FEB 2019
NETWORKING NEWS
BUCKLE UP
The February edition of Networking News is sure to get your engine running.
THE PERSONAL TOUCH Dan McNally analyses industry trends and how we are driving change in personal lines.
SCHEME OF THE MONTH
Andy McDonald, Head of Product and Underwriting at Norton Insurance, lifts the bonnet on the Multi Car Insurance Services scheme.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN It’s all pistons go for Broker Network and Markerstudy
News from our insurers | A Day in the Life with a BNU Underwriter | Webinar Wednesdays | Save the date for our BIBA drinks | and more!
B R O K E R
N E T W O R K
[LIVE]
SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, THE SHARD, LONDON Broadcast: 11am – 12noon Networking lunch: 12noon – 2pm Join us for a crucial update on the Network from our Executive Team with the chance to take part and ask those burning questions. Plus you will have the opportunity to network face-to-face with the Exec and Broker Network team and your fellow Members. More details coming soon.
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NEWS CON TENTS
NETWORKING
WELCOME...
hen we introduced the monthly e-magazine late last year as a way of streamlining our communications to you, we felt that it would also be helpful to occasionally delve into one particular topic or trading area and really unpack it. That’s exactly what we’ve done this month with our Motor themed magazine, bringing you a whole host of useful information from across the Network and our Insurer Partners, as well as opinion pieces on what’s happening in the industry.
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Within the mag there are a range of motorfocused features which we hope you’ll find useful, but it’s fair to say that the piece we had the most fun with here at the office is the Markerstudy launch. Turn to page 7 to watch the teaser trailer for the campaign, see if you can spot your BDM in the driving seat, find out more about our partnership and discover how you can be in with a chance of winning a ticket to the Ashes. On a slightly more serious note, Dan McNally examines how the industry’s approach to personal lines led to our dedicated PL panel; we round up the latest motor news and advice from our Insurer Partners; and ask Andy McDonald at Norton’s how you can make the most of our Scheme of the Month: Multi Car Insurance Services. Moving away from all things with wheels, Eddie Lee from BNU talks us through how he helps Members on a typical day; we bring you updates on the latest offerings from Learning Network; and much more.
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On the road
It’s all pistons go for Broker Network and Markerstudy.
The Personal Touch
Dan McNally analyses industry trends and how we are driving change in personal lines.
Scheme of the Month
Andy McDonald, Head of Product and Underwriting at Norton Insurance, lifts the bonnet on the Multi Car Insurance Services scheme.
Heard it on the Grapevine
The latest and hottest news from the Network and our Insurer Partners.
A day in the Life of a BNU Trading Underwriter
Trading Underwriter Eddie Lee, from BNU, takes us through a typical day to demonstrate what BNU can do for you.
Hope you enjoy the read.
Disclaimer: Not intended for use by customers.
Yours,
Terms and Conditions to Win two tickets to The Ashes.1. Send your entries to internalcommunications@brokernetwork.co.uk for your chance to win. All entrants that correctly guess the locations of the three landmarks will be eligible to win. 2. The competition prize is provided by Markerstudy Insurance Services Limited. 3. Two individual winners will be selected at random from all valid entries received; the draw will take place on Friday 19th April. 4. Entries may be submitted from midnight on 11th March to midnight on 10th April. 5. There are two prizes, each comprising one ticket plus hospitality at either the Cricket World Cup in either Southampton, Leeds or London; or to the Ashes in London; accompanied by Anthony Foster from Markerstudy Insurance Services Limited. There is a limit of one ticket per winner. 6. Entries are restricted to one per person. 7. Entries are restricted to Members of Broker Network. 8. There is no cash alternative. 9. Prize winners will be announced on the Broker Network Hub, social media (Twitter and LinkedIn) and the Broker Network blog after the draw, and may be used in further publicity. 10. We will contact winners individually prior to the announcement on the Hub and social media via email to arrange collection/delivery of their prize. Prize winners must reply to that email within one week to arrange collection/delivery of their prize. If no response is received within this time, Broker Network reserves the right to select other winners and Broker Network shall have no liability in respect of the entry initially selected. Broker Network’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Beth Ash
Group Communications Director
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The Personal
Touch
Dan McNally, Group Insurer and Products Director, talks Personal Lines and how a combination of Member feedback and analysis of the industry led to the launch of our dedicated Personal Lines panel – and what you can do to stand out from the crowd.
