MGA Insurance Software Guide: Faster Product Launch

MGAs 101: The Need For a Specialized Approach

Unlike traditional insurers, MGAs operate under delegated authority from carriers, giving them the power to manage entire insurance lifecycle: underwrite, price, and manage policies for niche products.

What makes MGAs unique is their hybrid role.

They combine the agility and innovation of insurtechs with the regulatory and underwriting backbone of established carriers. MGAs act as intermediaries who bridge the gap between insurers and distribution networks — brokers, agents, or embedded insurance partners — providing niche products that might be too specialized or small-scale for large carriers to manage directly.

Their structure enables fast market entry and product experimentation.

For example, an MGA can quickly launch new coverage for emerging risks such as AI liability, climate-related damages, or gig economy protection, without the lengthy approval processes typical for large insurers.

Off-the-shelf policy administration system built for general insurance often don’t fit the unique way MGAs operate.

If your products aren’t “one-size-fits-all,” and your software shouldn’t be either.

You need tools that support the essentials – policy management, endorsements, renewals, claims management – but also let you innovate, configure quickly, integrate with partners and eventually enable true business growth.

The bottom line: MGAs thrive when their technology enables them to act quickly, respond to market gaps, and deliver highly customized insurance offerings.

What Features Does an MGA System Need?

MGAs operate in a very different way than traditional insurers.

They often deal with unique insurance products that can’t be handled effectively by generic, one-size-fits-all tools. That’s why MGA systems need to be more than just standard claims and policy management software.

The right setup combines document management, seamless integrations, and flexible customization so your team can focus on growth instead of fighting with outdated tools.

Key features every MGA system should include:

Integration with Carriers

Because your authority comes from carriers, your MGA system needs to sync seamlessly with theirs.

But the scope of integration doesn’t stop there.

A modern MGA system should also connect with third-party software – think accounting tools for premium reconciliation or compliance reporting. It should even reach into external data enrichment services.

For example, pulling vehicle information automatically by VIN number, or using geospatial data about land plots for property underwriting.

These integrations turn your platform into a comprehensive solution, reducing errors, saving time, and giving underwriters and agents the accurate context they need to price and manage policies effectively.

This is why robust integration is the single most important feature an MGA system can have.

Customizability of the Software

No two MGAs are alike, which makes customization critical.

An MGA system has to adapt to your workflows, not the other way around.

Whether it’s configuring underwriting rules, automating renewals, or setting up document management for different product lines, flexibility is what makes the system work for your business.

A rigid platform only slows down innovation, as this issue is especially pronounced in MGAs.

Tailored Dashboards

Finally, you need visibility.

Tailored dashboards allow your team to track performance, monitor claims, and identify opportunities in real time.

Instead of drowning in raw data, your MGA system should translate numbers into actionable insights.

Whether you’re an underwriter, agent, or operations manager, the dashboard should give each role exactly what they need to make better decisions, faster.

Here also customizability is key – it’s important to tailor your agent portal screens so that each user sees only the most relevant information and tools.

Automation and Workflow Management

MGAs deal with numerous repetitive and compliance-heavy tasks. Automating workflows — from policy issuance to renewal reminders and claims triage — saves time and ensures process consistency.

A good system should support configurable automation rules, so your team can focus on higher-value activities like risk assessment and product innovation instead of manual data entry.

Scalability and Multi-Line Support

Successful MGAs often expand rapidly, adding new products or entering new markets. Your software must scale easily — supporting new insurance lines, currencies, and carrier integrations without major redevelopment.

This flexibility ensures you can respond quickly to market demand and onboard new partnerships without disrupting existing operations.

Build your MGA Faster and Smarter

Traditional software development for MGAs often feels cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming.

Too much time goes into plumbing that doesn’t create competitive value—authentication, role-based access, dashboards, baseline data models, and boilerplate integrations—before you even touch product rules or UX.

There’s a better route: modern insurtech platforms like Openkoda ship the undifferentiated heavy lifting so your team can focus on the parts that move the needle – underwriting logic, distribution flows, and partner integrations.

Openkoda Features for MGAs

Openkoda is built to accelerate MGA software development while preserving full flexibility. Below are key features especially useful to MGAs:

• Pre-built Insurance Templates - Domain-specific templates for policy management, claims, underwriting dashboards, embedded insurance, and more help skip base-level development.
• API-First Integration Layer - Fully developed APIs allow you to plug into carriers, third-party data providers, accounting systems, and distribution channels with minimal friction.
• Open-Source, Customizable Core - Because the core is open and built on familiar stacks (Java, Spring Boot, JavaScript, PostgreSQL), your developers can tweak UI, business logic, and data models directly without hitting configuration ceilings.
• Full Ownership & No Vendor Lock-In - The MIT open-source licensing model ensures you’re free to evolve the system as your product line evolves — you aren’t tied to someone else’s roadmap.
• Speed to Market Gains - Many organizations using Openkoda report launching new products up to ~60 % faster compared to building from scratch, because the undifferentiated infrastructure is already in place.

These features let MGAs preserve the control they need while accelerating delivery and reducing wasted effort.

Building MGA Insurance Software with Openkoda: Practical Example

Let’s imagine your MGA wants to introduce a new specialty line: cyber insurance for small e-commerce businesses. It’s a growing market, but traditional insurers move too slowly to meet its fast-changing risks.

With Openkoda, you can start building immediately — without reinventing the wheel.

First, your team uses Openkoda’s** policy and claims templates** as the backbone for your new cyber product. Instead of coding basic modules from scratch, you simply define your product logic: coverage tiers, exclusions, and dynamic pricing rules based on factors like company size or online transaction volume.

Next, you configure integration with carrier systems to handle delegated authority and reinsurance arrangements. Through Openkoda’s ready-to-use API layer, this step takes days instead of weeks. You can also connect to external data providers to enrich your underwriting — for instance, pulling cybersecurity scores or website vulnerability data to automate risk assessment.

Once your p*roduct logic and integrations are set*, you customize dashboards for underwriters and agents, allowing them to track policy performance, claims trends, and exposure in real time. Built-in automation handles policy renewals and sends alerts when clients’ risk scores change, enabling proactive engagement.

Within a few weeks, you have a working system tailored to your MGA’s product vision — not a generic insurance platform that you need to bend into shape.

That’s the power of Openkoda: you build faster, iterate freely, and bring specialized products to market while keeping full control over your system and your roadmap.

To see how Openkoda can modernize your MGA book your own personalized demo in the link below:

Openkoda Demo