United Kingdom (UK)
NBJ rebrands as Verlingue London Markets and adds senior quartet to team
Verlingue has relaunched its Lloyd’s and London market arm after rebranding NBJ London Markets and announcing several senior hires.
Momentum MD Pepper expects to reach £100m GWP by 2025
Momentum Broker Solutions is on track to reach the £100m gross written premiums milestone by the end of 2024, which is a year ahead of target, according to Howard Pepper, its founder and managing director.
People Moves: 30 October – 3 November 2023
Keep up to date with the latest insurance personnel moves.
Julie Page to lead UK and EMEA as Aon brings regions together
Aon has confirmed it will “bring together” the UK and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions on 15 November with Julie Page named as leader.
1st UK Broking to expand into Stoke
Fleet specialist 1st UK Broking is to open an office in Stoke-on-Trent in 2024 to add to its Sunderland base as part of its expansion plans.
Ex-Hastings boss Utley on Percayso investment and the state of UK motor market
Neil Utley’s investment in data intelligence provider Percayso Inform was spurred on by an understanding that the insurtech would have made his job a lot easier had it existed when he was chair of Hastings Direct.
Jensten closes One Broker deal and seeks more acquisitions in East Anglia
Jensten has completed the takeover of East Anglia-based One Broker Group, following approval from the Financial Conduct Authority.
FCA urges focus on Consumer Duty annual board report obligations
Nisha Arora, director of cross-cutting policy and strategy at the Financial Conduct Authority, has called on firms not to delay their preparations for the annual Consumer Duty board reports.
Opinion: How SME brokers can seize the opportunity of the regulators’ post-Brexit regime
The post-Brexit insurance regime has flushed out the unstable offshore insurers that once passported into the UK through Europe. Some of the hard-to-place risks will have less options, so brokers must now step up and show their worth.
First fall in years as UK commercial pricing slips 1% in Q3
Pricing in the UK commercial insurance market fell by 1% in the third quarter of 2023, ending years of market hardening, research by Marsh has revealed.
Former Axa and Groupama leader Laurent Matras joins Tesco Bank as CUO
Laurent Matras has returned to the UK market as chief underwriting officer at Tesco Bank.
Commercial combined rate rises slow down in Q3, according to Acturis
After almost two complete years where each quarter saw a positive movement of at least 5.0%, growth in average commercial combined premiums dropped to 4.0% in the third quarter of 2023, according to the latest Acturis Commercial Lines Index.
Ardonagh builds out in Europe with Swiss deal
Ardonagh has signed up to buy Assepro, describing it as the largest independent commercial broker for SMEs in Switzerland.
HNW market seeking more guidance, says Ecclesiastical
Some 67% of high-net-worth collectors want more art and collections risk guidance from their insurer or insurance broker, which presents an opportunity for brokers, according to research by Ecclesiastical.
Movo Partnership hits £100m GWP ahead of target
Movo Partnership network has hit its £100m gross written premium target months earlier than originally planned.
RSA launches mid-market PI product for contractors
RSA has launched a design and construct professional indemnity product.
Brokers pledge to stop sharing building commissions and cap fees
Five top 100 UK broking groups have pledged to end sharing building insurance commissions with landlords and to cap fees. However, many others have not signed up including Gallagher UK who has refused to back the pledge in its existing version over…
EY: 2022 was worst year on record for UK home insurer profitability
The UK home insurance market faced the worst performing year on record in 2022 with a loss-making net combined ratio of 122%, according to EY’s annual UK Home Results Analysis.
NFP expands in West Midlands with second deal this month
NFP has bought Resolute Insurance Services, an independent insurance broker based in the West Midlands, further growing its presence in the region.
Applied Net 23: Priority number one has been, is, and will be commercial – says Europe CEO Tom Needs
Achieving parity with competitors on commercial panel size, and boosting the Epic broker base to 150 in the UK, are the twin targets for Applied Systems Europe in 2024, CEO Tom Needs has confirmed.
My Insurance Downtime: Jade Sugg, account handler at Russell Scanlan
A Nottinghamshire native and avid paddleboarder, Jade Sugg, account handler at Russell Scanlan, shares an insight into life outside the broker’s Wellington Circus home.
People Moves: 23 - 27 October 2023
Stay in the loop with the latest insurance personnel moves.
What can MGAs learn from the latest turbulence among capacity providers?
The problems at Accredited and Vesttoo highlight the need for managing general agencies to have good risk management in place on their capacity arrangements.
Financial uncertainty ranked as the biggest concern for UK businesses, according to Marsh
Companies across the UK are the most concerned about the impact of financial uncertainty (34%) over the next year, knocking people-related risks (31%) off the top spot, according to the 2023 Marsh UK Business Risk Report.