Growth in a difficult market

But as with any of these situations, someone always makes money. Otherwise why else bother? The chief executive of Admiral, Henry Engelhardt, has made sure his company has grown in a tough market by focusing on the basics of insurance: good pricing and good customer service. His company's growth in two particularly tough market periods has been pretty phenomenal. And the view is now to take this successful model on to the Continent (page 6).

Motor is also an area that brokers can add value. That said, when it comes to motorcycle insurance the specialist broker needs to know its end cans and huggers from their elbows (page 15). Bikers are sophisticated consumers, so brokers and insurers need to be as knowledgeable and passionate about the two-wheeled machines as their riders. But more importantly, the number of bikers on the roads has increased by 5% a year in recent years with a 40% boost in the scooter market. This is all good news for brokers if they can learn the knowledge.

The impact of FSA regulation has meant that brokers are now far more demanding of their partners handling motor claims which has been to the benefit of pushing up standards (page 29).

The oldest insurance market of Lloyd's offers itself as the gateway to revered car collections (page 25). But also offers more flexibility and this may well see an increase in motor syndicates in the future.

It is still the case that one of the major poisons within the motor insurance industry is fraud. And no bigger than the staged accidents seen up and down the country run by criminal gangs. But this is a problem that could be significantly diminished, and ideally eliminated, by the revolutionary approach of the soon to be launched Insurance Fraud Bureau (page 10).

There is pressure on the IFB to get results but it will be to the benefit of the motor market, and industry as whole, if they succeed.