Michelle O’Reilly: Looking over the add-on sector with a ‘lawyer’s eye’ from Alps

The UK general insurance market (UKGI) has been accused of struggling to open its arms to new talent, with opportunities for young people to gain first-hand experience of the industry often scarce.

But, if ever there were a testament to the mileage of providing work experience opportunities, it would be Michelle O’Reilly, managing director at add-on provider Alps, who first experienced the industry at 15-years-old in the same firm she now leads.

And, following qualifying as a solicitor in 2010, O’Reilly went on to contribute to the launch of one of the first alternative business structures in the UK, Alps Legal Practice in 2014, while simultaneously becoming one of the youngest managers to be authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority at the age of 25.

Fast forward seven years and she became operations director at the MGA, where she oversaw the claims team until December 2024, when former managing director Ian Micklewright left the firm and “the opportunity arose” for O’Reilly to take on the mantle.

Nearly two years into the role, growth has been firmly on O’Reilly’s agenda, with Alps hitting £7m in gross written premium (GWP) in 2025 and experiencing a 13% increase in its ebitda over the last 12 months.

Seeing this growth as a partial result of the increasing demand for add-ons in a softening market, O’Reilly expects to see this growth trajectory “double” its GWP within the next three years by “expanding distribution, signing up more new accounts, new business acquisition and product development”.

“The soft market is impacting add-on insurance in a positive way,” O’Reilly tells Insurance Times.

“We’re seeing a lot of brokers tending to add it as a differentiator to their customers.

”We’re even seeing, in some instances, that brokers are either including that as a free product for their customers, or they are charging a lot less in terms of commission than they previously have, so [the soft market is] driving the price down while the demand is up.”

New demands 

Originally starting with add-on insurance in motor market as its primary product, O’Reilly says that Alps “continued to develop the product range to expand into the let property, commercial and personal add-on markets as well”.

And, in 2026, the MGA has already launched eight products so far, with O’Reilly “aiming to launch another six new products this financial year” to meet “new demands and markets” for brokers.

One of the biggest product demands for the firm was its rent guarantee and landlord legal expenses add-on covers, which she explains was “completely restructured and evolved to cater and meet the demands of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025” that came into force in May this year. 

The legislation introduced reforms including the abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and laid down greater rights for tenants in England.

With a boom in interest in the product following the abolishment of Section 21, Alps saw landlord legal sales increase by 50% in Q1 this year in comparison to 2025.

Despite the popularity of renter’s products, O’Reilly says that the “fastest-selling new product that’s come to market” was the launch of pothole cover on 31 March 2026 which saw “the first policy sales taken out within 48 hours”.

This includes single vehicle pothole cover and bespoke schemes for self-drive hire, she explains, with plans to launch fleet pothole cover “coming soon”.

One product line proving less lucrative, however, is the MGA’s guaranteed asset protection (gap) insurance. The optional add-on covers the shortfall between a motor insurer’s settlement after a vehicle is written off or stolen and either the vehicle’s original purchase price or the outstanding finance owed.

Returning to the Gap market following FCA-mandated suspension of sales in February 2024, O’Reilly says “the volumes haven’t returned to what they were prior to the regulatory intervention” which saw around 80% of the market temporarily suspend sales due to widespread fair value concerns.

However, she adds that the MGA is continuing to “educate the market” that it is a “fair value product if sold in the correct manner” and believes that broker distribution “wasn’t the issue with gap – it was the dealerships”.

She continues: “Brokers are a little bit nervous about reselling gap as a product, but there’s definitely opportunity because a lot of the dealers are not selling it anymore, they’ve moved away from it, which gives the broker the opportunity if they’re selling the insurance.

“It’s a product that I’ve purchased myself so I have faith in the product and I don’t think that customers should risk that underinsurance from a finance point of view, especially with electric vehicles it’s becoming a real issue that people are owing more on their finance agreements.”

‘Lawyer’s eye’

From her roots as a solicitor, and noting the firm’s integrated legal services, O’Reilly asserts that opportunities for product development always present themselves as Alps are “always looking for risk – and, as part of risk, comes insurance”.

Spotting opportunities for potential products in response to broker demand, she says that “there is definitely more that will be coming soon around let property” as the firm is currently looking at “the increase of short-term lettings” such as “Airbnb- all-day lettings cover and legal disputes that might arise”.

This follows the government’s introduction of a mandatory registration scheme for short-term lets in England, expected to come into force later in 2026, in which Airbnb-style holiday lets are required to register and comply with certain insurance requirements.

“My brain is wired in a way that I will see the risks in most scenarios and therefore the opportunities for insurance and where that sits,” she says.

“Insurance and the legal world are very closely linked so it does help to have a lawyer’s eye, particularly on policy wordings and the intricacies on what’s covered, what’s not covered, the scenarios that could arise and the foresight when you’re building that product.”

And, as the firm is “expanding and growing” with its add-on propositions to meet these emerging risks, O’Reilly explains that there is “likely to be lots more opportunities for recruitment and internal promotion and growth”.

For O’Reilly, Alps’ own approach to recruitment is a reflection of how she entered the industry herself, as she seeks to “work more closely with the schools in [their] local area”.

Based in Congleton, Cheshire, and with 30 employed within the business, she says that the firm’s location has meant that “it’s not always about recruiting people that have the skill and knowledge already,” which is why the MGA is “very geared up to train people from scratch”.

She explains: “It’s always been our way to train people.

“They’re coming into insurance, they’re coming into claims and they’re learning the ropes, but they might have some customer service or sales skills already. Not acknowledging the value in investing in training newcomers could be where the industry has struggled.”