Overview
Polaris UK is a digital trading standards and technology provider for the UK and Republic of Ireland general insurance markets. Operating as an industry-owned collaborative body, the company serves over 125 general insurance organisations including carriers, brokers, MGAs, and technology companies. Its technology underpins much of the digital trading infrastructure used across personal and commercial lines of UK insurance.
The company develops and maintains two core platforms. ProductWriter is a product build and distribution platform used by 70% of UK insurers to configure, rate, and distribute digital insurance products. imarket is a commercial lines e-trading platform connecting approximately 2,000 brokers with insurers for commercial policy placement. Together, these platforms process over 250 million insurance quotes daily and facilitate more than GBP 10 billion in GWP annually.
Polaris also develops and publishes UK General Insurance data standards used market-wide to enable interoperability between insurers, brokers, and software houses. Founded in 1994 and structured as a not-for-profit industry cooperative, the company draws on more than 1,000 hours of annual input from industry advisory groups.
Products & Services
ProductWriter
ProductWriter is a digital product build and distribution platform that enables UK insurers to configure, rate, and distribute insurance products across broker channels. The platform processes 250+ million quotes daily and generates over GBP 10 billion in GWP annually.
Key Features
- Product configuration and rating engine for personal and commercial lines
- Multi-channel distribution to broker systems and aggregators
- Standardised data exchange using Polaris digital trading standards
- ProductWriter Hub community portal for users
Target Users: UK and Republic of Ireland insurance carriers and product manufacturers
imarket
imarket is a commercial insurance e-trading platform that connects brokers and insurers for real-time placement of commercial policies. In 2024, the platform facilitated 530,000 policy transactions with GBP 449 million in GWP traded.
Key Features
- Real-time broker-to-insurer connectivity for commercial lines
- Standardised quote, bind, and policy documentation workflows
- IMIS (imarket MI Service) analytics dashboard for participants
- Access for approximately 2,000 commercial brokers
Target Users: Commercial insurance brokers and insurers across the UK
Digital Trading Standards
Polaris develops and maintains digital trading standards covering the main UK general insurance product landscape. Standards enable interoperability between insurers, brokers, MGAs, and software houses across the market.
Key Features
- Market-wide standards covering personal and commercial lines
- POD (Polaris Online Database) for accessing standards documentation
- Annual development cycle with over 1,000 hours of industry input
- Used by software houses to build compliant trading systems
Target Users: Insurers, brokers, MGAs, and insurance software developers across the UK
Live-Chat
Live-Chat is a secure, real-time communication tool for the UK insurance market that enables direct messaging between insurers, brokers, and MGAs within the Polaris ecosystem. In 2025, the platform recorded 438,000 chats initiated.
Key Features
- Secure messaging between trading parties
- Integration with imarket workflow
- Audit trail and compliance-ready communication logs
Target Users: Commercial insurance brokers and insurers
Polaris Sandbox
Polaris Sandbox is a virtual insurance environment where insurtechs, brokers, insurers, and MGAs can test product concepts and integrations with Polaris trading standards before going live.
Key Features
- Safe testing environment for new digital insurance products
- Access to Polaris standards and API integrations
- Open to insurtechs, brokers, carriers, and MGAs
Target Users: Insurtechs and new market entrants building on UK digital trading infrastructure
At a Glance
- Founded
- 1994
- Headquarters
- London, England
- Employees
- 11-50
- Funding
- Bootstrapped
Category & Focus
- Category
- Distribution & Sales
- Subcategories
- Digital Rater e-Trading Platform Industry Standards
- Insurance Verticals
- P&C Personal P&C Commercial
- Target Customers
- Carriers, Brokers, MGAs
Customers
- 70% of UK insurers (via ProductWriter)
- 2,000+ commercial brokers (via imarket)
- 125+ general insurance organisations across UK and Ireland
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Last updated: 2026-06-15