An insurance software firm and a provider of building cost data and estimating technology for property insurance have formed a partnership they say will improve the speed and workflow efficiencies for agents handling homeowners insurance applications.

Clients of Vertafore’s PL Rating software will have access to pre-filled property data using the Residential Component Technology of MSB, the building cost and data estimating technology firm based in New Berlin, Wisc.

Officials at MSB say the system will enable “one and done,” Insurance to Value processing by simultaneously accessing multiple carrier sites with whom the agent is licensed.

MSB will first pre-fill building characteristics and other information needed for completion of homeowners insurance applications using its InterChange service. Then, using MSB’s new Grand Central Express web-hosted network, estimate requests will be simultaneously routed to the appropriate MSB web-hosted sites for that agent, according to a company statement.

Jerry Fox

Agents will then simultaneously complete estimates of replacement cost from the appropriate carriers represented within MSB’s RCT Express service. Because of the immediate transfer to the relevant carriers’ RCT Express sites, allowing instant calculation of those carriers’ valuation processes within the PL Rating workflow, agents may reduce turn-around time while increasing the accuracy of the homeowners quoting process, the companies said.

“The agent will get accurate rates quickly so they can do their job of recommending products to clients instead of inputting data multiple times,” said Jerry Fox, vice president of agency operations for MSB, in a statement. “By combining Vertafore’s PL Rating and MSB’s Grand Central Express services, the partnership enhances the multi-company comparative rating process.”

The two companies have been working together for many years, but with the “exponential growth and the adoption of pre-filled data on by our clients on the auto side, this new agreement adds tremendous value to our customers for homeowners workflow enabling a much more seamless interview process,” said Dave Acker, vice president of ratings and connectivity at Vertafore, in a statement.

MSB, also known as Marshall & Swift/Boeckh, supplies local building cost information, residential and commercial property valuation technology, analytics and services for the property-casualty insurance sector in the United States and Canada. MSB has five offices throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Vertafore provides software and information to the insurance distribution channel including independent agents, brokers, managing general agents, carriers and reinsurers.