The Briefing
THE BRIEFING: Personal lines broking
Personal lines broking: The risks of unrated insurers, the threat of Amazon, dual pricing and insuretech
The Briefing: SME broking – How can brokers and insurers build a positive relationship to deliver SME cover?
Three industry experts share how the broker-insurer relationship can be fine-tuned when it comes to the specialist small to medium enterprise (SME) insurance market
The Briefing: SME broking – Brokers can benefit from focusing on SME schemes
With a broad SME market and new small businesses springing up all over the UK, how do brokers keep abreast of trends and make sure they are offering their customers the best possible value?
The Briefing: SME broking –Skipping advice when buying cover puts small businesses at risk
Looser regulation and the rise of aggressive aggregator websites mean insurance customers will now often eschew professional regulated advice, leaving both themselves and brokers’ traditional business model in a vulnerable position
Professional indemnity insurance capacity shrinks for advisors
Underwriting appetite dwindles in the wake of pension mis-selling claims and an increase in the award limit of the Financial Ombudsmen Service
What more can the industry do to tackle fraud?
Three specialists discuss how the insurance sector can tighten its defences against fraudulent activity
Q&A: Cracking down on the motor fraudsters
Direct Line Insurance counter fraud manager Mark Chiappino on how the industry is trying to fight crime, the impact of the Civil Liability Act and how we need to move away from ‘compensation culture’
Combination of factors driving motor costs upwards
Statistics from ABI indicate that after five consecutive quarters of year-on-year decreases in average premiums, it looks like motor insurance rates are on the up
FCA threatens more action on dual pricing
As it releases its interim report on home and motor insurance, the regulator proposes further remedies to stamp out the loyalty penalty, including restricting prices on automatic renewals and measures to better enable switching cover
Has the insurtech conversation moved from disruption to collaboration?
Five insurance specialists give their views on whether new tech startups have gone from challenging the established businesses in the insurance industry to working with them
Deloitte: Insurtechs should be considered innovation partners, not vendors
Insurtech startups have drawn $16.5bn in investments over the past decade
Brokers less fearful of insurtechs – survey
Online comparison sites are seen as a bigger threat to UK general insurance brokers than insurtech companies, according to the results of the 2019 Digital Broker survey
Insurance, with no questions asked
With one-third of customers giving up on lengthy question sets, will insurtech powered zero-questions-asked insurance quotes revolutionise the process?
Succession planning: Handing over to the next generation
Tackling the skills gap is one way of improving succession planning options for smaller brokers presently in the hands of solitary and/or ageing owners
Succession planning: More than a quarter of broker bosses lack succession plans
Survey also found most respondents would prefer to sell to another broker rather than a consolidator
Succession planning: The art of executing a clean exit
In February, Folkestone’s Independent Insurance Services was purchased by a local managing general agency. Outgoing business owner Ray Johnson offers a personal account of his exit strategy and explains why it was important to sell to a company with similar values