While reforms are letting insurers cut rates, Ageas boss says reductions are going too far
Falls in motor rates are being exacerbated by the recent personal injury legal reforms, such as the introduction of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, claimed Ageas UK chief executive Andy Watson.
Speaking to Insurance Times at the Biba 2013 conference after the release of Ageas UK’s first-quarter 2013 results, Watson said companies were anticipating the benefits of changes such as Laspo in their pricing.
The reforms enshrined in Laspo and the ban on referral fees are expected to reduce frivolous bodily injury claims, which should allow insurers to cut rates.
But Watson said: “If anything, it seems to us that price reductions have accelerated over the last couple of months. I don’t think that is sustainable. We would not want to see that continuing.”
Ageas UK’s profit for the first quarter of 2013 increased 38% to £19.4m and the combined operating ratio improved by 2.4 percentage points to 99.9%. However, its motor combined ratio jumped to an unprofitable 101.8% from a profitable 98%.
Click here to read the Regulation Report with news and views live from the floor at the Biba conference.
No comments yet