Property insurance is one of the largest segments of the insurance market, one of the fastest growing and a major part of the UK economy But are brokers benefiting from this?
On the whole, yes. It appears that brokers' knowledge is key in stultifying the growth of direct players (page 16). After all, direct firms cannot cover every nook and cranny in the same way a broker can when dealing with property policies - especially on the commercial side.
The commercial market clearly prefers to deal with brokers while, in the residential property market, the tide of direct provision looks to have reached a peak.
The bad news is that property insurance rates have deteriorated due to the soft market and could yet go into freefall (page 7).
Like anything, the good times were never going to last forever. Extra capacity entering the market in 2004 was behind this, resulting in rates dropping by an average of 3% last year and with no indications that this year will be any different.
So who would want to be a property underwriter? Floods and arson are just two perilous foes underwriters have to deal with (page 33).
Underwriters and brokers must also be up to date on how to assess risks while balancing the resilience of modern methods of construction with the cost of repairs when claims arise (page 28).
On top of this, reforms to the fire brigade throughout the UK, which purport to focus on saving lives not commercial property, means there is no doubt that in the future there will be more total loss claims (page 25).
Not surprisingly, some insurers want to fight back, emphasising they want more dialogue both with the government and the fire service over the reforms.
But as ever, there will always be new money to be made from property.
Large property owners are looking to invest in property in Europe, turned off by Britain's high property prices, ambiguous interest rates and low yields. This in turn raises many opportunities for property underwriters (page 36). The future, therefore, is far from bleak.
