The Journal CII Asia Pacific- June/July 2020

thejournal.cii.co.uk June – July 2020

SAFE ASCENT How the profession can emerge from the Covid-19 crisis better prepared for pandemics

BI of the storm Test case for how Covid-19 business interruption claims should be settled

Good in a crisis How insurers are offering support during the pandemic

Cyber boost Impact of major liability rulings on the profession

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Powering Personal Lines Professionals Personal Lines Knowledge Range

Technical knowledge and professional service Welcome to the Personal Lines Knowledge Range - a suite of learning and development tools built specifically for those in the consumer retail market. There’s something for everyone – from simple animations and short online courses to professionally recognised qualifications – designed and built by market practitioners to empower staff in delivering expert guidance and positive customer outcomes.

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J U N E - J U LY 2 0 2 0

C O N T E N TS NEWS 5 Director’s letter Reflecting on the work the CII has been doing throughout the pandemic

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27-29 Claims Assessing an increase of cyberattacks during lockdown

6 -11 News Asia Pacific and international news from the CII

30-31 Protection Proposed solutions to insurance protection gaps

13 Learning CII special offers

32-33 Political risk How the pandemic has been handled by global governments

34 Regulatory radar The latest legislation updates from the UK

36-37 Insuring futures Plans to improve later life financial resilience

FEATURES

40-41 Flexible working The insurance sector adapts to working from home

14-15 The Interview Meeting the CII's first independent chair

43 Learning Focusing on professional development

16-19 Pandemics Strengthening the sector’s response to future pandemics 20-21 Customer Insurers supporting those affected by coronavirus

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22-23 Business interruption Examining the current raft of claims

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STUDY ROOM 49 Q&A The big ten questions to test your knowledge 50 CII blog Advice on structuring workdays during lockdown

24-26 Cyber Insurance ramifications from UK Supreme Court decisions

50 CEO comment A look ahead with Sian Fisher

40 CONTACT US

The Chartered Insurance Institute 21 Lombard Street, London, EC3V 9AH Tel: (020) 8989 8464 Fax: (020) 8530 3052

The Journal is the official magazine of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).

Views expressed by contributors or advertisers are not necessarily those of the CII or the editorial team. The CII will accept no responsibility for any loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material included in this publication.

Chief executive: executive: Sian Sian Fisher Fisher

The Journal is online at www.thejournal.cii.co.uk

Communications Editor: Luke Holloway director: Emma (020) 7417 Ann4778 Hughes Editor: luke.holloway@cii.co.uk Luke Holloway luke.holloway@cii.co.uk Contributing editor: Liz Booth Contributing Art editor: Yvey editor: BaileyLiz Booth Picture editors: Claire Echavarry, Art editor: Yvey Bailey Charlie Hedges Picture editor: Claire Echavarry Production: Jane Easterman Production: Easterman Printing: GD Jane Web Off set Printing: GD Web Offset

Cover Image: Ikon Istock

your magazine’s plastic– wrap RecycleRecycle your magazine’s plastic wrap check– check your localfacilities LDPE facilities to fihow nd out how your local LDPE to find out

Publisher: Redactive Media Group Level 5, 78 Chamber Street London E1 8BL Tel: (020) 7880 6200 For sales and advertising please contact us on cii-sales@redactive.co.uk or 020 020 78807880 76617661 ISSN 0957 4883 © 2020 2016 Chartered © Chartered Insurance Insurance Institute.

Institute.

Average total total net net circulation circulation more more Average than 82,000 than 82,000

thejournal.cii.co.uk / The Journal / June - July 2020

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Fast-track to Cert CII for Hong Kong insurance practitioners

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One of the most popular CII qualifications “Certificate in Insurance” can now be obtained by Hong Kong’s Insurance Intermediaries Qualifying Examination (IIQE) paper I and paper II holders, through a faster pathway.

1. Redeem 30 CII credits with IIQE paper I and paper II, through CII online recognition of prior learning service. (cii.co.uk/prior-learning) * 2. Complete one CII Certificate level learning unit.

Candidates who completed Certificate in Insurance can use “Cert CII” as designation. (cii.co.uk/cert-insurance)

Recommended Certificate level learning unit options ●

WCE - Insurance Claims Handling (non-UK) Provide basic principle and understanding of the claims handling process

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WUE - Insurance Underwriting (non-UK) Provide fundamental knowledge of the role of underwriting For further details and to enrol, visit: cii.co.uk/cert-insurance

If you have any questions, please email: hkenquiries@cii.co.uk For further details, please visit: cii.co.uk/prior-learning * The redemption of CII credits is subjected to terms and conditions

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DIRECTOR'S LETTER KENNY SIU

STRENGTH IN ADVERSITY Kenny Siu reveals the work that the CII has been doing throughout the pandemic to keep the insurance sector moving forward

due to the pandemic. Under this assistance programme, students who are facing financial hardship can continue with their professional development.

FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES

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In the second half of this year, we will offer DURING THE more learning opportunities for our members. We will continue to deliver CORONAVIRUS free training sessions to insurance professionals in the Asia-Pacific region OUTBREAK, THE with relevant learning. We will also CII HAVE NOT launch an e-learning platform to provide teaching, learning and SLOWED THE PACE structured assessment to support the continuing development needs of local OF OUR EFFORTS professional insurance intermediaries.

Furthermore, local students in IN PROMOTING Hong Kong will be able to enrol onto professional CII examination preparatory PROFESSIONAL programmes through our institute partners, where they can develop basic STANDARDS knowledge and understanding of insurance and

ith the role of facilitating business development and risk management for all businesses, the insurance and financial services profession is key to supporting the whole region’s economy and helping companies prepare for a business rebound after Covid-19. We are positive about the future growth of the profession, if we can keep strengthening ourselves and serve our customers with positive action.

During the coronavirus outbreak, the CII have not slowed the pace of our efforts in promoting professional standards. In May, we launched the second issue of our international strategy book, A World of Promise, which presents our research on the development of the global insurance and financial services profession. It also provides market insights from good practice initiatives and regional profiles. We highly recommend this strategy book to executives and international financial advisers, especially those professionals seeking to build public trust.

