Jo Sykes: ‘Launching new products to market is central pillar of our five-year growth plan’

Brokers across the UK are currently sharing their views on the performance of their insurer partners for the 2025/26 Insurance Times Broker Service Survey.

Over the last 20 years, Insurance Times’ exclusive Broker Service Survey – and the associated Five Star Rating Reports which it forms the basis of – has set the agenda for broker-insurer relationships, highlighting where brokers feel insurers perform well and turning the spotlight on where carriers fail to match broker expectations. 

Brokers can rate them on key service areas, including claims handling, relationship management, underwriting expertise, quality of cover, regional presence and more. 

To explore how one insurer has evolved over the past year, Insurance Times spoke with Markel’s divisional director, Jo Sykes, about the latest developments across these critical service pillars. Below is what she said.

Strong outcomes

Over the past 12 months, Markel has achieved strong outcomes for brokers and customers by driving consistent performance, maintaining strategic focus and delivering service excellence. As market conditions soften, we remain firmly committed to our markets, offering reliable and responsive capacity, tailored cover and investment in our broker partnerships.

Claims service

Our claims service stands out year-after-year, earning a five-star broker rating for the seventh consecutive year. This achievement reflects our unwavering commitment to quality. We have structured our teams to enable rapid settlement for straightforward cases, with some resolved in under a day. More complex claims are managed by experienced specialists who understand the nuances of each sector. Our in-house legal firm, Markel Law, is expanding its capabilities and is closely aligned with our claims handlers to ensure a seamless customer journey. Throughout, we have reinforced our guiding ethos - ‘look for reasons to pay the claim.’

Underwriting

From an underwriting perspective, we are building disciplined, profitable growth by actively responding to broker feedback and investing in smarter trading solutions. Investment in digital trading has enabled faster decisions and broader reach, helping us meet the evolving needs of our partners. Our new contractors combined product on Acturis is a prime example of how we are making trading easier without compromising underwriting quality.

New products

Looking ahead, launching new products to market is a central pillar of our five-year growth plan. It allows us to broaden our relevance to brokers, deepen broker relationships, respond to emerging risks, and unlock new areas of opportunity. While we remain a specialist insurer, we are expanding our product footprint by building on our established strengths in care, technology, life science, construction and professional indemnity, while exploring adjacent areas where we can bring meaningful value to brokers and customers. This proactive approach to product development ensures we stay relevant, competitive and aligned with the changing dynamics of the market.

The quality and specialist nature of our cover remains a priority. We are enhancing our propositions by embedding support services such as 24/7 business legal advice, mental health helplines and care consultancy, tailored to the needs of our customers and designed to deliver more than insurance.

Regional engagement

Regional engagement is a key driver of our distribution model. We are growing our local presence, expanding underwriting, claims and business development teams across the UK’s major centres. This investment gives brokers greater direct and often face-to-face access to decision makers who understand their markets and can respond quickly.

Our strategy remains broker-first and service-led. New products will broaden our appetite, but our approach will not change. We will continue to deliver high-quality protection, specialist insight and personal service, most importantly delivered locally.