Big four auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), announced that it has created a blockchain prototype for the London Market Target Operating Model (TOM) Innovation Exchange that demonstrates cost reduction and speeding up of payment processes in the specialized insurance market.

The blockchain Proof-of-Concept (POC) prototype was created by PwC’s team in Belfast that comprises of over 20 blockchain experts and engineers. The POC aims to enhance and develop interactions between various parties in the London Market who are involved in a claim process such as third party administrators, claims approvers and brokers.

“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,” Steve Webb, financial services blockchain leader at PwC, stated in the release.

The blockchain POC was completed over a six week period and the automated process includes the supporting documents, claim creation, invoice creation and approval or rejection of invoices, among others.

The blockchain trail used Smart Contracts in order to approve automatically the claims that met those pre-agreed statements and conditions. This resulted in reduced administrative costs and burdens as well as faster claims approval and payment. During the trial, several parties were offered different roles as well as permissions to view data. The parties agreed that certain claims approvals can occur automatically, with the rules in place.