve operational efficiency throughout the organisation. The original CHIPS system dates from the mid 90s and enabled the company to handle the significant increase in claims year on year as they successfully grew their business.  The new Underwriting solution is the logical follow-on to claims handling as it utilises the infrastructure built for processing claims to remove paper from the entire process.  The new solution creates a single “Virtual Organisation” where any user, anywhere, can access documents and data associated with a claim or an underwriting task.  Business processes are standardised and optimised for maximum efficiency and ultimately, Ecclesiastical’s customers experience superior customer service.

Joe Gray, Intermediary operations Manager at Ecclesiastical commented “Superior customer service has always been the watchword at Ecclesiastical, and a rapid response to potential and existing customer requirements is a key part of that service.  The new system from Phoenix removes paper from our processes and makes underwriting files available instantly anywhere we have a linked PC. This will help us to make further improvements in the overall customer experience which we are confident will result in premium income growth and improved operating ratios.”

Brenda Reilly, Sales and Marketing Director at Phoenix said: “We are delighted to have worked with Joe and his team to implement this mission critical system. The key features in the project were a process, image and content management solution, rolled out across all the Ecclesiastical Regional Underwriting Centres throughout the UK and now Dublin.  The underlying technology is provided by our partner Global360.  The solution has delivered a system to replace paper files with electronic files and has allowed for sophisticated work management capabilities across the organisation.  The solution continues what is a valued partner relationship between us and Ecclesiastical and we look forward to working with them on subsequent projects.”

About Ecclesiastical Insurance Group

Founded in 1887 as an insurer of churches, Ecclesiastical Insurance Group has grown to become one of the largest British owned financial services companies. Based in Gloucester, with offices in several locations throughout Britain, Ireland and overseas, Ecclesiastical offers a broad range of personal and commercial financial services.

About Phoenix Technology Group

Phoenix Technology Group (Phoenix) is a leading provider of business solutions to the financial sector in the UK and Ireland. Set up in 1997 to address a need for specialist industry solutions, Phoenix has delivered many successful projects for a number of high profile customers in the Insurance and Banking Sectors.