The CII have also launched a financial assistance programme to help learners who are financially affected or not being subsidised by their employer

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financial services products and principles.

In September, we will be supporting the Dive In Festival, which promotes diversity and inclusion in the global insurance sector, by organising a Dive In event in Hong Kong. The festival marks its sixth year in 2020, with a record number of countries expected to host Dive In events, spreading across three days from 22 to 24 September in 38 countries. This year’s theme is ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace’. We will provide business cases for diverse and inclusive workplaces and share practical ideas on how to implement positive change.

Lastly, we would like to thank all our partners who have collaborated with us, even during the business lockdown period and every learner who supported our online training initiatives. We hope that you all will continue to support us and share our learning programmes and events with your staff and friends.

Together, we can create more opportunities for the profession. ● Kenny Siu is regional director of Hong Kong and Asia Pacific

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ASIA PACIFIC NEWS

ASIA PACIFIC

WEBINARS FOR ASIA-PACIFIC REGION CII Hong Kong organised a series of free webinars to serve insurance professionals in the Asia Pacific region, beginning in April this year.

The webinars covered the topics of cyber claims, sustainable insurance, construction risks, contractors’ all risk and business agility.

The broadcasts attracted more than 200 CII members and insurance professionals from across the Asia-Pacific region.

→ To register for future free webinars, visit: cii-hk.com/about/training-courses-and-cpd

HONG KONG

ONLINE CPD LEARNING EVENTS FOR MEMBERS 6

To support the professional development of the Hong Kong insurance profession, CII Hong Kong has been delivering learning webinars with regulatoraccredited continuing professional development (CPD) hours.

Local insurance intermediates who attend CII Hong Kong’s CPD webinars can claim CPD hours from Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority for their required CPD assessment.

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, the examination regulator in Hong Kong – the Hong Kong Council of Accreditation of Academic & Vocational Qualifications –

has approved a contingency arrangement that allows CII Hong Kong to offer CPD training via electronic media from March to August this year.

The webinars have been welcomed by local insurance professionals due to the advantages of easy access and professional knowledge taught

by CII speakers. At the end of May, more than 600 students and insurance professionals had participated in the webinars. → For details of CII Hong Kong’s CPD training, visit: cii-hk.com/about/trainingcourses-and-cpd

HONG KONG

UNITS TO BE LAUNCHED FOR CHINESE STUDENTS

CII Hong Kong is launching three more Certificate-level units in the traditional Chinese language to support the professional development of Chinese insurance and financial service markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

The new units are: ● Insurance Underwriting (non-UK) – Traditional Chinese. ● Insurance Claims Handling (non-UK) – Traditional Chinese. ● Award in Investment Planning (non-UK) – Traditional Chinese.

The units provide basic principles and knowledge of insurance and financial service products. They also offer guidance on what constitutes sound professional practice, thereby providing a framework for ethical behaviour. → The units will be launched in Q3. For more information, visit: cii-hk.com/qualifications

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ASIA PACIFIC NEWS

HONG KONG

MONGOLIA

DIVE IN 2020 TO TAKE PLACE IN HONG KONG

CII AMBASSADOR PROMOTES CII IN MONGOLIA

The Dive In Festival is a global movement in the insurance sector to support the development of inclusive and diverse workplace cultures. In 2020, Dive In events will be spread across three days on 22-24 September in 33 countries and regions worldwide.

Dive In Hong Kong will be held on 22 September and the event theme will be ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace’.

→ Registration for the Dive In Hong Kong event will open on 30 July.

Visit diveinfestival.com

Budmaa Tsend, CII ambassador, conducted an information session in May for Mongolian insurance company Khaan Daatgal.

Ms Budmaa introduced the CII qualification framework, qualification requirements, continuing professional development, membership and her guidance on how to prepare for CII exams.

Ms Budmaa also gave updates on the measures that the CII has taken during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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HONG KONG

HONG KONG UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES CII PROGRAMMES The University of Hong Kong’s School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKUSPACE) will be launching two CII examination preparatory programmes for Hong Kong students in the second half of the year.

The two programmes are: Insurance Claims Handling; and Introduction to Risk Management.

The two units are the entry-level learnings within the CII’s insurance qualification framework. It provides students with technical knowledge and understanding of the basic insurance principles.

→ For more information and to enrol, visit: hkuspace.hku.hk

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NEWS

FROM THE CII TWITTERATI »

@ MrLukeH ughes With the CII starting to make exams accessible again, I’m happy to report, I’m finally going back to studying! #nerdalert #cii #AF4 #J10

@Tou c h ston e U w Congratulations to Sam Lord (Cert CII), one of our underwriters, who has been elected as deputy president of The Insurance Institute of Chelmsford and South Essex.

Well done and good luck for the year ahead!

@ B I BA b roker Discover the new Personal Lines Knowledge Range from the @CIIGroup a suite of learning and development assets and tools created for those in the consumer retail market

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

CII TO HOLD FIRST EVER VIRTUAL AGM

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The CII’s 2019 annual report is now available to view online and the professional body will hold its first ever virtual annual general meeting (AGM) in October.

For the first time in the institute’s 108-year history, the CII’s annual general meeting will take place online only, at 2pm BST (GMT+1) on Thursday 8 October.

In August, the CII’s more than 129,000 members will be sent details of how to take part in the AGM, which will provide an opportunity to hear about the work of the CII during 2019 to 2020 and look ahead to plans for the next 12 months.

Members will be able to cast their votes and ask questions of the CII’s leadership without having to travel and attend the meeting in person.

The AGM panel will include the CII’s first independent chair Dr Helen Phillips, who will be joined by current CII president Nick Turner, incoming president Julie Page and Sian Fisher, the CII’s CEO. → The annual report can be viewed here: annualreport.cii.co.uk Members are invited to submit comments and ask questions about the annual report by emailing: agm@cii.co.uk

INSURING FUTURES

CII CALLS ON SECTOR TO IMPROVE FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE IN LATER LIFE The next stage of the CII’s Insuring Futures initiative will look at how people can better build and maintain financial resilience for later life.

