The London Market has long prided itself on, and been famed for, relationship-driven trading. Whilst there are many benefits to this approach, a lack of structure around risk conversations can create misunderstandings. Brokers believe they know what an underwriter wants. Underwriters assume their appetite is well communicated. In practice, both assumptions can be mistaken - and the market absorbs that inefficiency unknowingly in the form of missed opportunities, wasted underwriting time, and submissions that no party would have evaluated if all details had been considered. 

Richard Smith, chief product officer at Verisk Specialty Business Solutions (SBS), describes this as one of the market’s most consistent pain points. Drawing on experience from Lloyd’s managing agents, he notes that when underwriters feel confident their brokers understand their appetite, the reality rarely matches that confidence. “It varied from broker to broker, it varied from individual to individual within the same firm, and it was almost always wrong.” The result is a market where appetite is communicated through informal channels, trading relationships, and reputation – effective, but inherently inconsistent and difficult to audit. Whitespace Automation enhances these trusted mechanisms by making them structured, visible and repeatable. 

The consequences can impact all parties involved. Underwriters spend time reviewing risks they would never write, whilst brokers approach the wrong markets or miss markets that would have been receptive. Business is lost purely from a mis-signalling of appetite. As the market evolves, insurers without digitally supported processes risk being marginalised. Even basic appetite automation can unlock more of the business already flowing through the market. 

Appetite matching - part of the Whitespace Automation suite - addresses this issue directly. The solution is rules-based and two-sided: insurers configure their appetite in a rules engine, defining the classes, geographies, and risk characteristics they want to see. Brokers then request appetite responses before going to market with a full quote request, receiving an automatic yes, no, or possibly (with supporting commentary where relevant). The system audits and tracks every response and can sit alongside existing internal systems and platforms via APIs, meaning insurers are not required to operate exclusively through Whitespace. 

Lee Timms, head of platform integrations at Verisk SBS, emphasises that the data requirements are deliberately lightweight. “Brokers are going to be motivated to deliver the data because they want your response.” The solution is built around the minimum viable set of structured information needed for an insurer to express appetite with confidence. Deployment can be completed quickly, and every rule carries a kill switch, enabling carriers to pause signals when a risk limit or premium threshold is reached. 

Jody Wilkinson, head of customer experience at Whitespace, notes that appetite matching also changes the dynamic at quote stage. As a placement progresses, a second automated appetite check can be triggered for follow lines - surfacing interested insurers and filtering out those who have already declined. “Before they’ve even left the building, brokers have sight of appetite responses. They can start advising clients without needing to make the first call.” 

Appetite matching has the propensity to go beyond generating efficiency and could serve as a catalyst for establishing lightweight pre-placement data standards across the London Market. The recurring theme in discourse on the topic is that standards are more likely to emerge from practical use than from top-down mandate. As insurers configure rules and brokers adapt submissions to meet them, a working consensus around the minimum data needed to express appetite begins to form organically. 

Timms sees Whitespace facilitating that process. “Standards are better created by people practically using something.” Verisk SBS’s ambition is to establish the minimum per class that allows appetite to be expressed clearly and responded to automatically. Appetite matching is one approach to reducing the confusion, and misunderstandings, around data strategy. It can demonstrate the benefits of structured data immediately, and its uptake is only likely to increase. 

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