Martin Hall: ERS targets next £100m GWP through mobility, AI and cultural continuity

Martin Hall has taken the wheel at ERS, with no plans of easing off the accelerator.

Having joined the specialist motor insurer in 2018 as an active underwriter, Hall has helped steer the 80-year-old firm beyond £500m in gross written premium (GWP) for 2024 and was promoted to managing director in May 2025.

With its sights set on the next £100m, ERS is keeping pace with the future of motor, and insuring it along the way, with expertise ranging from semi-autonomous vehicle trials to embedded cover for e-scooter platforms.

Hall is clear on the direction of travel, with thoughts on the insurance implications of future mobility, smarter use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and a people-focused culture that garners broker trust.

Speaking to Insurance Times, Hall says: “We’re the leading specialist motor provider in the UK and we’ve [most likely] grown to over £500m of premium this year.

”We’ve made an underwriting profit in six out of the last seven years and generally outperform the UK motor market by 10 percentage points per year.”

Part of the reason for this success is strategy, with ERS taking a more selective approach to expansion that is grounded in data, broker relationships and underwriting discipline.

“We’re not really focused on growth targets,” Hall says.

“I’m more interested in making our own amount of profit and delivering good profits and good propositions to customers.”

That does not mean growth is off the table, however, and Hall says the business is “already insuring some of the trials of semi-autonomous cars” and playing a role in emerging forms of vehicle ownership and usage.

He continues: “We’re really at the forefront of short-term insurance in the UK. We’ve got four products where we write insurance that’s embedded in platforms, from micromobility and scooters in London to peer-to-peer leasing platforms.”

Hall sees this as central to ERS’s forward strategy.

He notes: “A lot of our growth has come from investments in digital trading and we want to continue rolling out digital products to make it easier for brokers to trade with us.”

The firm is now live as an insurance provider for Uber and is one of Jaguar Land Rover’s chosen insurers for its own brand proposition.

AI-powered underwriting

One of the most striking features of ERS’ current evolution is its commitment to advanced data modelling and AI – intended not to cut costs, but to enhance responsiveness and service for brokers.

Hall explains: “We’re well down that journey of AI and data science. We have embedded in our pricing models machine learning risk models, which, if you look back two or three years ago, people would have been taking three months to do a pricing model – now it’s done daily.

“I don’t really see AI for us as being [about] saving expenses and cost cutting. It’s really about improving the proposition for brokers, so we can get better data in quicker and get better responses – whether that’s pricing or acceptance – back to brokers and customers as quick as you can.”

ERS already uses AI to support data ingestion in claims and is extending automation across the policy lifecycle.

Hall adds: “We have extremely strong data and we know legacy IT. We’re very quick to spot any changes in performance and react to them as well – which again enables continuity and stability, which generally drives better results.”

Human capital, long-term trust

Despite its digital transformation, Hall says ERS remains rooted in a “very collaborative culture, not one that’s focused around hierarchies”.

He attributes internal talent development and low staff turnover as key components of the firm’s competitive edge. Recently, ERS has made internal promotions, with Annie Ward promoted to head of bespoke personal lines and agriculture  in June and Hall himself appointed as the new managing director not long after.

Hall explains: “All our senior appointments over the last five years have principally been internal promotions. We’ve got a good future development of people in our succession planning, even starting from people who join in our London or Swansea office.”

This continuity benefits brokers, too.

He adds: “People like to deal with people who know what they’re talking about and often speak to the same person that they spoke to previously. That continuity builds confidence.

“You’re measured on financial results. But I think there’s a very strong link between employee engagement and results as well. We have fantastic engagement and staff scores and we want to maintain that.”

Selective market play

Rather than enter the commoditised mass-market motor sector, ERS continues to lean into complex risk – a deliberate strategy that Hall says adds value.

He explains: “We’re very confident in our understanding of the risks that we underwrite and that can give us longevity and stability for brokers and for customers.”

With a portfolio split between commercial (55%), personal lines (35% to 40%), and motor innovation (5% to 10%), ERS has the flexibility to grow in how and where it chooses.

Hall adds: “We’re a really well-diversified business. That means we don’t have one common competitor and we can pick and choose the best opportunities to grow, or take a step back when needed to protect profitability.”

This includes everything from high net worth, prestige, performance and classic cars to fleets, agricultural vehicles, taxis, minibuses and specialist commercial vehicles.

Reflecting on the last financial year, he says: “We had a really, really positive 2023 year because of the actions we took in 2022. All that investment in data and pricing meant we could change our prices quickly.”