The professional body wants to hear from anyone working in the insurance and personal finance profession who can help identify what people can do during every decade of their adult lives to build and maintain their independence.

The CII’s Insuring Futures work will look at the kinds of conversations people need to have with their families, friends, insurance professionals and financial advisers to create more financial resilience throughout their entire life.

The insights of Insuring Women’s Futures will form the basis of a conversation with

and support for professionals around: ● How we design products and communications for older people that resonate with the way they live their lives. ● How professionals can structure conversations with clients that are more relevant to the risks and aims they have. ● How advisers can give advice to their clients’ whole family, rather than just the individual, as they grow older and their plans become more entwined with the needs of their family.

To find out more about becoming part of the Insuring Futures working group, email: sophia.kleanthous@cii.co.uk members of the insurance and financial advice profession, charities, policymakers and researchers that will lead to guidance

Read our article on Insuring Futures on page 36

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NEWS

@ j o h n ny t i m p s o n 1 Personally & as a @CIIGroup Insuring Women’s Futures advocate & expert panel member I would like to congratulate all colleagues shortlisted in this year’s @Profadviser Women In Financial Advice Awards

@ LF Pl an n i n g We are pleased to have provided a case study for the @CIIGroup Visit their website to read about our thoughts on achieving chartered status, our ethical approach, and supporting charities

@ I LCU K Speaking in our #VulnerabilityChallenge webinar @ShayneHRay @CIIGroup argues for the importance of engaging people to seek good advice and to support them with their finances throughout their lives

#CIIGroup Twitter

18,300 Followers and counting...

TA L E N T

NEW GEN 2020 APPLICATIONS OPEN The CII is seeking rising stars to join the professional body’s flagship talent programme, the New Generation.

The 2020/2021 class will be made up of 40 promising professionals split into four groups – claims, underwriting, broking and the London market.

Members of the four groups will network with other rising stars from the profession, meet with key regulatory figures, engage with members of parliament and learn how to handle the media.

Each group will also be asked to work together on a project they believe could make a difference to the insurance profession and present it to the CII’s

board. Previous groups have delivered projects that have challenged the profession on serious issues that impact consumers, from claims handling to best practice with vulnerable customers.

To apply to join the CII’s New Generation programme, applicants must send CVs plus a few lines about why they consider themselves rising stars in the profession. They will also need to confirm they have line manager approval to take part in the group’s activities.

The closing date for applications is 11 August 2020. → For more information and to apply, visit: cii.co.uk/new-generationprogramme

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EXAMS

CANDIDATES CAN BE ASSESSED AND STAY COVID-19 SAFE CII exam candidates can be confident that whatever government guidance is issued to slow the spread of coronavirus in the coming months, they will still be able to be assessed.

The professional body contacted more than 2,500 candidates who were set to sit their written examinations on 6/7 July for units RO6, AF7, AF1 and AF5, to inform them they will now complete their exams by online remote invigilation if exam centres have to be closed.

The safety of CII examination candidates remains the professional body’s greatest

priority and the use of remote invigilation provides certainty that these exams will still go ahead.

The remote exams will be gradually rolled out, with some units starting in July, with remote invigilation for all multiple-choice exams available by the end of Autumn.

Remote invigilation will be available internationally and there will be no additional fee above the normal enrolment or exam fee. → For further information, visit: cii.co.uk/coronavirus-updates

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NEWS

PUBLIC TRUST INDEX

TRUST IN INSURANCE WAS IMPROVING BEFORE CORONAVIRUS Before the Covid-19 outbreak, consumer and business trust in the insurance profession was improving, the latest CII Public Trust Index has revealed.

A survey of 1,000 consumers and 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in January and February 2020 revealed that overall, consumer and SME satisfaction with insurance increased after October 2019.

The poll showed that knowing exactly what an insurance policy covered and excluded was only ranked the seventh most-important factor out of 50 for SMEs, and the eighth most-important factor out

of 50 for consumers when buying insurance.

Before the coronavirus outbreak resulted in unprecedented government guidance to stop the spread of the coronavirus, loyalty, complaint handling, ease of doing business and assessing risk individually was ranked by SMEs as more important than understanding the extend of cover when buying and renewing insurance.

For consumers, loyalty, speed of claims, price and complaints handling were ranked as more important than knowing what a policy covered and excluded. → To find out more, visit: cii.co.uk/87789

LEARNING

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MEMBERS

CII CELEBRATES MEMBER’S PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE A CII member has revealed how she is using the professional body’s material to continue to develop her team during the coronavirus outbreak.

CII member and CEO of Morning Data, Kirstin Duffield, has been providing remote CII training to company employees.

Morning Data designs and develops software solutions for the insurance and reinsurance sector. During the past 10 years, all Morning Data staff – from support staff to developers – have been required to become qualified to a minimum of Cert CII level.

When lockdown was announced in the UK, Ms Duffield began running hour-long sessions using Microsoft Teams and digital study materials provided by the CII. Ms Duffield said: “While team members were not in a position to sit their exams, the sessions have meant learning is kept fresh and new team members are able to get up to speed with basic technical information.

COVID-19 IMPACT ON INSURANCE PROFESSIONALS

“I was delighted when the CII provided PDF versions of study materials. It was extremely helpful in allowing us to share the learning on screen and we can be assured that our team’s professional development can continue, even during a crisis.”

The CII’s discount scheme has revealed the impact Covid-19 has had financially on members of the insurance and personal finance profession.

In one month, more than 203 CII members have received a 20% discount code on digital learning materials from the professional body to enable them to continue their studies and further their careers during the coronavirus outbreak.

Of those who received the discount in May, 82 had been furloughed or had seen their income materially reduced.

The remaining 121 individuals who requested the discount stated they were self-employed causing their earnings to be significantly impacted by the global pandemic, their employment had been terminated, their employer’s business had collapsed or the offer of a new job had been rescinded.

