The London insurance market is arguably among the most important in the world. A new report from insurance software developer Xuber argues that position is in jeopardy because its major players don’t collaborate on how they handle big data generated by brokers and carriers.

Without collaboration on the use of big data, London insurers will stagnate in comparison with global rivals that have already embraced this approach, Xuber said in the first chapter of a “roundtable” report dubbed “Mind The Gap: The Changing Landscape of the London Insurance Market.”

Richard Clark, Xuber’s head of business development and specialist commercial, said in the report (based on a roundtable with insurers and brokers) that the London market has not yet succeeded in collectively leveraging “big data” for predictions, modeling and trend analysis. He said that the market would face a particular challenge in doing so over the next few years, even as rival markets advance quicker and further.

What’s holding up the evolution?

Clark said in a statement that London’s market is idiosyncratic and unique, something that has helped it in the past, but could hold up needed evolution involving big data.

“There is a deep sense of pride rooted within the London market; its idiosyncrasies provide it with a strong footing in a rapidly changing global market,” said Clark. “Having said that, the market faces several challenges over the coming years if it is to maintain its stronghold—and one of these is the need to utilize its data.”

Clark said that the London market will lose out unless it finds a way, because it generates enormous amounts of data through individual companies. Collective use of that data, leveraged with the London market’s business relationships, would give it a unique advantage in terms of data and how it conducts business, Clark said in the report. Even so, he called it a “Darwinian” challenge to figure out how to collectively use big data to stand out from other insurance competitors.

Once an added service, leveraging big data to give clients the information they need is now “rather integral to survival,” Clark said.

Xuber sells specialist commercial insurance software to the industry and is part of Xchanging plc, a business process, procurement and technology services company.