Insurance Times rounds up the top five stories making headlines across the market from 1 to 4 September 2026
The top story this week was Aon signing an agreement to buy USI Insurance Services in a major $17bn (£12.6bn) deal.
Check out last week’s best performing stories in the High Five here
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Aon said the addition of USI enhances its presence in the middle-market and expands its direct access to the E&S segment, distributed through MGAs, MGUs and wholesalers.
Also proving popular this week was content director Katie Scott’s interview with Ellie Jackson, managing director at Robert Gerrard.
Jackson is the custodian of the 50-year-old Jensten Group-owned broker, which has 21 staff, including two apprentices, handles £11m gross written premium and helps insure around 1,000 UK businesses within its lift and escalator sweet spot sector.
The third most popular story was Aviva launching Direct Line-branded home insurance products on price comparison websites (PCWs) for the first time, marking an expansion of the insurer’s distribution strategy.
The move will see a new range of Direct Line home insurance products made available to customers through comparison channels, beginning with an exclusive launch on Confused.com before rolling out to additional PCWs from late September.
Readers were also interested in Macbeth appointing Chris Withers as head of schemes and market placement in a newly created role designed to support the broker’s long-term growth plans.
Withers joins the business with more than 35 years of insurance industry experience spanning distribution, schemes, MGAs and the real estate sector.
Finally, the fifth most popular story was Aviva expanding its commercial lines offering with the launch of Aviva Premier, a new proposition aimed at mid-market firms with complex risk profiles.
The insurer said that the new product supported its “ambition to grow in the upper mid-market segment by bringing together the full breadth of its underwriting, claims, risk management and relationship capabilities into a single proposition”.
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