Vitesse warns of insurance finance infrastructure gaps

Vitesse has published a white paper on weaknesses in insurance finance operations, focusing on how disconnected systems affect carriers, MGAs, TPAs, brokers, and capacity providers.

The paper argues that the core problem is structural, not procedural. Insurance groups now deal with more counterparties, delegated authority arrangements, currencies, and reporting demands, making the financial chain from premium collection to claims settlement harder to manage.

According to the report, firms are often left trying to match cash movements with incomplete or delayed data. It identifies four recurring fault lines across the insurance value chain: timing mismatches between cash and data, foreign exchange applied at the wrong point, policy amendments arriving after settlement, and inconsistent fields used for the same information across policy, claims, and finance systems.

Delegated authority

A central part of the analysis examines delegated authority models and the role of the bordereau. The paper argues that the bordereau serves as a live ledger between delegated authority and capacity, rather than simply a reporting document.

Late submissions, inconsistent formats, and missing reconciliation data can leave carriers and capacity providers making underwriting decisions without reliable figures. The paper also notes that the Financial Conduct Authority has linked claims-handling failures to weak management information from delegated parties, citing delays, complaints, and unclear accountability.

That puts added pressure on MGAs, coverholders, and TPAs, for whom bordereaux now function as compliance and governance tools as well as financial records. In that context, premium operations and claims finance have taken on a broader control role within insurance businesses.

The report outlines how a single premium payment may need to be matched to a policy, allocated across carriers or reinsurers, adjusted for commissions, converted between currencies, reported in a bordereau, and remitted to the correct party. If one reference is missing, reconciliation can become a manual exercise.

Claims funds

Claims finance presents a different set of issues. The paper says traditional loss-fund models tie up carrier capital in accounts managed by delegated claims administrators, creating delays when balances run short, triggering cash calls, and adding audit complexity across jurisdictions.

It also highlights fraud and payment friction in claims handling. Citing Federal Reserve data based on AFP survey figures, the paper says 63% of organisations experienced attempted or actual cheque fraud in 2024, while 91% still used cheques despite that exposure. Cross-border claims, it adds, often take five to 10 days to settle even as claimants expect same-day payment.

Vitesse argues that shared financial infrastructure can improve liquidity and reduce manual work. The white paper says cutting a claims funding cycle from three months to two weeks could release more than 80% of the capital sitting idle in loss funds.

It also says finance teams working from a shared ledger, rather than reconstructing activity from bank statements and bordereaux, can reduce reconciliation workloads. In its view, carriers gain clearer oversight, while MGAs and TPAs can provide counterparties with greater visibility into funds and faster payment processes.

Vitesse has built its business around insurance payments and finance operations. It says it has processed USD $20 billion in payments across more than 200 countries and currencies and returned hundreds of millions in claims funds to insurers' balance sheets.

The group also attracted fresh capital last year, securing USD $93 million in a Series C funding round led by KKR. The funding forms part of a broader push by financial technology providers to target operational bottlenecks in insurance administration and payments.

Curt Hess, President of North America at Vitesse, outlined the problem in the paper.

"Insurance finance has a visibility problem that predates most of the technology we are now layering on top of it. Carriers and capacity providers are routinely making decisions about capital without real-time sight of where their money actually is, and that is not a technology gap. It's an infrastructure gap, and this paper maps where the chain breaks and what it takes to connect it," Hess said.