→ For the latest information, visit: cii.co.uk/coronavirus-hub/

→ For more information, visit: cii.co.uk/ financial-assistance-during-covid-19

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NEWS

APPOINTMENTS

CII APPOINTS FIRST INDEPENDENT CHAIR Dr Helen Phillips has been appointed as the first independent chair of the CII’s board.

Until now, the president of the CII had also acted as chair of the CII’s board. By separating the two roles, the president will be able to focus on the ambassadorial role.

The new independent chair, a role that members voted to create at the professional body’s annual general meeting in 2019, will be responsible for providing leadership of the board.

The chair will work with the board to set the strategic direction of the CII as the professional body dedicated to building public trust in the insurance and personal finance profession.

REMOTE WORKING

Read our interview with Dr Helen Phillips on page 14

OBITUARY

INSURANCE PROFESSIONALS HOPE FOR NEW WAYS OF WORKING A Twitter poll of the CII and Personal Finance Society memberships has found that by mid-May, only 12% of insurance professionals and financial advisers thought they would return to the same way they worked before the global pandemic, post-Covid-19.

A total of 17% of 116 insurance professionals and financial advisers surveyed in May planned to work entirely remotely even once the government ends all restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus; and seven out of 10 expected a mix of working from home and in an office environment once the threat of Covid-19 passes.

Keith Richards, managing director of engagement for the CII, said: “I believe we will see a lot of employers embrace more flexibility around working from home in the future.

“A key conversation for senior managers at insurance and financial advice firms will be what works best to deliver the most suitable cover and

Dr Phillips has been appointed for an initial term of three years starting on 1 July.

Dr Phillips is currently independent chair of the Legal Services Board, the oversight regulator for the legal services sector, and chair of Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. She is also a founding non-executive director of Social Work England.

She was previously the founding chief executive and board member of Natural England, and director for Wales at the Environment Agency.

financial planning for the public once government guidance to slow the spread of the coronavirus changes.”

Read our article on flexible working on page 40

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NEVILLE GRAY It is with great sadness that we inform our members of the death of Neville Gray, ACII, who passed away in April aged 80.

Mr Gray was president of the Luton and St Albans Institute between 19771978. He was on the charity committee at the Birmingham Institute in the 1980s and later an active member of the Coventry Institute.

Mr Gray began his career at the Sun Insurance office in London in 1963, before joining Howell and Brooks loss adjusters where he became partner. He then became director as the company merged with McLarens.

He was known as a talented professional who was generous with his time and throughout his career, made many friends among fellow CII members and insurance professionals.

Members wishing to share memories of Neville Gray are asked to email tributes to: andrea.gray@westhaddon.net

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Conquer curiosity 2020 qualiďŹ cations brochure cii.co.uk/brochure

Available now

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Build your knowledge and skills with CII special offers

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CII Award qualifications Award is the first level of qualification in CII’s learning pathways that help build up technical knowledge.

The special offer includes:

Optional award programmes: ● AWB – Award in Bancassurance ● AWF – Award in Financial Planning

● 12-mth CII ordinary membership

● AWP – Award in Investment Planning

● One digital study pack and exam entry of your choosing unit

● W01 – Award in General Insurance

● Access to CII online supporting programme and mobile app “RevisionMate” ● Gain the designation “CII (Award)” by completing any award programme.

● W04 – Award in Customer Services in

Insurance ● WH1 – Award in General Insurance

(Hong Kong)

If you have any questions, please email: hkenquiries@cii.co.uk For details and to enrol, please visit: cii-hk.com/ignition

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THE INTERVIEW: DR HELEN PHILLIPS

DR HELEN

PHILLIPS

Education

Expertise

Extracurricularr

Helen has a PhD in freshwater biology from University College Dublin, Ireland and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.

She has served as board member at ECNC, a European centre for biodiversity, and as an advisory board member at Sheffield Business School.

Helen also chairs irs the board at her children’s ’s school, which is comprised rised of two independent day ay and boarding schools. ols. She is also a registered beekeeper. eekeeper.

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mission or personal agenda and fully appreciates the extent of the knowledge and experience already on the CII board.

“What is required of me as an experienced chair, air, is to make the board as effective as possible, bring outt the best in everybody and create a safe space to tackle diffi fficult issues, focusing on areas of difference rather than n areas of consensus, in a productive, constructive way capable pable of advancing the cause.”

CONTINUITY With an initial appointment of three years, rs, Dr Phillips hopes she will bring continuity ty to a role that complements the CII presidents, who ho each serve a one-year term. She highlights the importance ortance of stability and getting into a rhythm regarding arding what the board is working towards, helping ing the presidential and executive model to work k in tandem.

“I am very struck by the extremely high gh quality of the work already being done by the CII,” she says.

“Governance arrangements are very clear ar and good practice is evident, so it is really exciting to be joining an institute where all those crucial building ing blocks are already in place.”

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic means Dr Phillips ips joins the CII at a challenging time when it has adapted to new w ways of working and serving its members.

“I believe the institute will be remembered in years ars to come for how agile, flexible and empathetic we have been n to our members’ needs – both individually and corporately. ly.

“It is important we play our full part, not only in recovering as an organisation, but in the recovery of the sector, r, because that is the most significant challenge.”

But Dr Phillips feels that the board can continue to strongly support the key purpose of the CII in building public ic trust in insurance and personal finance services.

“Well-led organisations are ambitious and create te followship in adhering to high standards – and that itselff will build trust,” she says.

“Our role is about our impact on the sector, our leadership and our contribution to the profession. Trust is going ng to depend on what customers think of their insurers – that perception erception is a defining factor and can be hugely influenced.”

Dr Phillips concludes: “The public in general and d consume consumers mers rs in particular should have an expectation that those advising them who are professionally qualified are competent nt and uphold the highest ethical and professional standards. rds.

A growing perception of the insurance sector as a distinc distinct ct profession will build trust. In wider society, we have ve a very important role to play.” ●

OUR ROLE IS ABOUT OUR IMPACT ON THE SECTOR, OUR LEADERSHIP AND OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROFESSION

EXPERIENCE Dr Phillips’ career has spanned the public, private and notfor-profit sectors and she is currently independent chair of the Legal Services Board; chair of Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; and founding non-executive director of Social Work England.

