NBS Uses Heron to Cut Underwriting Time in Half

NBS has adopted Heron to automate submission intake across its broker portal, the companies announced in a press release.

NBS is a UK managing general agent with a book of about £120 million across more than 40 products. Before using Heron, brokers or underwriters manually entered risks into the portal, including professional indemnity submissions that required underwriters to check as many as ten documents.

Heron reads submissions sent by email, including proposal forms, presentations, and attachments. It then returns structured data into the NBS portal and flags items that need human review. A commercial combined case with up to 120 questions across multiple premises now returns in about two minutes.

NBS said underwriting time has fallen by about 50%, while underwriters now review 25% to 40% more cases per day. Professional indemnity turnaround moved from about four days to two, and commercial combined moved from one day to half a day.

NBS plans to roll Heron across all 40 products. It also projects that quote volume could rise 25% once every line uses Heron, equal to an estimated £8 million to £10 million in additional premium during the first twelve months.