The London insurance market risks losing custom if it fails to explain to the rest of the...
The London insurance market risks losing custom if it fails to inform clients of the implications of contract certainty, City law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) has said.
Speaking at “The Countdown to Contract Certainty” Question Time hosted by Global Reinsurance, RPC partner Patrick Devine said: “Contract certainty will not just change the way the London market does business with itself but the way it does business with the rest of the world.”
“The London insurance market must extol the tremendous benefits contract certainty will bring for overseas clients but also warn that it will significantly change the way insurance is placed in London.”
Devine explained that globally there is still a very low awareness of the impact that contract certainty will have on the London market.
He said contract certainty will change over 300 years of custom and practice in the London market. “[With] contract certainty the exact terms of the insurance will have to be agreed at a much earlier stage rather than on the basis of lengthy negotiations some months after the insurer has gone on risk.”
"There will need to be an increased emphasis on planning and defining the exact scope of the cover upfront to ensure that complicated insurance products can be closed.”
Devine warned that firms risk losing clients' goodwill if they fail to explain the changes. “To avoid any nasty surprises down the line we need to start explaining the impact of these changes with our clients now.”