“During my career, my major experiences have been about that interface between the private and public sector, and when you can get those two acting in society’s best interests you’ve hit a really sweet spot,” she says.

“A key motivation for me joining the CII is that through insurance and financial services, the opportunity is there to support the vulnerable, provide risk mitigation and business certainty to help individuals and businesses to flourish and make for a better, fairer society.”

Dr Phillips tells us she is not coming to the CII with a policy

Luke Holloway is editor of the CII

PHOTO: LEGAL SERVICES BOARD

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he CII has an independent chair for the first time in the professional body’s 108-year history. In July, Dr Helen Phillips begins a three-year appointment working closely with CEO Sian Fisher and the CII president, in a position which members voted to create at the Institute’s last annual general meeting.

Dr Phillips believes the role of any board pivots around strategy, scrutiny and stakeholders.

“From experience, culture eats strategy for breakfast,” she says. “It is essential that boards are attentive to the culture of an organisation and the tone they are setting.

“While it is very important that the CII is diligent about setting the culture within the organisation itself, the more influential role we have is setting expectations for the culture of those working across the sector.”

Dr Phillips will lead the board to set the CII’s strategic direction and says that a good chair is respectful of the clear line between executive and non-executive. “It can be bad governance if the board is in the weeds. It needs to give executives space to plan, to create propositions and then, of course, the board can add value by challenging and bringing perspective. It is very important for the chair not to be meddlesome,” she says.

“It is also vital that the board understands the membership, the sector and the diversity of the players within that sector.

At the CII, I will have to feel my way a little at first, as I am very aware that the president has a distinct, ambassadorial role.

“I have to understand what individual and corporate members think and make sure the CII continues to work alongside each, so we as a board have a shared understand of that context.”

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THE INTERVIEW: DR HELEN PHILLIPS

The CII’s inaugural independent chair, Dr Helen Phillips, talks to Luke Holloway about her new role with the Institute

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PANDEMICS

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PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS As the Covid-19 crisis continues, Sam Barrett asks: how will the insurance profession strengthen its response to future pandemics?

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PANDEMICS

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GETTY

W

hen the first accounts of a new virus started coming out of Wuhan in December 2019, few expected it would lead to almost total global lockdown a few months later. And although the threat of a pandemic has always been on the risk radar, the experience is proving to be a significant test for the insurance profession.

As well as having to adapt their own operations to allow for social distancing, and then the even stricter requirements of lockdown when they were introduced on 23 March in the UK, insurers have also had to implement adjustments to support their customers. Mohammad Khan, head of general insurance at PwC, has plenty of praise for the actions

of the insurance profession. “It has done an amazing job,” he says. “In just 10 days, every insurance company had measures in place to keep staff safe without customer detriment.

This has seen personal lines insurers flexing policy terms and conditions, especially where it helps keep a key worker on the road.”

As an example, he points to an instance where a key worker had a car accident and their insurer tweaked the policy terms and waived an excess to ensure they had a hire car to get to work.

A more formal, profession-wide approach was also taken, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirming the measures that insurers should take to help customers who were suffering financial difficulties as a result of Covid-19. These include: reassessing a customer’s risk profile;

adjusting cover, for instance moving from fully comprehensive to third-party fire and theft; and waiving cancellation and other fees associated with adjusting a policy.

Payment deferrals, allowing a customer to defer by one month to three or longer, are another option.

Change has also been thrust on insurers, most notably in the private medical insurance sector. With the private sector providing its capacity to the NHS to help it treat Covid-19 patients, treatment for medical insurance customers was put on hold. In response to this, medical insurers enhanced their cover with additional services such as virtual consultations and higher levels of NHS cash benefits, while launching promises to adjust terms in respect of any treatment delays they experienced. →

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PANDEMICS

COMMERCIAL CONFUSION

18

Sadly, the picture is more mixed on the commercial lines side, most notably around business interruption insurance (BI). Although the government stated that coronavirus, as a new ‘notifiable disease’, would be recognised by insurers as a trigger for a claim, policy wordings meant it was not quite so straightforward.

“Some insurers declined claims, while others took the view they would pay anyway, whether for goodwill or because it was cheaper than fighting it,” says Roger Flaxman, principal consultant and chairman of Flaxman’s Insurance Claims Advocacy.

“Unfortunately, I have also seen claims that were agreed as covered and then loss adjusted down to a sum so low that it became almost pointless to claim.”

Faced with policyholder backlash and group legal actions against several insurers, the FCA announced that it would obtain a court declaration to resolve the contractual uncertainty of a selection of the policies in dispute.

“An unfavourable court declaration will probably be followed by an appeal, which will take time, and even if successful there is still a long way to go for each policyholder to prove their actual loss,” says Mr Flaxman. “Whatever the court rules, this lengthy delay will also result in businesses going under and that could further damage the integrity of the insurance profession.

The government has shown that it is comfortable supporting employees by paying 80% of their wages and so, for the sake of the economy, it makes sense to keep the employer companies afloat as well.”

One idea he suggests is that the insurance profession works with government to provide those policyholders with BI cover with

enough ‘drip feed’ financial support to keep their businesses alive, thereby reducing the consequential costs to government of bankrupt business and unemployed staff.

“Insurers have the knowledge, skills and distribution network to make these payments and the government could initially provide the funds and then sort it out with insurers later,” he adds. “We have already been told more than £1.5bn of government money has been lost in fraudulent claims – the insurers have the expertise to prevent fraud.”

There are also questions over the nature of BI policies, especially as risks evolve and more businesses find themselves out of pocket and unable to claim.

Stephen Catlin, CEO of speciality insurer and reinsurer, Convex Group, explains: “BI claims are triggered by property damage but with a pandemic or a cyberattack, this is unlikely to happen. Work needs to be done around this to ensure that policies are plain, simple and legally robust.”

This shortfall was addressed for terrorism in 2018, when Pool Re announced an extension to include non-damage BI losses resulting from acts of terrorism. It is also something that the Federation of European Risk Management would like to see addressed for other catastrophic risks.

