Brown: RSA to open two new UK trading offices this year

RSA is to open new trading offices in Edinburgh and Leicester this year and plans more in 2014, said UK and western Europe chief executive Adrian Brown.

The moves follow the closure of RSA’s Croydon office last year, which Brown said had prompted questions about the insurer’s commitment to brokers and commercial lines.

Speaking to Insurance Times following the release of RSA’s 2012 results, Brown said: “I can’t stress enough that we are all about having the right people close to our brokers.

“Today we have announced that we are going to open new sites in Edinburgh and Leicester this year and I expect us to open a couple more trading sites in 2014 as well.”

Brown said the closure of the Croydon office was aimed at centralising RSA’s processing functions. But he added that trading would not be centralised given the importance of a local presence to regional brokers.

He said: “We know who our key partners are and what locations they are in. What we will look to do is make sure we have got the right people close to the ground who can trade with them.”

Mixed results

Brown described RSA’s 2012 UK results as a “game of two halves”.

The company’s personal lines combined operating ratio COR improved slightly to 95.6% despite severe flooding in the UK. However, the commercial lines COR deteriorated to 100.4% following a series of losses, particularly in motor and liability.

Brown said: “I am really delighted with our personal lines result. We have had significant losses on weather. That really shows the strength of our personal lines business.”

Weather related claims across RSA’s UK business were £60m higher than expected.

Brown said RSA’s UK commercial lines business “is not making the profit we need it to”.

He added: “I don’t think that will be out of line with where most people i the commercial market are. The UK commercial market is generally still underpriced. But there is more for us to do to turn around that performance.”