Whilst the majority of our Members have a bias towards Commercial Lines, I know from speaking to Members that Personal Lines remains a crucial part of your business and will undoubtedly remain so as community based brokers. It’s the ‘community’ dimension of your portfolio that perhaps makes us such a fascinating segment of the market in today’s personal lines marketplace. Much of insurers’ activity and investment appears to have been upon product, price and proposition that is focussed purely upon the end customer. In spite of this, if you sit down with an insurer they will often tell you that regional broker business is more profitable and stickier at renewal. So what are the barriers, and how can they be overcome?
Price
Cost of tailored product delivery
Many insurers believe that Personal Lines purchasing is dominated by price. From talking to Members I believe price will always be important, but what many of you have also told me is that you do not need to be the cheapest; you need to offer the right solution for that customer at a price that is equitable in the market place vs a direct insurer or aggregator.
Insurers have to pay significant costs to build a branded product for a sub set of brokers on each software house, even if it is more or less a duplicate of their standard offering. Further costs are then incurred to maintain the separate versions of each product. Add to that the additional internal time and resource, and it is little wonder they are less keen to do so in such a competitive market where margins are narrow.
Software house constraints
This has led to more focus on solutions like Insurer Hosted Pricing (IHP) where insurers can effectively make the changes themselves with less cost and delay straight into their core products, however more work needs to be done to progress this.
In my experience, there’s a lot that can be done to streamline the software house screens and make it easier to compare product specifics on a customer’s behalf. Trying to extract data from multiple extranets can be extremely time consuming, and it seems that aggregator sites are leading the way in terms of user friendly technology. This in turn drives the focus on price that insurers worry about.
Reflecting brokers’ value
In the past the ability for insurers to respond to the huge value that smaller brokers offer with bespoke work has been inhibited by system constraints and backlogs of work. Unfortunately, large volumes of business take precedence which leaves smaller brokers at the back of the queue, despite their rich value in ensuring accuracy and reducing fraudulent activity.
Market change The most obvious example in the motor market in recent years is the changes on Ogden and the discount rate. This effectively threw insurer reserving and pricing into the air and all resource had to be diverted to deal with the change. When considering other important, but distracting, factors like GDPR and IDD, it is unsurprising that the personal lines market sees relatively small amounts of bespoke offerings – it simply does not have the resource left to do it.
Our Insurer Partners have strong propositions and are committed to working with us to really focus on your businesses and reflect the value that you bring. Some of these insurers are long standing partners, and some of them will be new to you, as we know you want us to refresh the panel as the market changes. Our partnership with Markerstudy is now up and running and we’ll be making announcements on new product offerings from Sabre and Midas as they roll out across the membership; so, expect to see lots of progress on our Personal Lines panel this year.
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THE CHANGING MOTOR LANDSCAPE: THEFT New technological developments mean that it’s easier to steal keyless ignition systems; and the rise in precious and base metal prices has resulted in increased theft of catalytic converters, copper, lead and other materials. Meanwhile, the increase of online trading portals has made it easier to move stolen parts and vehicles to other continents.
As insurers invest the resource in developing their product, price and appetite for you and your customers, we absolutely need you to give them the right support so that we can drive further investment in you as a customer group. Often small changes make all the difference:
Have you got your agency and TOBA set up with all of the Network Insurer Partners?
Have you got the relevant products active on your software house and any preferred quote pick lists?
