The headline results of the Insurance Times Broker Service Survey 2017 are in, and the top ranked insurers have been revealed
Lorega, Hiscox and Covéa Insurance were once again the big winners in the Insurance Times Broker Service Survey 2017/18.
In this year’s survey, Lorega retained its position at the top of the commercial lines rankings, with Covéa Insurance moving up to second spot from last year’s third place.
And in the personal lines survey, Covéa Insurance and Hiscox shared top spot. This is Covéa’s second year at the top of the personal lines BSS. But in fact Covéa’s spell at the top has lasted for four years, as the previous two personal lines surveys were headed by high net worth broker Sterling, which Covéa acquired in 2015.
This year’s Insurance Times Broker Service Survey, the most comprehensive research available into brokers views on their insurer partners’ performance, is due to be published in full in November.
| Personal lines insurer | Rank 2017/18 | Rank change | Score 2017/18 | Score 2016/17 | Score change% | broker responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covéa Insurance | 1= | = | 4.35 | 4.34 | 0 | 217 |
| Hiscox | 1= | up 6 | 4.35 | 4.16 | 5 | 152 |
| Chubb | 3 | = | 4.18 | 4.30 | -3 | 127 |
| AIG | 4 | up 5 | 4.11 | 4.05 | 1 | 93 |
| Plum Underwriting | 5 | = | 4.07 | 4.21 | -3 | 139 |
| Oak Underwriting | 6 | down 2 | 4.02 | 4.22 | -5 | 127 |
| Home & Legacy | 7 | up 1 | 4.00 | 4.14 | -3 | 113 |
| AXA | 8 | up 8 | 3.93 | 3.86 | 2 | 159 |
| Aviva | 9 | = | 3.92 | 4.05 | -3 | 191 |
| Ageas | 10 | up 3 | 3.79 | 3.91 | -3 | 150 |
| Ecclesiastical | 11= | N/A | 3.78 | N/A | N/A | 81 |
| Zurich | 11= | = | 3.78 | 3.99 | -5 | 149 |
| LV= | 13 | down 12 | 3.75 | 4.34 | -14 | 105 |
| Allianz | 14 | up 3 | 3.72 | 3.85 | -3 | 140 |
| RSA | 15 | down 1 | 3.64 | 3.88 | -6 | 123 |
| Towergate Underwriting | 16 | N/A | 3.24 | N/A | N/A | 74 |
| Average | 3.91 | 4.08 | -4 |
The big fallers this year were NIG in commercial lines and LV= in personal lines.
NIG dropped from sixth last year to 20th this year in commercial lines, with its overall score falling 14% from 4.15 out of 5 to only 3.58.
Last year, LV= was joint first in personal lines with Covéa Insurance. But this year it has fallen to 13th place, with its average score falling 14% from 4.34 to 3.75.
With some notable exceptions like Hiscox and AXA in personal lines and Chubb and MS Amlin in commercial lines, scores awarded to the insurers by their broker partners were sharply lower this year.
The average score for insurers was down 5% in commercial lines and down 4% in personal lines.
This reversed the trend seen in recent years, when scores have generally improved year on year.
| Commercial lines insurer | Rank 2017/18 | Rank change | Score 2017/18 | Score 2016/17 | Score change% | Broker responses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lorega | 1 | = | 4.41 | 4.77 | -8 | 135 |
| Covéa Insurance | 2 | up 1 | 4.24 | 4.35 | -3 | 282 |
| Manchester Underwriting Management | 3 | down 1 | 4.22 | 4.4 | -4 | 110 |
| Chubb | 4 | up 12 | 4.00 | 3.9 | 3 | 156 |
| Hiscox | 5 | up 2 | 3.99 | 4.13 | -3 | 204 |
| Tokio Marine HCC | 6 | up 7 | 3.97 | 3.96 | 0 | 127 |
| Allianz | 7 | up 7 | 3.92 | 3.94 | -1 | 299 |
| Ecclesiastical | 8 | up 4 | 3.85 | 3.98 | -3 | 125 |
| Aviva | 9= | up 8 | 3.84 | 3.87 | -1 | 318 |
| XL Catlin | 9= | N/A | 3.84 | N/A | N/A | 110 |
| Ageas | 11 | down 7 | 3.72 | 4.24 | -12 | 218 |
| Markel | 12= | down 2 | 3.69 | 3.99 | -8 | 161 |
| Pen Underwriting | 12= | down 3 | 3.69 | 4.01 | -8 | 127 |
| AXA | 14 | up 4 | 3.68 | 3.78 | -3 | 296 |
| RSA | 15 | = | 3.67 | 3.91 | -6 | 217 |
| LV= | 16 | down 8 | 3.66 | 4.11 | -11 | 202 |
| MS Amlin | 17= | up 4 | 3.64 | 3.36 | 8 | 110 |
| Travelers | 17= | N/A | 3.64 | N/A | N/A | 108 |
| AIG | 19= | up 1 | 3.59 | 3.66 | -2 | 166 |
| Zurich | 19= | = | 3.59 | 3.68 | -2 | 222 |
| NIG | 20 | down 14 | 3.58 | 4.15 | -14 | 216 |
| QBE | 21 | down 11 | 3.56 | 3.99 | -11 | 167 |
| Average | 3.82 | 4.01 | -5 |
Insurance Times researchers surveyed responses from 1009 brokers, including top 50 brokers, network members, top independent brokers and small independent brokers throughout the country. They were asked to score their multiple insurer partners across eight service dimensions in personal and commercial lines.
Only insurers who collected 50 or more responses from brokers were included in the survey. Insurers who achieved that threshold this year but weren’t included last year are XL Catlin and Travelers in commercial lines; and in personal lines Ecclesiastical and Towergate, which is now part of Ardonagh Group. Changes to this year’s survey format helped generate a significant increase in the number of responses per company compared with previous years.
Brokers were asked to rate insurers from 1 to 5 on:
- Ease of access to decision makers,
- Underwriting expertise and flexibility
- Fairness of claims settlement,
- Speed of claims settlement,
- Accuracy and clarity of policy wording,
- Policy documentation and speed of delivery
- Quality of cover
- E-trading options for brokers
For more information on the 2017 Broker Service Survey,
and to order your copy, please contact:
Tomas Imrich
020 7618 3068
tomas.imrich@insurancetimes.co.uk
Or alternatively register your interest at - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ITBSS2017.
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