In May, it called on the European Commission to create an EU resilience framework to cover financial losses resulting from catastrophic risks, such as a pandemic, where physical damage did not take place.

POLICY WORDING AND THE INTENTION OF THAT WORDING IS KEY. WHILE NOT EVERY EVENTUALITY CAN BE PREDICTED OR PLANNED FOR, A REVIEW OF POLICY WORDINGS AND THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN COVER, EXTENSIONS TO COVER AND POTENTIALLY RELEVANT EXCLUSIONS CANNOT HURT, AND MIGHT HELP PROTECT AGAINST FUTURE CONFUSION

CREATING CLARITY As well as clearing up claims confusion, there is also a pressing need to prevent future misunderstandings. Barney Burton, legal director at law firm DWF, believes a review of policy wordings is essential. “Policy wording and the intention of that wording is key.

While not every eventuality can be predicted or planned for, a review of policy wordings and the interplay between cover, extensions to cover and potentially relevant exclusions cannot hurt, and might help protect against future confusion,” he says.

“It is important that the intention of particular clauses is made abundantly plain to both broker and insured. If possible, intention should be taken out of the equation.”

STEERING GROUP MEMBERS Stephen Catlin, CEO, Convex Maurice Tulloch, group CEO, Aviva Stephen Hester, CEO, RSA Julian Enoizi, CEO, Pool Re Nick Frankland, UK CEO of reinsurance solutions, Aon James Nash, CEO, international, Guy Carpenter James Kent, Global CEO, Willis Re

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PANDEMICS

STEPPING UP As well as dealing with the issues that have arisen out of this pandemic, the UK’s insurance profession is also looking ahead to ensure it is better prepared for future events. Through the creation of a steering group, made up initially of seven members drawn from carriers and brokers and including Mr Catlin as chairman, it will explore how the profession responds to future pandemics.

“It’s a very complex issue,” says Mr Catlin. “The whole world has been wrongfooted, especially by the economic side of shutdown. Through the steering group we hope to achieve a number of objectives that will ensure a stronger response in the future.”

These initial objectives include determining a definition of pandemic that is legally robust, but also a strong definition of the event to ensure clarity around claims. Mr Catlin also wants to demonstrate to the government that the insurance profession is prepared to work with it on a solution and to highlight the sector’s capabilities in

distribution. “One of the biggest fears is that government money doesn’t go to the right people,” he explains, pointing to the survival of the SME sector as key to kickstarting the economy. “Every SME is insured in some shape or form, so we’re in a great position to distribute support to them.”

Modelling is another area where the insurance profession could offer support according to PwC’s Mr Khan.

“The epidemiology experts are doing a great job but the insurance sector is very good at tweaking a model quickly in response to changes in circumstances,” he explains. “Insurers bring together a unique set of skills – underwriting, actuaries, accounting – that could be of huge benefit in future pandemics.”

SUPPORT MECHANISM Finding a mechanism to compensate those affected by future pandemics is the other key part of the steering group’s work. There are plenty of protection gap entities around the

MAJOR PANDEMICS SINCE 1950 Year

Name

Details

Deaths

1957-1958

Influenza pandemic

Worldwide Influenza A virus, subtype H2N2

1-4 million

1968-1970

Hong Kong flu

Influenza A virus, subtype H3N2

1-4 million

2002-2004

SARS

Worldwide

774

2009

Swine flu pandemic

Worldwide Influenza A virus subtype H1N1

150,000-575,000 approximately

2012

MERS coronavirus

Worldwide

862

2013-2016

Ebola

Worldwide but concentrated in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone

11,323

2015-2016

Zika

Worldwide

53

Source: Wikipedia

world but Julian Enoizi, CEO of Pool Re and a member of the steering group, says it is important to design something specific to the pandemic risk. “Pool Re has been very successful, responding to 17 terrorist events since it was set up, at zero cost to the taxpayer,” he says. “However, it’s not the only model and through the steering group, we have the opportunity to look at how others work and what would be appropriate in this situation.”

Among the considerations are the nature of private and public sector involvement; whether it is compulsory or voluntary; and whether it is a preor post-funded model.

Questions have also been raised about the remit of a potential ‘Pandemic Re’, with some asking whether it should be wider. Mr Enoizi says that while the steering group will focus on pandemic risk, broader needs will doubtless be considered either by the group or elsewhere. “With many systemic catastrophes, including in the case of the current pandemic, the response is only ever considered post-event. Systemic events such as a cyberattack or climate risk are already sitting on the national risk register. It might be sensible to have something in place now, rather than wait for the events to happen.”

And, while an insurance solution for pandemics was not in place when Covid-19 shut down the UK, it is highly likely that the sector will be ready for future events.

“There is a lot of support for this from within the industry and from government,” adds Mr Catlin.

“It reminds me of when 9/11 happened and it suddenly became much easier to get people round the table – minds are very focused in a crisis.” ●

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CUSTOMERS

Bobbi Sills examines how insurers have been supporting customers during the coronavirus pandemic

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SUPPORT NETWORK thejournal.cii.co.uk / The Journal / June - July 2020

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CUSTOMERS

T

he Covid-19 crisis has rocked global financial markets. With thousands of people out of work and an economic recession on the horizon, insurers are now grappling with a surge in customer queries.

Both individuals and businesses have been hit by the knock-on effects of the pandemic and UK lockdown measures enforced in March, which suspended the functioning of businesses across the country.

But what are insurers doing to support customers who have been financially impacted?

In response to the outbreak, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said: “We expect firms to consider very carefully the needs of their customers and show flexibility in their treatment of them.”

Britain’s financial regulator outlined a series of temporary measures to support customers who hold insurance and premium finance products and who have been financially impacted as a result of the coronavirus.

Firms have been expected to reassess the risk profile of customers who hold general and protection insurance policies to gauge whether there is scope to offer lower premiums, according to the FCA. Mark Shephard, assistant director, head of general insurance within the policy directorate at the Association of British Insurers, says: “We have seen a whole range of areas where insurers have helped people to ensure that they continue to be covered.