Do you and your team understand the key product attributes that make them stand out? Keep an eye on communications from us as we will help with this.
Are you using override codes where provided to insure you are getting the best price possible? These will be put in place where possible for insurers not able to adjust prices via IHP.
Are you getting actively engaged when we ask you for feedback to help us drive insurer changes? We will be running Product Focus groups in the first half of this year, so please let your BDM know if you are interested in attending.
The more support you show for our Broker Network products, the more our Insurers will want to invest in them for you and your clients’ benefit.
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S T A R R I N G
JAMES
McCARTHY MATT
SEAGO
DEREK
BRADSHAW SIMON
KERRY
AND
RUTH
ROBINSON ANTHONY
FOSTER
BROKER NETWORK AND MARKERSTUDY ARE...
COMING SOON TO A COMPUTER SCREEN NEAR YOU
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When the Markerstudy team told us their motto is ‘putting the fun into insurance’, we just knew our campaign to officially announce the launch of our new relationship had to match; so we’re showcasing how we’re bringing a whole host of new Personal Lines opportunities to the Network in a rather unconventional way.
jumped into the driver’s seat for a quick chat – and we captured it all on camera. With crucial details on the three new Markerstudy products you can now access as a result of your Broker Network membership; to a chance to meet the people behind Markerstudy; this series is sure to be a broker box office smash.
As the first three products are motor-themed, we cast three of our very own BDMs, and three members of the Markerstudy team, in a one of a kind series. The BDMs
“A COMPELLING TALE THAT PROMISES TO MAKE A LASTING IMPACT.” TOTAL FILM
“THE SERIES HAS IT ALL – FROM PRODUCT UPDATES TO A HAIR-RAISING HOSTAGE SITUATION; IT’S A ROLLER COASTER RIDE!”
Watch the teaser trailer below for a taste of things to come…
“FORGET THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS! THESE GUYS ARE THE COOL AND THE CRAZY! I HOPE THERE IS A SEQUEL.”
“THERE WAS SOME REAL ON-SCREEN CHEMISTRY – IT’S CLEARLY THE START OF AN EXCITING PARTNERSHIP.”
HEAT
INSIDE SOAP
“I PARTICULARLY ENJOYED THE PLOT TWIST IN THE SECOND EPISODE!” ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
EMPIRE
“THE PERFORMANCES WERE STUNNING – I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT THE STARS DO NEXT.”
“I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE IT BEFORE… THE BEST WAY I CAN DESCRIBE IT IS CARPOOL KARAOKE MEETS CAR SHARE!”
SFX
TV TIMES
* The above reviews are not from these publications – but if they saw the trailer they would love it!
Win
TWO TICKETS TO THE ASHES!
To mark the start of our exciting journey, we’re giving away a prize that is sure to get your engine running! Two lucky individuals will have the chance to win a ticket to the Ashes, or alternatively the Cricket World Cup, hosted by Markerstudy’s Anthony Foster with full hospitality. For your chance to win, watch the videos and guess which famous landmark the car has visited in each one, then send your guesses to internalcommunications@brokernetwork.co.uk FOR FULL TERMS AND CONDITIONS PLEASE SEE PAGE 3.
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Broker Network's
Pre-biba drinks reception Save the date for our warm up networking drinks reception which promises to be even better than last year! Let us help you to prepare to make this your best BIBA yet. Get face to face with the Broker Network team and share tips and knowledge with fellow like-minded brokers.
TUES 14
M A Y 2019
SPINNINGFIELDS MANCHESTER
7 p m – L at e
Look out for your official invite, coming soon!
ACCESS
WOMEN This International Women’s Week, we will be joined by Barbara Schönhofer MBE, creator of The Insurance Supper Club and a founding member of the CII’s Insuring Women’s Futures initiative, for an empowering webinar on 6th March. Is there a webinar you were unable to join us for? We have a catalogue of industry specialist knowledge recordings which are available on the Hub and LINK.
