CONNECT
APRIL 2019
NEWSLETTER THE PERSONAL TOUCH
Dan McNally analyses industry trends and how we are driving changes in Personal Lines.
SPOTLIGHT ON ETHOS BROKING
We talk to Richard Tuplin about his aims for the advisory business and how the team can support brokers.
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REGULATORY ROUND UP
We look at the latest compliance news, from driving in the EEA post Brexit to the FSCS additional levy.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Heard it on the Grapevine | A Peek at Premier and Advantage | See you at BIBA!
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WELCOME...
W
e’re delighted to bring you the first edition of the Connect Newsletter for 2019. We understand that as brokers, time is precious for you, so we want to deliver the newsletter in format that means you can access it anywhere at any time. By going digital with the newsletter, it also helps us do our bit for the environment by reducing our carbon footprint. Within the magazine, you will find an article from our Group Insurer and Products Director Dan McNally, who examines how the industry’s approach to Personal Lines led Broker Network to launch a dedicated Personal Lines panel. We’re also bringing you a Regulatory Round Up; further details on the launch of Ethos Broking with a spotlight on the brand’s Chief Development Officer, Richard Tuplin; a round up of the latest news from our Insurer Partners; plus much more. THE HUB – MAKING LIFE EASIER To keep you well informed in between newsletters, we are constantly updating the Hub with the latest product information, and much more. Your personalised dashboard makes it easy for you to quickly find what you are looking for; it’s a one stop shop that allows you to find all the products and services available to you through your Connect membership. You can customise your dashboard further by adding favourites – if there’s a particular page, section or document list that you use regularly, simply click on the star in the top right hand corner to add it as an instant link on your dashboard. If you need a Hub account setting up or have any queries, please email me at Matthew.Nelson@brokernetwork.co.uk, or call me on 01423 554182. Alternatively, if you have forgotten your password, click on the forgotten password link on the log on page and follow the instructions to reset it. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the read. Yours, Matt Nelson Business Development Executive – Connect
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The Personal Touch
Dan McNally analyses industry trends and how we are driving changes in Personal Lines.
Regulatory Round Up
We look at the latest compliance news, from driving in the EEA post Brexit to the FSCS additional levy.
Spotlight On...
We talk to Richard Tuplin about his aims for advisory business Ethos Broking and how the team can support brokers.
Heard it on the Grapevine The latest and hottest news from the Network and our Insurer Partners.
Sneak a Peek
Could our Member services help grow, protect and support your business?
Welcome to the club!
We’re delighted to welcome Forum Finance Limited, J & J Insurance & Financial Consultants Ltd and Scullard & Prosser to the Broker Network Connect family.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN YOUR
Connect Membership?
Because we understand that your needs as a business may change over time, we wanted to remind you of what is available to you as a Connect Member:
• Access to enhanced commissions
• Bulletins and industry updates from our Communications team
• Exclusive products via OGI and Acturis
• Dedicated BDM
• Free membership
• Exclusive Premium Funding Deal – Powered by PCL
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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 keep you updated as we roll the products out across the membership; so, expect to see lots of progress on our Personal Lines panel this year.
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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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REGULATORY ROUND UP Jenny Hemmings, Risk and Compliance Director at Broker, takes a look at the latest compliance news that affects you and your clients. DRIVING IN THE EEA POST BREXIT If the UK leaves the EU without a deal it is very likely that drivers will need to obtain and carry a copy of a Green Card with them whilst driving in a European Economic Area (EEA) country. It is advisable that you inform your customers of the potential implications. WHAT IS A GREEN CARD AND WHAT IS IT USED FOR? A Green Card is an internationally recognised document that acts as proof of insurance in Europe. While it’s no longer required in some countries, it is Broker Network`s recommendation that all drivers take one so that it will make it easier if your customers need to make a claim or exchange details with another driver. WHY DO I NEED A GREEN CARD? If your customers are going to be abroad after Brexit, the current expectation is that they will need to obtain a Green Card before they travel and they must carry the Green Card with them at all times. If they don`t obtain a Green Card they will be breaking the law of the EEA countries they are driving in. Not being able to provide proof of insurance could lead to the vehicle being seized, the driver being accused/charged with driving without insurance and they could be subject to a fine. IS THERE A FEE FOR A GREEN CARD? There is no additional fee but many insurers will make an administration charge or may charge for extending comprehensive cover outside the UK – this is sometimes called ‘Green Card cover’.
