How one global insurer reduced credit control costs by over 70% through automation.

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Customer:
Large Insurer
Region:
New Zealand

Outcomes a glance.

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72% reduction in credit control costs. 
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Unallocated cash reduced to below KPI targets for the first time.
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Doubtful debt provision reduced. Cleaner books, fewer write-offs.
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200+ Grappler users across underwriting, finance, and credit control.
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Scaled with less. More brokers, more volume, less people.

The challenge.

"The manual processes were labour-intensive and error-prone. We knew we couldn't scale this way."

- Large Insurer

Before Grappler, the finance team relied entirely on manual processes for broker reconciliation and credit control. Every broker payment had to be manually ticked off against bordereaux (broker remittance statements) and totals reconciled line by line in spreadsheets.

Business volume was growing, including onboarding a large broker with complex coinsurance arrangements and the existing manual processes were becoming more and more unsustainable. The credit control team couldn't keep up. Unallocated cash balances were climbing, KPIs were being missed and the provision for doubtful debts was increasing.

At its peak, the finance operation required 18 people - 6 in head office credit control and 12 in an offshore shared services team dedicated to broker reconciliation.

The solution.

The company implemented Grappler in 2015, initially to solve an immediate scalability problem with one large broker's bordereaux file. Grappler's automatic upload and allocation (including coinsurance splits) eliminated the manual ticking and matching that had taken hours every day.

The results were immediate. Over the following three years, the company gradually migrated all broker remittances to Grappler. By 2018, the use of the offshore shared services credit control team was disbanded entirely and the system was adopted across the full New Zealand business.

Today, Grappler is used by over 200 people across underwriting, finance and credit control teams.

The results.

"We've been able to handle more brokers and business growth without adding staff."

- Large Insurer

1. 72% reduction in credit control costs

The team downsized from 18 people to 4, delivering substantial cost savings to the business.

2. Unallocated cash brought under control

Automation and improved processes reduced unallocated cash balances, bringing them below previously missed KPIs, and reducing the provision for doubtful debts.

3. Real-time visibility for proactive management

Through dashboards and reporting tools managers and underwriters have visibility into unallocated items, outstanding payments and broker performance. Issues are caught and resolved faster, not discovered at month-end.

4. Better broker management

The team can monitor broker payment behaviors, identify trends (like repeated late payments) and engage with brokers  proactively to address issues before they escalate.

5. Scaled with a smaller team

The company has onboarded many more brokers and handled increasing business volume but the benefits of automation and more efficient processes Grappler has delivered means the team remains the same size.

6. End-to-end process transparency

From policy booking to cash receipting and month end reporting. Grappler provides visibility across credit control, claims processing and compliance - not just reconciliation.

What's next.

The company is aiming for higher rates of auto-allocation through ongoing process improvements. They're implementing additional automation features, including claims receipting, and are looking to roll out Grappler's functionality to other shared services teams.

See Grappler in action.

Book a demo to see how the Grappler handles your specific insurance accounting workflows. Or if you have questions about implementation or integration, talk to our team.

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