Rachel Longbottom, our new Learning and Development Manager, reveals what learning opportunities are in store for you. I’m excited to have been given the opportunity to shape the Learning Network according to your business needs and help you access the right learning at the right time. We have a range of opportunities available through Learning Network, including our Webinar Wednesday and Virtual Classroom schedule. Apprenticeships offer training in a really cost effective way and in England 90% of the training is funded by the government with Scotland, Wales and NI where the funding can be even higher! We’ve been piloting two apprenticeship programmes here at Broker Network and have plans to launch our offering to Members this year. Please get in touch via learningnetwork@brokernetwork.co.uk to register your interest.
SALES PEOPLE!
SNAPPY SKILLS
Our next Virtual Classroom series, starting on Wednesday 27th March, will help you to ramp up your existing sales skills and provide useful tips on how to get potential customers to sit up and take notice.
If you’re in sales but virtual classrooms aren’t for you, we have a Learning Heroes series on Sales Mastery, which offers five minute bursts of new skills to improve your sales.
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW OUR LINKEDIN PAGE FOR ALL THE LATEST LEARNING UPDATES AND TRENDS
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ANDY MCDONALD
GREG BUTHERWAY
HEAD OF PRODUCT & UNDERWRITING
UNDERWRITER
SCHEME OF THE MONTH As this month’s Networking News has a motor focus, we’ve been speaking to Andy McDonald, Head of Product and Underwriting, at classic car specialist insurance broker Norton Insurance, who introduced the Multi Car Insurance Services (MCIS) scheme in April 2018. WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO CHANNEL INTO SCHEMES?
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANOTHER MEMBER WANTING TO SET UP A SCHEME? Find a niche where there’s a clear gap in the market for a particular product. And, obviously, talk to Broker Network who can give you helpful information on the market. WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT ON YOUR BUSINESS IN USING AND PROMOTING SCHEMES?
We recognised a gap in the market for a classic / specialist vehicle specific multicar scheme as we knew that brokers were struggling to place that type of business. We wanted to create a scheme specifically for Broker Network that would answer that need.
We’ve wanted to provide services to brokers for some time and this scheme has given us the opportunity to do it. We’ve had great feedback so far and are enjoying building a strong B2B approach for the scheme and helping to solve brokers’ challenges.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MULTI CAR INSURANCE SERVICES SCHEME. WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO SET IT UP?
WHY SHOULD MEMBERS CHOOSE YOUR MULTI CAR INSURANCE SERVICES SCHEME?
MCIS is designed to incorporate specialist vehicles of all kinds into one policy alongside customers’ everyday personal vehicles. It’s the best of both worlds – specialist cover for classics together with competitive private car rates. We see it as simplifying the car insurance landscape and reducing the admin burden for customers and brokers alike. We offer discounts depending on the number of cars and drivers, which isn’t something you typically see from other multicar schemes, because we recognised that not all the cars a customer owns are being driven at any one time. The scheme is flexible, so cover can be incepted on one vehicle and then subsequent vehicles can be added on a pro-rata basis. Once all vehicles are added into the scheme, it is one policy for all vehicles, meaning there’s a single renewal date. The underwriting is bespoke to the customer’s needs, depending on the vehicles they have, and a wide range are accepted, meaning we have real flexibility in what can be covered.
We’re an experienced specialist vehicle underwriter with a wealth of knowledge – by using us, Members can benefit from this, as well as access to improved rates. There are significant discounts available for their customers of up to 25%, calculated on a ratio of drivers to vehicles, and we offer free agreed value which gives peace of mind in the event of a claim. Our product allows brokers who are primarily commercial to offer a complete solution to their customers, meaning they can hold their whole insurance portfolio. By adding a personal lines element to what they already offer, Members strengthen their relationships with these customers. To find out more about the Multi Car Insurance Services scheme click here.
