RiskBlock Alliance adds 18 members, including major insurers

The RiskBlock Alliance, the distributed ledger technology consortium formed by The Institutes in Malvern, Pennsylvania, has seen 18 new members join, including several major insurance players, The Institutes said in a statement Monday.

Members of the alliance now include Munich Reinsurance America Inc., Chubb Ltd., The Hanover Insurance Group Inc., Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. and RenaissanceRe, the statement said.

Launched in 2017, the RiskBlock Alliance “seeks to leverage the blockchain to lower industry transaction costs while increasing the speed and security of data transfers among customers, industry stakeholders and third parties,” according to the statement. While initial members represent the property/casualty sector, the RiskBlock Alliance expects to expand to the life, annuity and retirement sectors later this year, the statement said.

The group delivered its first tool designed to establish proof of insurance in partnership with Nationwide Insurance in December 2017, and Alliance members are now evaluating this tool for wider rollout, the statement said.

Additional use cases focusing on first notice of loss, subrogation and parametric insurance are being developed, and the Alliance plans to bring each to some form of production in early 2018, the statement said.

“With the support of this broad range of industry partners, the RiskBlock Alliance will shepherd collaborative blockchain advancement in the insurance and risk management field, which will have a widespread impact on our industry and consumers alike,” RiskBlock Alliance Executive Director Christopher McDaniel said in the statement.

The alliance is one of several groups involved in the development of distributed ledger technology for the insurance and financial services industries.