Insurance Times Awards 2026: Policy Expert on improving financial performance while keeping customers 'front of mind'

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Steve Hardy, chief executive at Policy Expert, explains his firm’s entry for the Personal Lines Insurer of the Year award

Why did you put yourselves forward for the category?

Steve Hardy

Steve Hardy, chief executive at Policy Expert

We entered Personal Lines Insurer of the Year because over the last 12 months, we’ve delivered significant improvements in our financial performance while keeping customer outcomes front of mind. At Policy Expert, we’ve demonstrated the qualities recognised by this category by continuing to invest in technology and product innovation with our unique, vertically integrated claims model.

At the same time, we have sustainably grown our customer base by 5.2% and we are now protecting more than 1.6 million customers in the UK across our home, motor, and pet insurance businesses.

What do you think makes your entry stand out and why should you win the award?

Policy Expert has challenged the traditional personal lines insurance model. What makes us stand out is our investment in customer outcomes. By operating the UK’s only in-house first-response field force and being the only UK insurer to own its own building firm, we have greater control over speed, cost and most importantly, the customer experience throughout the claims journey.

This approach has enabled us to resolve claims significantly faster than the industry average, while improving both service and efficiency. Combined with profitable growth and continued investment in technology, we believe this represents market-leading performance.

What would winning this award mean to you and your firm?

Winning Personal Lines Insurer of the Year would be a meaningful recognition of the contribution that everyone at Policy Expert has made to growing the business and delivering exceptional support to our customers across the UK.

It would also showcase to the wider industry the value that can be created through innovation and focus on customer outcomes. The award would reinforce our ambition to continue growing sustainably and to keep shaping the future of the personal lines insurance market in the years ahead.