Insurance Technology Consulting
Insurance technology consulting helps insurers, MGAs, brokers, and insurtech startups modernise how policies are sold, administered, and serviced. StepTo designs and builds the software behind that change—digital distribution, claims automation, underwriting workbenches, and integrations with legacy core systems. Our Serbian engineering team delivers insurance-grade software at $35–75/hr, typically 40–60% below Western European and US rates, while working in the CET timezone alongside your business and compliance teams.
Insurance Software We Build
- Policy administration workflows: Product configuration, mid-term adjustments, renewals, endorsements, and cancellation flows—built as modern modules alongside or on top of your existing core.
- Claims automation: FNOL (first notice of loss) intake across web and mobile, document and photo upload, triage rules, fraud-flagging hooks, adjuster workbenches, and payment integration to cut claim cycle times.
- Underwriting platforms: Rating engines, referral rules, risk questionnaires, third-party data enrichment (credit, vehicle, property, sanctions lists), and underwriter dashboards with full decision audit trails.
- Quote-to-bind portals: Direct, agent, and broker channels with real-time quoting, e-signature, online payment, and instant policy document generation.
- Customer self-service: Policyholder portals and mobile apps for documents, payments, claims status, and coverage changes—reducing call-centre load.
- Insurance data & reporting: Warehouse pipelines and dashboards for loss ratios, portfolio performance, and regulatory reporting inputs, exportable to Power BI or Tableau.
Core System Integration & Modernisation
- API layers over legacy cores: REST/GraphQL facades over mainframe-era policy systems so new digital channels can launch without core replacement.
- Vendor platform integration: Connecting portals and automation to Guidewire, Duck Creek, Sapiens, or regional policy administration systems via their APIs and messaging interfaces.
- Incremental migration: Strangler-pattern modernisation that moves one product line or process at a time, keeping the business running throughout.
- Ecosystem connectivity: Payment providers, e-signature, KYC/AML services, reinsurance bordereaux exchange, comparison sites, and bancassurance partner APIs.
Engagement Models & Pricing
- Discovery & advisory: 2–4 week technical assessment of your current landscape with a costed modernisation roadmap—useful before committing to a build.
- Project delivery: Fixed-scope builds (a claims portal, an agent platform) typically running 3–9 months at $35–75/hr blended rates.
- Dedicated team: From $13,500/month for a cross-functional team that owns your insurance platform long-term—see our pricing page for details.
- Staff augmentation: From $4,500/month per engineer to add backend, frontend, or QA capacity to your in-house insurtech team via staff augmentation.
Why StepTo for InsurTech?
- Regulated-industry experience: Our teams build software for insurance and fintech clients where auditability, data protection, and uptime are contractual requirements, not nice-to-haves.
- Legacy-friendly engineering: We are comfortable bridging modern stacks (Node.js, .NET, React, PostgreSQL) with the batch files, SOAP services, and message queues that real insurance estates run on.
- CET timezone: Real-time collaboration with European insurers and same-day overlap with US East Coast teams.
- Continuity: Insurance platforms evolve for years. Our dedicated team model keeps the engineers who know your rating logic and product quirks on your account.
How an InsurTech Project Runs
- Discovery & compliance mapping (2–4 weeks): Product walkthroughs with underwriting, claims, and distribution teams; inventory of core systems and data flows; regulatory requirements captured as acceptance criteria.
- Architecture & integration design: API strategy against your core systems, data model for policies and claims, and security model reviewed with your compliance function before code is written.
- Iterative delivery: Two-week sprints with working software demos; the riskiest integration (usually the legacy core) is proven first, not last.
- Parallel run & UAT: New workflows run alongside existing processes with real cases; underwriters and claims handlers validate outputs before anything is switched over.
- Go-live & hypercare: Phased rollout by product line or region with monitoring, rollback plans, and daily check-ins during the first weeks.
- Evolution: New products, channels, and regulatory changes delivered by the same team that built the platform.
FAQ: InsurTech Consulting
- How much does an insurtech development project cost?
- A focused project such as a quote-to-bind portal or a claims intake workflow typically runs $40,000–$120,000 over 3–6 months. Larger initiatives—replacing a policy administration module or building a full digital distribution platform—range from $150,000 to $400,000+. StepTo engineers bill $35–75/hr, which usually means 40–60% savings versus Western European or US insurtech vendors for the same scope.
- Can you integrate with legacy core systems like Guidewire, Duck Creek, or an in-house mainframe?
- Yes. Most of our insurance work involves building modern layers around existing cores rather than replacing them. We integrate through vendor APIs where they exist, and build API facades, message queues, or batch-file bridges (including fixed-width and EDI formats) where they don’t—so new portals and automation ship without a risky core migration.
- Do you build quote-to-bind portals for policyholders and agents?
- Yes. We build digital self-service journeys covering quoting, underwriting questions, document upload, e-signature, payment, and policy issuance—for direct-to-consumer products as well as agent and broker channels with commission tracking and delegated authority rules.
- How do you handle regulatory and data compliance?
- Compliance requirements (GDPR, Solvency II reporting inputs, IDD documentation rules, local supervisory requirements) are captured during discovery and treated as acceptance criteria, not afterthoughts. We implement audit trails, data retention policies, role-based access, and encryption at rest and in transit as standard, and we document data flows so your compliance team can sign off before go-live.
- What engagement model works best for insurance projects?
- For a defined project such as a claims portal, a fixed-scope delivery works well. For ongoing platform work, most insurers choose a dedicated team from $13,500/month or staff augmentation from $4,500/month per engineer, so the people who learned your products and rating logic stay on the account long-term.