WHAT SERVICES HAVE YOU TAPPED INTO AT THE NETWORK? Connecting with the Broker Network BDMs has been great for us. All the BDMs have had scheme training on MCIS, and the Placement Support team also aware of the scheme. The 2018 National Conference was a definite highlight – we had a number of positive face-to-face conversations with Broker Network Members about the scheme and the benefits it can bring. We can supply something valuable to the Network’s Members, and the Conference was an excellent opportunity to build relationships.
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THE CHANGING MOTOR LANDSCAPE: FRAUD
HEARD IT ON
THE GRAPEVINE
Criminals are constantly discovering new fraudulent ways to make money from motor insurance. These include ghost broking, inducing and inflating claims such as ‘crash for cash’ schemes, as well as cloning and falsifying documentation.
DRIVING CHANGE: NIG I NT R O D U C E S M OT O R T RADE ONE NIG’s new all-encompassing Motor Trade One policy now covers Premises and Road Risks under one contract. Designed for professional motor traders operating from business premises, Motor Trade One conveniently brings two policies into one, offers increased limits and includes more cover as standard. It’s also the first product to launch on NIG’s new system for regionally traded products – part of NIG’s drive to make processes more efficient, to move from proposal form to Statement of Fact and provide instant documents on NIG’s TheHub. With over 100 years’ experience in underwriting motor trade risks, NIG understands the needs of motor trade customers. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ADVERTORIAL.
C HA N GE IS COMI N G – AL P S TAL K S TH E C I V I L L I AB I L I T Y B I L L After many years of discussion and debate, the government has signed off on a course of action to drive down the cost of car insurance by addressing rises in motor insurance pay outs for small personal injury claims. The Civil Liability Bill will affect 90 – 97% of all road traffic accident personal injury claims, which means a large proportion of your clients will be affected. It’s important to understand what the changes are and how they will affect your clients so that you can prepare them in advance. Lyndon Willshire, Head of Sales & Marketing at ALPs, offers some insight into The Civil Liability Bill in the following article. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
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LYNDON WILLSHIRE
HAVE YOU MADE TH E SW I TC H TO AGEAS E X C E L L E R AT E ?
T ERRORISM M OT O R F L E E T PRODUCT L AUNCHED
Following the announcement towards the end of last year, Ageas arranged access to its new suite of ‘Insurer Hosted Pricing’ (IHP) private motor products, Ageas Excellerate, for all member agents via Open GI. Have you made the switch yet?
In recognising the changing nature and modus operandi of modern day terrorist attacks, which has seen a significant shift towards causing human casualties with the use of motor vehicles as weapons, NMU has this month launched an innovative new stand-alone terrorism product, specifically for motor fleet operators.
The Excellerate range directly replaces Ageas’s old suite of non-Insurer Hosted Pricing non-IHP private motor products. Please remember that the non-IHP suite will soon stop accepting new business. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
W H AT ’ S B R A N D NEW?
Having been faced with an inconsistent approach to terrorism related exposures by Motor insurers, NMU can now uniquely provide Motor fleet operators with the ability not only to protect their schedule of commercial vehicles against the risk of physical loss or damage (following a broadly defined range of terrorism perils, including sabotage) but also, and uniquely, against financial losses, triggered by either damage or non-damage/malicious attack events. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
Our ethos is to help you create connections and on Monday 4th March we have something brand new coming your way! Follow the #whatsbrandnew hashtag on LinkedIn and Twitter and keep an eye out on The Hub to find out more.
BARBARA HARDCAST LE RET IRES AF T ER 22 YEARS
C L I E NT C O N V E R S AT I O N S TA RT E R S A R O U N D M OTO R Allianz has put together some helpful information which could prove useful in conversation with your clients.
After an incredible 22 years at Broker Network, Insurer Reconciliation Officer Barbara Hardcastle has retired. Barbara said: “I will really miss all the people and the brokers. I’ve received some really lovely messages from the Members after I told them I was retiring. I’ve enjoyed working with the Members and have got to know them over the years, forming relationships and finding out who was getting married or having children.” We wish Barbara all the best for her retirement.
