Operated over a six-week period, the proof of concept focused on enhancing interactions between multiple different London market parties involved in claims processes, including third party administrators, claims approvers and brokers.

The automated process included claim creation, supporting documents, invoice creation and approval or rejection of invoices and was used to demonstrate Blockchain’s potential to make interaction between multiple parties in the claims process more efficient.

Blockchain is a digital ledger of transactions. Instead of everyone keeping their own records, it is mutual, with everyone involved sharing the same ledger of transactions. It operates by consensus, so if all parties agree that a transaction is legitimate, it is then added to the chain and cannot be altered after the fact. 

As part of the trial, parties were given different roles and permissions to view data. Smart contracts were used to automatically approve claims which met pre-agreed conditions. With rules in place that all parties have agreed, certain claims approvals can occur automatically, PwC said.

The proof of concept was developed by PwC’s Blockchain team in Belfast, which comprises 25 Blockchain engineers.

Steve Webb, financial services Blockchain leader at PwC, said: ‘This proof of concept demonstrates the potential for efficiency and the elimination of error and duplicated information. It shows how Blockchain can reduce costs and speed up the claims process in the London Market, allowing experts to focus on more value-add complex claims.’