Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) intends to keep 85% of all commercial claims in-house, according to a senior source in the company.

The move is part of R&SA's plan to bring claims management back within the company. The insurer currently uses a panel of well-known loss adjusters, including Crawford & Co, GAB Robins, Capita McLaren and Cunningham Lindsey.

In July R&SA took on an extra 300 loss adjusters when it purchased Independent Insurance's in-house loss adjusting firm, PCS. The deal, worth £3m, brings the number of in-house loss adjusters at R&SA to 800.

Since the deal, R&SA has been tight-lipped about how much work the new adjusters would carry out in-house and how muchthey would do for other agencies.

The source said the remaining 15% of claims would be ones where loss adjusters can add value. He explained this meant dealing with major catastrophes and other specialist claims. They would also be used for overflow work, he said.

GAB Robins chief executive Clive Nicholls said:"R&SA is a major client. It will still need partners and we will still be there for it.

"It is always tough when a big customer changes its sourcing strategy."

Royal & SunAlliance's move to increase the volume of claims it handles in-house is part of a strategic move to insource.

It has previously taken on 300 home claims staff from Cunningham Lindsay. It also has 200 subsidence engineers. The source said that R&SA can handle 75% of its personal lines claims in-house.

Other measures R&SA has taken in order to insource, include buying four motor garages. It also employs 1,000 IT staff.

Commercial policies account for approximately 30% of R&SA's premium income, while personal lines account for around 32%.

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