What to look for in an insurance pricing platform: a buyer's checklist

Choosing a pricing platform affects how quickly you can launch products, how safely you can change rates and how easily you can explain your prices to customers and regulators. Demos tend to show the best parts of each product. A checklist helps you compare platforms on the same terms.

This checklist is grouped by area. For each item, ask the vendor to show it working rather than describe it.

Model build

Can the platform build a model from your actual source material, such as a rating guide, spreadsheet rater or rate filing?
Who builds the model: your team, a partner or the vendor?
How are rate tables loaded? Can you upload and download them as CSV?
Can a pricing actuary or underwriter read the finished model without reading code?
Which rating steps are supported, such as lookups, calculations, declines, referrals, excesses and endorsements?
How long does it take from a signed-off rating guide to the first live quote?

Testing

Can you store test cases with each model, with expected results to the penny?
Do tests run automatically when the model changes?
Can you see which tests passed and failed, with the actual and expected values side by side?
Can declines and referrals be tested as well as prices?

Testing is the most reliable way to know a model is right. Our article on regression testing for insurance pricing explains what a good test suite looks like.

Versioning and approvals

Does every change create a new version, with the previous versions kept?
Can you edit a draft without affecting live quotes?
Is there an approval step before a version goes live, and is it recorded who approved it and when?
Can you roll back to a previous version quickly?
Does every quote record which version priced it?

Explainability and debugging

Can you see how any individual price was calculated, including each input, lookup, formula and rule?
Are warnings shown when a lookup finds no match or a formula falls back to a default value?
Can a complaints team or an auditor follow the explanation?

Ask the vendor to show the trace for a real quote. Our quote debugging guide shows what a full trace can include.

APIs and channels

Is there a documented, real-time API for quoting?
Is there an OpenAPI specification you can import into your own tools?
Can the same model serve your website, embedded forms, broker platforms and aggregators?
Can you price without saving a quote, for testing and integrations?
Can you search and analyse quote history?

AI and MCP

Does the platform use AI in the build process, for example to extract rate tables or draft models?
Is every AI change reviewed and approved by a person before it goes live?
Can AI clients such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor connect through an MCP server?
What can an AI client do: read models, price quotes, run tests, edit drafts? Can it publish? It should not be able to.

Our MCP page lists the tools an AI client can use on Ptally and the limits on each.

Performance and reliability

What are typical quote response times, and how do they hold up at peak aggregator traffic?
Is there a status page with uptime history?
How is the service monitored, and how are incidents communicated?
Where is the platform hosted, and can it meet your data residency needs?

Commercial terms

What do you pay before the first live quote?
Is implementation included or charged separately?
What do rate changes cost?
How does the price change as quote volumes or premium grow?
What is the minimum contract term?

Our article on rating engine costs covers these in more detail.

Support and expertise

Does the vendor have pricing specialists, or only software support?
Who handles rate changes after launch?
What are the support hours and response times?
Can you speak to existing customers with a similar product?

Using the checklist

Score each platform on the items that matter most to you. For an MGA launching a first product, the most important items are usually time to launch, upfront cost and who does the work. For a carrier with a large in-house team, version control, approvals and APIs may matter more.

Getting started

Ptally covers every item on this list, with no implementation fee and nothing to pay upfront. Talk to our team and we will take you through each one using your own product.