Insurer shed millions of GWP on RIAS and Castle Cover exit
Legal & General (L&G) lost several million in gross written premiums when Ageas took underwriting for its brokers RIAS and Castle Cover in house.
Ageas disbanded the insurer panels for RIAS and Castle Cover’s home and motor business in the third quarter of 2013, and installed itself as the sole underwriter for the two over 50s brokers’ home and motor products.
It is understood the move contributed to L&G’s 3% drop in general insurance gross written premium (GWP) to £178m (2013: £183m).
But L&G general insurance director Mark Holweger said that the company has almost filled the gap caused by exiting the brokers’ panels.
He declined to specify the amount of premium lost by the panel exits, but described it as “quite a considerable amount of premium” in the “multiple millions”.
The fact that GWP only fell 3% in the first half showed that L&G had been able to make up most of the lost ground, Holweger said.
He told Insurance Times: “We have pretty much made up that gap by growing through other brokers. We have had growth through our intermediary distribution and also our direct distribution.”
Another headwind affecting L&G’s general insurance GWP in the first half was continued heavy price competition despite the first quarter weather losses.
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