INTERVIEW | UNDERWRITING AGENCIES COUNCIL
Enabling a more relational environment As the effects of the pandemic begin to subside in Australia, the Underwriting Agencies Council finds itself at a crossroads. What will good advocacy for the industry look like in the years to come? UAC leaders William Legge and Kurt Nilsen share their thoughts
FOR WILLIAM LEGGE, general manager of the Underwriting Agencies Council, last year was an interesting one, to say the least. UAC was coming off a bumper 2019, and the mood heading into 2020 was celebratory. But then the pandemic began to take its toll on the world, and the Australian insurance landscape underwent something of a shift. It made for challenging times in subsequent months, Legge says – but he’s swift to point out that COVID-19 wasn’t the only factor at play. “Obviously COVID-19 was a huge issue,” he says, “but I think we need to remember that the insurance market around the world was already hardening, and plenty of industries were finding it difficult to secure coverage.” Legge is remarkably positive as he discusses the vagaries of 2020. While he doesn’t want to minimise the seriousness of the global situation, he does believe that the various rigours of the year have helped rekindle something of the communal feel in the insurance industry.
“Insurance, ultimately, is a service that should be used for the good of people,” he explains. “I think it’s easy to get lost in the busywork and forget what we’re doing all of this for, but at the end of the day, we’re here to benefit people.” It’s a situation Legge has been living directly over the last 12 months, as UAC has consistently had more people outside the insurance industry reaching out to the organisation directly than ever before, from private individuals to business owners who are looking for help. And though the approach may be unorthodox and somewhat unexpected, Legge is embracing it wholeheartedly. “We’re speaking to a lot of people whose existing broker is having difficulties with their specific needs,” he says. “Coverage has shifted; carriers and capital providers are becoming more cautious about where they put their money, and that has a very real flow-on effect day-to-day for people.” Coupled with this, Legge notes, is a dimi-
nution of expertise within the insurance market over the last few years. “COVID definitely meant that some people retired earlier than they might have planned, but we’ve also seen other industries poaching from underwriting companies,” he says. The upside to this situation, Legge adds, is that it allows UAC to come into its own and offer its members’ services to brokers and the public alike. Over the last few years, UAC’s membership base has expanded drastically, giving the organisation an extensive pool of insurance professionals to draw on – meaning that practical help can be provided, often very rapidly. It’s shifting the focus of the industry back to where it should be: the people who are insured and their insurance brokers. “I think the transition from rapid phone
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