Case Study 6
100% Accuracy in International Commission Payouts
Lloyd's of London business is not simple. Commission structures for international agency arrangements involve multiple currencies, syndicate-specific agreements, complex tiering, and Bordereau reporting requirements that Lloyd's takes seriously. For a carrier growing its international book, managing this manually was becoming untenable.
The finance team responsible for international agency settlements had built a spreadsheet-based process that worked — barely — when volume was low. As the Lloyd's book grew, the spreadsheet grew with it. Reconciliation took longer each cycle. Errors crept in. A payout discrepancy with a Lloyd's syndicate partner is not a minor administrative issue. It is a relationship-threatening event in a market where reputation is currency.
The head of international operations had escalated the risk twice. The third time, she brought a specific example: a commission miscalculation on a multi-currency bordereau that had taken three weeks to identify and correct, and had required a senior relationship management conversation to resolve. That escalation got budget approved.
A custom rules engine was developed to automate commission calculation across all Lloyd's agency arrangements. Each syndicate's commission structure was configured as a rule set, enabling new arrangements to be added without code changes. Multi-currency handling was built directly into the framework, with consistent exchange rate logic applied across all calculations.
Bordereau report generation became an automated output of the rules engine. When a settlement cycle closed, the Bordereau was produced by the system — not assembled manually from a spreadsheet.
Custom Rules Engine | Multi-Currency Framework
Commission payout accuracy reached 100% across all international agency settlements following implementation. The manual reconciliation process was eliminated entirely. Bordereau reports that previously took days to prepare were produced in minutes.
The Lloyd's syndicate relationship that had been strained by an earlier miscalculation was formally noted as restored at the next annual review meeting, with operational improvements specifically cited.
The head of international operations closed her project sign-off with a note that has since been shared internally more than once: "We no longer dread month-end. That alone was worth it."
In a market built on trust and precision, getting the numbers right every time is not a feature. It is the minimum requirement for staying in the room.
