Articles by Insurance Age staff
Review of the Year 2024: Woodgate and Clark’s Simon Jones
Simon Jones, client services director at Woodgate & Clark, explains why digital transformation is no longer a differentiator, circularity in property repairs is key to sustainable claims handling and a lack of air travel means Race Across the World is…
Review of the Year 2024: OneAdvent’s Tim Quayle
Tim Quayle, CEO of OneAdvent, raises his eyebrows over the BMS/DR&P deal; would stress the importance of proportionality to the FCA; and believes 2024 will go down as the Era of Stability.
Review of the Year 2024: VIPR Solutions’ Paul Templar
Paul Templar, co-founder and CEO at VIPR Solutions, would like to see the term ‘seamless integration’ consigned to 2024; predicts straight-through processing will become standard practice; and fancies his chances in the Dragons’ Den.
Review of the Year 2024: Flood Re’s Stuart Logue
Stuart Logue, interim CEO at Flood Re, reflects on its first Parliamentary drop-in sesson and the Flood Resilient Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show as well as sharing a prediction about Build Back Better.
Review of the Year 2024: Axa UK’s Paul Tombs and Matt Field
The Axa UK duo of Paul Tombs and Matt Field reflect on award wins; the fall-out of the Markerstudy-Atlanta deal and the success of its partnership with Liverpool FC.
Review of the Year 2024: Acrisure UK’s Mark McIlquham
Mark McIlquham, CEO of Acrisure UK, expresses disappointment at high-quality independent intermediaries selling to consolidators; still thinks a big insurer might snap up a broker; and reckons his children would take delight in watching him take part in…
Review of the Year 2024: SSP’s Martyn Mathews
Martyn Mathews, MD of SSP Broker reflects on disappointing vote-winning rhetoric, renaming the NEC the Mathews Arena, and asks whether the FCA might roll back a little on some of the principles of Consumer Duty and Fair Value
EY predicts motor market to return to loss again in 2025
The UK motor insurance market is expected to be profitable in 2024, following two years of losses, but then revert back to red ink, according to EY’s latest UK Motor Insurance Results.
Meet the MGA feature: Arc Legal
Arc Legal CEO Lee Taylor outlines the value in having a supportive parent of the scale of AmTrust; and why it makes sense to keep an eye on legislation and social changes in order to innovate and develop new products.
Review of the Year 2024: Commercial Express’s Duncan Pritchard
Duncan Pritchard, managing director of Commercial Express would like to leave the term underinsurance behind in 2024, reflects on the amount of time he spent trying to get Oasis tickets, and why it would make perfect sense to appear on TV’s Survivor.
Aviva claims Acturis API first with broker roll out planned for Q1 2025
Aviva has become the first insurer to create a claims application programming interface for integration with software house Acturis.
Review of the Year 2024: Markerstudy’s Gary Humphreys
Gary Humphreys, group chief underwriting officer at Markerstudy, hails the completion of the Atlanta deal, dreams of having the MGA’s brand adorn the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and mulls sitting on the sofa and doing Channel 4’s Gogglebox.
£1.3bn tech firm targets brokers with premium finance launch
Credit technology provider Abound has launched a new premium finance solution which it claims will “revolutionise” the sector by replacing “slow and outdated direct debit system with instant, automated payments”.
Review of the Year 2024: Ageas’ Middle, Linklater, Clarke and Beckett
The senior Ageas team wish the term ghost broking is never uttered again, hope for a sustainable ecosystem for the repair and re-use of electric vehicle batteries, and consider what an insurance brokers showstopper might look like on Great British Bake…
Close Brothers to launch digital commission disclosure consent solution
Close Brothers Premium Finance has announced plans to launch a new digital solution to help brokers fulfill their commission disclosure consent obligations.
Review of the Year 2024: Pen Underwriting’s Nick Wright
Nick Wright, chief development officer at Pen Underwriting, questions the market’s short memory with regards boom-and-bust; is interested in the future of PIB and pan-European consolidation; and offers a pitch to take part in Bear Grylls’s The Island.
Review of the Year 2024: Allianz Commercial’s Nick Hobbs
Allianz Commercial chief distribution officer Nick Hobbs is intrigued by Aviva’s Probitas deal, bemoans the continued presence of underinsurance and hopes that the term ‘insurer service’ is consigned to the clickbait dustbin.
Aviva has hit ‘strategic jackpot’ with £3.6bn DLG deal agreement, claims analyst
An analyst at investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown has described Aviva’s £3.6bn bid as a “golden ticket” for Direct Line Group shareholders.
Review of the Year 2024: Collegiate’s Richard Turnbull
Collegiate managing director Richard Turnbull expresses disappointment with the return of the ‘pay-to-play’ model in broking, surprise at Aon’s acquisition of Griffith & Armour and considers whether 2024 was the ‘era of repeating past mistakes’.
US insurance group looks to sign up MGA partners after UK arm gets PRA nod
US specialty insurer Fortega has received approval to establish Fortegra Insurance Company UK.
Sabre to launch new online direct brand in Q1 2025
Sabre has revealed plans to enter the direct motorcycle market with an online brand in Q1 2025.
Aviva has Xmas deadline for DLG offer after both agree prospective £3.6bn deal
Aviva and Direct Line Group have jointly announced that they have reached preliminary agreement on the financial terms of a potential acquisition of the latter by the former.
Review of the year 2024: Brown & Brown’s Sime
Chris Sime, group markets director at Brown & Brown Europe, predicts a UK consolidator could get taken out by a US broker, wonders why buyers continue to pay multiples on unrealistic Ebitda projections and mulls what a Blanc/Winslow reunion might look…
Roundtable: UK insurance broking – reshaping the future
As the post-Covid insurance-broking environment evolves, brokers are continuing to adapt to the new backdrop. A recent Insurance Age roundtable explored the challenges and opportunities, as brokers tackle today’s range of pressing objectives – and assess…