“There has been flexibility around some of the terms and conditions stated in policies, with insurers recognising that people are facing extremely difficult circumstances and challenges where they are not currently able to meet them.”

Mr Shephard points out that many insurers are offering support on a

case-by-case basis, either by having discussions with their customers directly or by going through a broker.

HELPING HAND With fewer drivers on the road, more consumers have been looking to reduce their motor cover as well as save on premiums during the lockdown.

Insurers such as Admiral and LV= were quick to waive administration and cancellation fees, as well as offer partial refunds to policyholders who have not used their vehicles as a result of the pandemic.

Customers are also being given the option to update their policies to reflect current usage and potentially lower their premium by temporarily switching from a fully comprehensive policy to third-party fire and theft.

Mr Shephard’s view is shared by Kevin Hancock, chair of the Society of Insurance Broking, who says: “There are a few examples where insurers have been sympathetic during the course of renewal to ensure that they are reflecting the current and anticipated risk posed by the pandemic.”

Insurance giants Axa, Aviva and the AA have also committed to offering payment holidays to customers who have been hardest hit financially.

The payment holiday scheme gives drivers the option to freeze premiums and defer payments until a later period, but the full amount must be repaid before the policy ends.

Home insurance customers who have experienced a significant fall in income or seen their usual salary stop completely as a result of the crisis are also eligible for the scheme.

Mr Shephard says: “Motor and home insurers understand that this is

THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF FLEXIBILITY GIVING BACK SHOWN BY INSURERS Supporting those on the front line is on the radar for motor insurers FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE right such as Aviva and Admiral, which HAVING TO ADAPT TO upgraded car cover free of charge for THE UNPRECEDENTED key workers who need to transport groceries and medicine.

CIRCUMSTANCES THEY patients, Admiral also said it was waiving FIND THEMSELVES IN any motoring claims excess fees for

WE HAVE SEEN A WHOLE RANGE OF AREAS WHERE INSURERS HAVE HELPED PEOPLE TO ENSURE THAT THEY CONTINUE TO BE COVERED

IMAGE: IKON

an incredibly difficult time for British families and businesses.

“These public pledges reinforce insurers’ determination to do everything possible to help their customers in these challenging times.”

NHS or emergency service workers and providing a free courtesy vehicle if their vehicle is damaged or stolen.

Mr Shephard says: “There has been a lot of flexibility shown by insurers for people who are having to adapt to the unprecedented circumstances they find themselves in.

“We have seen that right across the board, from support offered to volunteers who are using their cars to get people groceries, to NHS workers who need to use their vehicle for a different purpose to what is stated in their policy.”

As well as offering practical support, Aviva donated £5m to NHS Charities Together and £10m to British Red Cross as part of a pledge to support the wider community during the crisis.

Colm Holmes, global CEO, general insurance at Aviva plc, says: “We are seeing extraordinary efforts, particularly from NHS workers who are on the front line helping to keep us safe in the global fight against Covid-19.

“The funding for NHS Charities Together will help provide vital support to NHS workers, patients and communities, and ensure that support reaches more people, quickly.”

As the UK takes its first steps toward a return to new ways of working, the spotlight is on the insurance and financial services professions to see how well they can continue to adapt to provide crucial support to consumers. ●

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Bobbi Sills is communications executive of the CII

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CLAIMS

BUSINESS, INTERRUPTED Aamina Zafar explores challenges some insurers are facing in paying business interruption claims relating to Covid-19

I

Conduct Authority’s (FCA) recent announcement that it is seeking legal clarity on BI insurance to resolve doubt for firms that are facing uncertainty on their claims, is a strong sign that it expects insurers to adopt a sensible approach.

He says: “A defence based on the sentiment that ‘we don’t pay this type of claim on this type of policy’ will not wash with policyholders or regulators. The market’s interests are far better served both in courts of law and public opinion for the market to adopt a pragmatic, open and transparent position. Insurers should look to engage proactively with the FCA’s recent court action for clarity on the scope of business interruption wordings and plan their approach to the settlement of valid claims.”

DAMAGE Remarkably, Jonathan Samuelson, a partner at insurance claims consultants Harris Balcombe, says he has seen firsthand examples of insurance companies using “ridiculous” excuses to wangle their way out of paying Covid-19 claims.

He says: “I think the insurance profession’s reputation has suffered severe damage by its virtually blanket refusal to pay claims where, on any rational analysis, the policy wording should provide cover. I have seen excuses coming back from insurers that are at the very edge of what might be credible. Insurers would be better advised to not take ridiculous points around, for example, an argument that runs along the lines of, while there may be cover for a notifiable disease (that does not exclude Covid-19) within a 25-mile radius, as Covid-19 is a global issue and as the

XXXXXXX

22

nsurers must not revise their coverage to save themselves from the fallout of Covid-19 claims, top lawyers warn.

Experts at law firm Hogan Lovells are urging insurers to behave responsibly by honouring business interruption (BI) claims that have arisen due to the current coronavirus pandemic.

This comes after reinsurance broker Willis Re recently described the risk from coronavirus-related BI claims as an “existential threat to the entire industry, given growing calls to revise coverage retroactively and the colossal, if notional, aggregate limits deployed irrespective of contract agreements in place”.

Jamie Rogers, a partner at Hogan Lovells, says: “It is unlikely that UK government will intervene to force insurers to pay business interruption claims, which are not covered under contract wordings.

“However, insurers’ ability to navigate the pandemic without adverse government interference will be conditional on the industry behaving responsibly. UK regulators have made clear that they expect insurers to pay valid claims promptly, and to provide clear explanations for denials of coverage.”

Charlie Shute, a senior associate at Hogan Lovells, adds that the Financial

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CLAIMS

disease exists outside of the 25-mile radius as well as inside the 25-mile radius, there is no cover. Insurers might be much better placed to salvage something from their reputation, which is currently in tatters, by paying claims where there is clearly cover and not making absurd points. It is widely felt among claimants that insurers are adopting their current position to drag out the process until such time as the claimants have ceased to exist.