FSCS – ADDITIONAL LEVY ON BROKERS The FSCS announced on 31st January 2019 that there will be additional levy on brokers. BIBA has advised that this supplementary levy will be in addition to the annual levy, which was issued to brokers in early February 2019 with a 30 day payment period. The need for the additional levy is as a result of the FSCS life and pensions sub-class breaching its limit. BIBA has also highlighted that invoices for 2019/20 levies are expected to be higher than last year due to the change in the financial year at the FSCS. The finalisation of costs are due in April and will be issued to Brokers in July. For further information please CLICK HERE to refer to the article issued by BIBA.
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TOP TIPS – GDPR BREACHES We offer some top tips to mitigate the potential of data protection breaches and also what action to take in the event of a data protection breach: • Apply controls to minimise the risk of a personal data breach, in the first place; • Make sure you have a data breach policy in place; do not wait until an incident has occurred; • Implement a ‘no blame’ culture to ensure incidents are freely reported; • Make sure staff understand what constitutes a data breach and that this covers more than just loss of data; • Ensure everybody knows who within the firm to report it to; • Make sure you have robust breach detection and containment procedures; • Conduct an initial investigation promptly and assess the risk to individuals; • Notify the ICO within 72 hours of the incident occurring if there is a risk to individuals; • Inform the individuals if there is a high risk to them and any remedial action being taken; • If you have Appointed Representatives make sure that they know how to act; • Keep a register of all security incidents whether or not reportable to the ICO, to comply with GDPR accountability rules. The article is for guidance only and you should always check the ICO rules before taking action.
ETHOS BROKING WITH RICHARD TUPLIN
As you may have seen on the Hub, in the press and on social media, Ethos Broking is a totally new look and feel for Broker Network Partners that will allow us to position the business more clearly in the marketplace, and push it to the next level. The business currently has eight partner brokerages, who each have acquired 12 satellite brokers. In fact, one of the partner brokers started life with the Bravo Group as a Broker Network Connect Member. We sat down with Richard Tuplin, Chief Development Officer, to find out a little bit more about Ethos Broking... TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT ETHOS BROKING… Ethos Broking embodies a set of core values and beliefs and attitudes which define our culture, and that’s what brings these brokers together. We buy with emotional intelligence; it is not about acquiring brokers, it is about bringing them into the group and partnering with them. The model represents great value for both parties – both Ethos Broking and the broker. There are times where they come together as one business, as Ethos Broking, and there are times where those community brands deliver themselves, maximising both outcomes.
WHO IS ETHOS BROKING FOR? Ethos Broking is for any broker who wants to retain a large degree of independence but maybe they are thinking of retiring and perhaps they don’t have anyone to take over the business afterwards. The brokerage retains its name, staff and everything that makes the business unique. When we acquire a broker, we’ve investing in them and working with them. Our eight partner brokerages are a collection of like-minded brokers that share similar values but retain their own DNA. It’s about bringing their connected thinking together, so they can grow their regional footprint.
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO JOIN ETHOS BROKING? I’ve been an independent broker all of my life; even working in the corporate arena for the last few years, I’ve still felt like an independent broker. I’m hoping to add value with our
Ethos Brokers given my 20 years’ experience acquiring brokers, and having had my own business acquired – so I’ve seen both sides of the coin and learnt a few things along the way.
TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT YOUR ROLE… Leading the Ethos Broking business means working with our Regional Managing Directors to execute and deliver those commercial plans and budgets. It also involves working with our Insurer Markets Director, Dave Ball, to engage with the Insurance Market with one voice and deliver a clear message with the design and delivery of leading market products for the benefit of our clients. I’m privileged to have a talented and highly efficient Ethos Broking team supporting and advising our business. As we grow, we will need to continue to listen to our Regional Partners, so we can respond and deliver on their business needs, as well as ensuring we are responding to the needs and demands in the marketplace.
