For most insurance carriers, replacing a core system remains one of the most expensive and structurally consequential technology decisions they will ever make. The dominant market options are well known. They are also built on a shared economic foundation: recurring license revenue, platform roadmaps governed by vendor priorities, and delivery models that often separate software ownership from implementation accountability.
Combined Ratio Solutions (CRS) takes a materially different approach. Headquartered in Hartford, Conn., the company provides a full policy administration foundation— but without software licensing fees. Instead, CRS monetizes its business entirely through implementation, managed services and ongoing operational support. The result is a structure that places ownership, control and long-term alignment directly in the hands of the carrier.
Michael Jones, CEO, Combined Ratio Solutions, describes the company’s position not as oppositional to traditional vendors, but as a structurally distinct option for a specific segment of the market.
Michael Jones, CEO, Combined Ratio Solutions.
“We compete on business model,” Jones comments. “The traditional software market is built on recurring license revenue because that’s what drives valuation. That structure limits flexibility. We built CRS so that ownership and control sit with the customer, not with investors.”
A Foundation Without Rent
At the center of CRS’s model is OS Policy, its open-source policy administration system. The platform is available without licensing fees and is governed by CRS as a community project. Clients own their deployed code base, retain control over its evolution, and are not bound to mandated upgrades, forced platform migrations, or pricing structures tied to premium volume.
Jones says the implications of that ownership model are practical, not ideological.
“Open source means the carrier owns the code. They’re not beholden to a vendor’s acquisition strategy, pricing adjustments or product sunsets. They dictate their roadmap. That changes the entire power dynamic.”
CRS derives revenue from the work that follows: configuring the platform to carrier requirements, implementing new lines of business, managing infrastructure, and supporting production environments over time. The company also supports clients that choose to build internal engineering capabilities alongside CRS engagement.
“We sell the project and the managed services,” Jones notes. “And we’ll teach you to fish if you want that level of autonomy. We hope to keep earning the work, but we’re not holding anyone hostage with licensing.”
Why This Structure Resonates with Tier Two and Specialty Carriers
CRS focuses on tier two and tier three insurers, MGAs and specialty organizations—companies that often sit between homegrown legacy environments and the capital intensity of full enterprise platforms.
These organizations typically face overlapping constraints:
- Legacy systems that cannot support modern underwriting tools
- Limited tolerance for multi-year, high-eight-figure platform programs
- A growing need to integrate data-driven and AI-based decision support
- Pressure to launch and iterate product lines quickly
For these carriers, Jones says the value proposition is not about chasing vendor feature releases, but about establishing a stable, cost-controlled foundation.
“If you’re not spending millions on license fees, you can invest that capital in the tools that actually make you different—your underwriting intelligence, your analytics, your automation,” he says.
CRS works with clients across commercial property, specialty programs and managing general agency operations, where speed, product experimentation and operational control are central to competitiveness.
AI as a Capability Layer, Not a Marketing Label
While much of the current market discussion centers on agentic AI and workflow automation, CRS positions itself as foundational infrastructure rather than as a direct AI vendor.
Jones says the distinction matters.
“AI doesn’t replace the core. It feeds the core. You still need a stable policy system underneath everything. You can’t just bolt agentic AI on top of a broken foundation and expect real operational leverage.”
By maintaining an open, controllable core, CRS positions clients to integrate emerging underwriting, hazard and data-enrichment platforms without waiting on vendor release cycles.