With recent news reports of gangs stripping cars of their catalytic converters in broad daylight it appears that factors are again aligning to cause a new wave in thefts. Allianz has set out some useful details on how to prevent the theft of catalytic converters. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE. At this time of year, driving can be more challenging as darker mornings and early evenings can make it more difficult to see clearly. Allianz has compiled some tips on how your clients can keep an eye on their vision. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
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A Day in the Life of a BNU Trading Underwriter Your MGA, BNU, is here for you, offering you exclusive products that give you a competitive edge in the marketplace. Trading Underwriter Eddie Lee takes you through a typical day to show you just what BNU can do for you.
7am – 9am
1:30pm – 2Pm
I wake up every morning at around 7am and help my three children get ready for school before I head to work at the Broker Network head office in Knaresborough.
9am – 9:30am In BNU, we have regular round-table discussions about niche and difficult to place risks that our brokers have asked us to consider. This morning, I brought a Professional Indemnity enquiry for an engineer involved in Airbus aeroplane wings to the table.
9:30am – 10am I phoned the Broker about their Airbus risk to tell them we’d be delighted to offer terms on the risk. They were surprised that we could write this risk as other markets they had approached had all declined it. I like to stay in regular contact with my brokers, so I then gave two other brokers I am working with a quick call to find out a little more about the risks they had sent to me.
10:00am – 12 noon When a broker joins the Network I like to go out and meet with them to find out what their needs are. Today, I had a meeting with a broker close to the Broker Network office, but I also go across the country to meet brokers and have recently been to Manchester and Birmingham. I explained that at BNU our products include Combined Liability, Construction Liability including Contract Works, Commercial Combined and Professional Indemnity. This particular broker had a book of business where they weren’t happy with the level of service they were receiving from the other insurer. I explained how we could roll over the book and provide them with the first-class level of service they were looking for.
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We had a quick team meeting, which is headed up by our New Business Team Leader, Sharron Sutton, to see how we are performing as a team and what we can do better. I explained that the Broker I had met with in the morning was interested in rolling a book of business over to us. I then set up a conference call between the broker, myself and the Team Leader for later in the week to discuss how to move the book over to BNU.
2pm – 3Pm We have regular catch ups with the Placement Support team and this afternoon I spoke to them about cases they had on their desks that we could help them with. Today, they had a risk from a broker whose client is starting a new independent micro-brewery which required immediate cover. I felt we could offer terms for this risk, so I rang the broker to find out some more details and to confirm the terms we could offer.
3pm – 3.45Pm I joined other underwriters on a conference call with our Professional Indemnity capacity providers, QBE, to discuss the latest developments in the PI Design and Construct market.
4pm – 5.30Pm As I have been at BNU for around five months, I am still training on certain aspects and this afternoon I had a session with our Senior Technical Underwriter on timber framed buildings.
6pm – 8Pm As well as connecting with our Members, we also like to have regular catch-ups with our capacity providers. This evening, the team went for a meal at The Box in Leeds with our capacity providers for Combined and Construction Liability, Chubb, to get to know each other better.
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GOT SOME NEWS YOU’D LIKE TO BROADCAST TO YOUR FELLOW NETWORK MEMBERS? Don’t keep it to yourself – get in touch with Broker Network’s Communications & Events team and we’ll help you spread the word! •
Maybe your team have achieved something extra special and deserve some recognition?
•
Perhaps you have some best practice tips that could help other brokerages?
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You might want to drum up support for a new venture…
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…or simply have ideas for what might make a great news story!
EMAIL: internalcommunications@brokernetwork.co.uk THE CHANGING MOTOR LANDSCAPE: CLAIMS INFLATION Windscreen replacement has become more expensive due to technological developments such as heated screens, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and increasingly sophisticated in-vehicle technology.