Celebrating 30 Years: A reflection on Polaris’ journey

In 2024, we celebrated our 30th anniversary, taking a moment to reflect on our journey since our founding in March 1994. Back then, the insurance market was facing challenges in building and distributing digital insurance products, as there was no standardised approach. Fast forward to today, and we are proud to support over 125 general insurance organisations across the UK and Ireland, helping them to build, control and distribute their digital products effectively and efficiently.

To mark this milestone, we spoke to some long-standing members of our Polaris team who have been with us and the insurance industry for many years. The Insurance Age dedicated a week-long series to our journey , featuring interviews with industry leaders highlighting our growth and achievements. We also proudly referenced the milestone during our annual Polaris event that annually brings together the digital insurance community for a pre-Christmas celebration.

Celebrating 30 Years of Supporting Digital Trading: An Interview with the Polaris team

We sat down with Polaris team members—Simon Bloomfield, Jackie Childs, Lyn Thomas, and Mark Stroud—to reflect on the company’s journey over the years. They shared their unique insights into the challenges, achievements, and key lessons learned along the way. The discussion also covered how the insurance industry has evolved, highlighting the impact of our products—Standards, ProductWriter, imarket, and Live-Chat—on distribution and underwriting. Additionally, they explored the industry’s increasing technology and its role in shaping the future of insurance.

Read the full interview here.

Celebrating a combined 50 years at Polaris and in Insurance: Jackie Childs and Lyn Thomas

Last year, Jackie Childs and Lyn Thomas, our Senior Business Analysts, celebrated a combined 30 years at Polaris and over 50 years in the insurance industry. Their wealth of experience and knowledge have been instrumental in shaping both our company and the evolution of our Standards offering. They shared their insights into the significant changes they’ve seen in the industry and memorable projects that have defined their careers.

Read the full interview here.

Polaris at 30 – Week-long Series by Insurance Age

Insurance Age dedicated a week-long series to Polaris, highlighting our journey, key milestones, and product innovations. The series explored how we have helped shape the digital landscape for the insurance industry and our ongoing commitment to driving innovation.

As part of this special feature, our Managing Director, Vivek Banga and Senior Business Analyst, Jackie Childs, shared their insights on the evolution of digital trading and what the future holds. Industry leaders from across the insurance sector—including brokers, insurers, and technology providers—also reflected on the key moments that have shaped e-trading over the years.

Read the full series on Insurance Age here.

Read the full interview with Vivek Banga and Insurance Age here.

ProductWriter

Our clients have played a vital role in our success, and their feedback on ProductWriter, our market-leading rating engine, has been incredibly positive. Powering billions of insurance quotes, ProductWriter remains the go-to solution for two-thirds of the UK and ROI’s leading insurers and MGAs.

We spoke with Acturis, a trusted ProductWriter user for over 20 years, about how the software has helped them stay competitive and adapt to the industry’s evolving needs.

See what Acturis had to say below:

Find out more about ProductWriter here.

imarket and Live-Chat: Transforming how insurers and brokers connect and digitally trade

Today imarket enables brokers to transact over 550,000 commercial policies annually with insurer partners, making the process faster and more efficient and Live-Chat supports this by handling over 350,000 chats per year, allowing brokers to get real-time answers from insurers.

We looked back at how these innovations have enhanced the digital trading experience improving efficiency, service and response times for brokers and insurers alike over the years.

Watch the video here.

Polaris Annual Event – 30 years celebration with three hampers

At our annual pre-Christmas event, we celebrated our 30th anniversary by giving away three special Fortnum & Mason hampers in a special prize raffle, marking three decades of our journey. The event itself was a fantastic opportunity for us to thank our clients and industry partners for their continued support.

Read about the Polaris Annual Event 2024 here.

Thank You to All Those Who Supported Us

We want to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has supported us over the past 30 years—our clients, partners, and employees. Your trust, collaboration, and dedication have been the cornerstone of our success, and we could not have reached this incredible milestone without you.

We look forward to a future of continued innovation and growth

In 2025 and beyond, we remain committed to driving innovation in digital insurance distribution and e-trading. At Polaris, we’re excited about the opportunities the next 30 years will bring and look forward to shaping the future of the industry together.