What can you do with imarket today?

The imarket service allows you to access many of the services on participating insurers' extranets, including stationery ordering, mid-term adjustments and claims tracking, with the same imarket password. Once you have logged on to imarket with just the one password and one log-in, you can simply click through to each extranet without having to go through all the individual insurers' security sign-on procedures (see Figure 1).

Get new business quotes

You can access quotes online using imarket in one of three ways:

- You can click through to quote capability on individual insurers' extranets

imarket offers a useful short cut to insurers' extranet quote services. Once you have logged on to imarket with just the one password and the one log-in, you can simply click through to each extranet without having to go through all the individual insurers' security sign-on procedures.

- You can fill in a single multi-insurer data capture form to get comparative quotes

You can access comparative online quotes for up to 11 commercial classes by filling in a single data capture form on the imarket website. This is then sent to all insurers you choose which offer that product, with subsequent responses sent to a separate secure inbox, known as iNotes (see figure 2).

- You can submit requests for comparative quotes through your software house system

If you have an office software system which has integrated with imarket, you can use the same data that you have already keyed in to your office system (without rekeying) to submit requests for new business quotes and policy documents. You can submit these to participating imarket insurers directly from your office system (see Figure 3).

NEW TO IMARKET? 10 TOP TIPS

Tip 1: Whenever you have found a search that you are likely to use on a regular basis, for example, a search for new business quotes on shops products from three insurers, you can simply click on the 'save' button to the right of the description. This will automatically save the search as a 'favourite' short cut link.

Tip 2: If you try to log in after the allocated time to change your password has expired, you will automatically get another chance to log in and reset the password yourself.

Tip 3: Make sure your CAPS LOCK key is not on when typing in your password - the system is case sensitive.

Tip 4: If you are going to use imarket to order stationery regularly, save the details to your hard drive before you press 'submit'. When you are ready to order again in future, you can simply click on the 'load' button to automatically upload the details.

Tip 5: If you want to request access from additional insurers, make sure you have an agency with them, and an agency number, and click on the 'register with new insurer' option on the menu on the left-hand-side of the page, when you are in the administration function.

Tip 6: Do not click on the left-hand side of the screen while you are filling out a form or you will lose all of the data that you have input.

Tip 7: Try to complete changes you are making before transferring to another activity, because imarket will time out after 45 minutes of inactivity.

Tip 8: Wherever you are on the imarket website, help is at hand. If you have any queries, simply click on the 'help' button in the top right-hand corner of the screen to launch the relevant frequently asked questions information.

Use the help available from the imarket support team on 0845 225 5766 if you cannot find what you need on the help pages.

Tip 9: Do not forget that your quotes will come back to your iNotes account rather than your usual e-mail address - why not set up a notification message to your usual e-mail address now?

Tip 10: imarket is for brokers, so please let us know how we can improve it by e-mailing us feedback at imarket.feedback@polarisplus.co.uk

WHAT DO BROKERS THINK OF IMARKET?

AILSA WATSON, COMMERCIAL BROKER, DOBSON AND HODGE

Has been using imarket for the past 18 months

"I use imarket every day. I find the system especially useful for quickly turning around quotes in some of our key product areas, such as shops and offices or tradesmen and liability.

"I like the fact that the site clearly lists products according to category. Whereas previously I would have had to do a site-by-site trawl, now I can simply click on the relevant category to see which insurers offer products in that area. That's definitely a time saver."

STUART SHAW, COMMERCIAL ACCOUNT HANDLER, LRG INSURANCE SERVICES, A MEMBER OF THE WILLIS COMMERCIAL NETWORK

"We access the portal through the internet and use it mainly as a short cut to all the insurers' extranets. It's much more convenient to have one central place with only one password to remember. With some insurers, you can even print off all the documentation from the same place, so it's a real start-to-finish solution."

DAVID WILLIAMS, PARTNER AT MOSCROP, ROBINSON AND CHADWICK

Has been using imarket to get new business quotes for small liability packages and shops and offices for the past year via Sirius

"For products at the smaller end of the market, it certainly helps to drive a lot of wasted administrative time out of the day - having to key in information only once makes us much more efficient as a team and saves everyone time and effort."

CHRIS BOOTH, GROUP DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, HINE BROKERS

The first broker to accept a live imarket transaction

"We have found integrated trading via imarket and Acturis advantageous when dealing with new client prospects. When we're speaking to clients for the first time, we invariably have little more than a 10 minute window of opportunity to obtain and provide information before they lose interest. With imarket we can turn around quotes in a matter of minutes and, in doing so, more often than not, we are one step ahead of the competition. It is no exaggeration to say that imarket is the future of our industry and we're benefiting at its inception."