IF A MEMBER IS INTERESTED IN BEING PART OF ETHOS BROKING, WHAT SHOULD THEY DO? Come and talk to us. We want to start these conversations with brokers who are thinking of selling their business. The Ethos Broking team are here to answer their questions and offer confidential advice.
FIND OUT MORE AT wwww.ethosbroking.co.uk
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HEARD IT ON
THE GRAPEVINE HAV E YOU MADE TH E SW I TC H T O A G E A S E X C E L L E R AT E ? 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? 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.
C L I E NT C O N V E R S AT I O N S T A RT E R S A R O U N D M OT O R Allianz has put together some helpful information which could prove useful in conversation with your clients. 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.
COULD BROKER NET WORK PREMIUM FINANCE BENEFIT YOU R BUSINESS? Broker Network Premium Finance; powered by Premium Credit Ltd offers fantastic rates that are significantly better than the current Network deal available to Members, and enables you to provide an enhanced service to your existing customers. If you’d like to see how it could impact your business, please contact MATT NELSON on: Matthew.Nelson@brokernetwork.co.uk
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.
NOW L IVE: MI DAS’ PR ODU C T SUI T E As our Personal Lines Panel continues to gain traction, we are working with our Insurers to develop what is available to you. We’re pleased to say you can now access the three products Midas is providing Network Members with – Midas Crown, Midas Jewel, and Midas Home. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE PRODUCTS.
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A PEEK AT PREMIER & ADVANTAGE We understand that the needs of your brokerage are constantly evolving, so we wanted to give you a snapshot on what’s on offer at the Network. Could our Member services help GROW, PROTECT and SUPPORT your business? RISK & COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT Offering a protective arm, our team of Risk & Compliance experts are constantly reviewing their knowledge and keeping abreast of the latest developments to ensure they can offer comprehensive support for your businesses and provide you with the tools you need to remain compliant. Group Risk & Compliance Director, Jenny Hemmings, and Head of Member Risk & Compliance Management, Donna Walker, work closely with BIBA as part of the body’s’ Regulatory Working Group and regulatory forums. The services the team offer include a dedicated Risk & Compliance Consultant for all Premier Members, access to an extensive document library, guides to best practice, sales and administration consultancy and much more.
THE LEARNING NETWORK The Learning Network is a learner-centric, blended learning initiative that is designed specifically for the broking industry. Head of the Learning Network, Gail Braithwaite, supported by Rachel Longbottom, L&D Manager, bring their wealth of experience to deliver learning via a blend of methods, including virtual classrooms, face to face sessions, webinars and e-learning. The team have four distinct learning channels for you to tap into:
We understand that finding time to fit in learning and development can be a challenge. That’s why online portal LINK brings a whole host of tools and resources to your fingertips, and can be accessed via any device.
The team has developed a range of tailored learning pathways that empower learners to achieve their personal goals which are designed for key broking roles and offer a full learning route from introduction, through to intermediate and on to advanced level. To help develop your career and learning further, they will be launching apprenticeships to the Network this year.
Peer-to-peer learning is a powerful means of sharing knowledge. From technical experts to veterans of the industry, there is a huge amount that we can learn from one another, and that’s what the Collaborate strand is designed to facilitate.
Using a range of webinars, interactive virtual classroom sessions and skills development workshops, technical industry experts share invaluable knowledge on a variety of subjects from technical and regulatory training, through to sales and personal skills development.
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SEE YOU AT BIBA! 15TH AND 16TH MAY
WILL YOU BE AT BIBA IN MAY? If you’re going to be there, we’re looking forward to meeting up with you. Connect Business Development Executive Matt Nelson will be there at our new more central location of stand number E25 to catch up with you on the direction your brokerage is going in, and how at the Network we can support you in your business needs and growth plans. Follow us on social media and use the #BNatBIBA hashtag when you visit our stand.
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