“I realise of course that this would be an expensive process for insurers, but it would be far less than the cost of many businesses deciding that insurance is no more than an umbrella that is immediately taken away as soon it starts to rain,” he adds.

Mr Samuelson says that Harris Balcombe is currently acting for several hundred clients in connection with Covid-19 claims. He explains: “Having reviewed the policy wording, we feel there should be cover. There are several hundred other claims where we have looked at the wording and

there appears to be no prospect of cover. There has been much talk of possible governmentbacked initiatives to ‘instruct’ insurers to pay these Covid-19 BI claims, so as to save large swathes of businesses from inevitable insolvency in the absence of such support.

“So far, nothing has actually been put forward by the government and I would be surprised if anything is forthcoming.”

SUPPORT

A DEFENCE BASED ON THE SENTIMENT THAT ‘WE DON’T PAY THIS TYPE OF CLAIM ON THIS TYPE OF POLICY’ WILL NOT WASH WITH POLICYHOLDERS OR REGULATORS. THE MARKET’S INTERESTS ARE FAR BETTER SERVED BOTH IN COURTS OF LAW AND PUBLIC OPINION FOR THE MARKET TO ADOPT A PRAGMATIC, OPEN AND TRANSPARENT POSITION

The FCA announced in May that it is proposing a series of measures to support consumers and businesses that hold insurance products and are facing issues as a result of coronavirus.

Christopher Woolard, interim chief executive at the FCA, says: “The current emergency has altered the value of some insurance products and we believe that insurers should be looking at whether their products still offer value. Firms should also look at how they can help customers who may be experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the virus. Many insurers are already taking some kind of action to assist their customers and we want to see a degree of consistency for consumers.”

Interestingly, Graeme Trudgill, executive director at the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, says the dilemma with Covid-19 claims is that most businesses previously did not seek to buy, or expect to be covered for, pandemic risk.

He says: “Insurance is modelled as the premiums of the many covering the claims of the few. There have been shocks to the model previously of course, and the global insurance market has prevailed. The Covid-19 pandemic is, however, unprecedented in terms of both reach and severity.

It should be considered to be a ‘fundamental risk’, namely one that defies the ‘many and few’ model and cannot be modelled or capitalised for by individual insurers.

“The uncertainty around the extent and duration of various governments’ interventions reflects the absence of any prior scientific or medical knowledge of Covid-19 and the unprecedented nature of an outbreak like it.

“Prior to March 2020, most businesses did not seek to buy or expect to be offered cover for pandemic risk, even if such cover had been generally available – which it was not. Since the 2003 SARS outbreak, most insurance policies specifically exclude pandemics,” adds Mr Trudgill.

The fallout from the current pandemic has resulted in the banking and finance sector lending more than £5.5bn to small and medium-sized enterprises at the time of writing, through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

According to UK Finance, almost £1.4bn worth of loans were provided in the week from 29 April to 6 May, as lending under the scheme continues to grow. The number of approved loans grew by a third during the same period, increasing by 8,550 to 33,812.

Clearly the scale of potential business interruption claims is huge so clarity for the FCA’s court action on the scope of policy wordings is needed sooner rather than later. ●

23

Aamina Zafar is a freelance journalist

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LIABILITY

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INSURERS SIGH OF RELIEF OVER COURT RULING thejournal.cii.co.uk / The Journal / June - July 2020

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LIABILITY

Liz Booth explores the ramifications two court rulings will have for cyber and liability insurance providers

C

yber and liability insurers were breathing a huge sigh of relief after the UK Supreme Court ruled in two cases – Morrisons and Barclays – effectively deciding that companies could not be vicariously liable for the actions of their employees.

In the first case, Barclays Bank plc v Various Claimants, the Supreme Court has overturned the Court of Appeal decision finding that Barclays was not liable for sexual assaults committed by a medical practitioner in the course of medical examinations carried out at Barclays’ request. The examinations were carried out either as a precursor to or during the claimants’ employment with Barclays.

The doctor’s work, agreed the Supreme Court, was considered part of a network of many others who did work for Barclays but were clearly independent contractors, “ranging from the company hired to clean its windows, to the auditors hired to audit its books”.

This decision reiterates the existence of the ‘independent contractor’ defence to claims of vicarious liability, carrying not only important implications for the law of vicarious liability but also the scope of abuse claims for which parties can be liable, along with the associated exposure for liability insurers.

Greg Woods, a partner at law firm Kennedys, says: “From a legal perspective, it clarifies the court’s approach to determining whether the

relationship between an employer and contractor is sufficiently akin to an employment relationship to make it right to hold the employer liable for the contractor’s actions.”

In Morrisons, the case did involve an employee, Andrew Skelton, who leaked payroll details. The Supreme Court ruled the leak by an internal auditor of payroll data of some 100,000 employees was “revenge”.

Greig Anderson, a partner in Herbert Smith Freehills insurance disputes group, says: “This judgment is good news for corporates and their insurers.”

THIS JUDGMENT IS GOOD NEWS FOR CORPORATES AND THEIR INSURERS

SIGH OF RELIEF? So, the question is: are insurers off the hook for good? Not necessarily so, is the resounding reply from lawyers and brokers alike.

Mr Anderson warns: “Insurers may therefore be breathing a sigh of relief – but only up to a point. Vicarious liabilities for data breaches by rogue employees are insurable in principle, but these claims are not doomsday for the insurance market. That’s because the main risk for corporates – and insurers – is direct liability claims and

related losses, which continue apace on an upwards trajectory.”

Vanessa Cathie, account executive, global professional and financial risks at insurance brokerage Lockton, agrees: “Far from being an absolute ‘get out of jail free’ card, little has actually changed under the law itself.

The Morrisons result is essentially a ‘recalibration’ of the law which had become a little blurred.”

And she stresses: “Another fact remains clear: a frolic can be a dangerous thing. What happened at Morrisons could have taken place at any other company: a disgruntled employee (Mr Skelton) did not respond well to disciplinary action.”

For the future, the concern remains the rise of class actions and the threat of massive claims hitting the insurance market. As Ms Cathie explains: “Despite Morrisons’ swift actions, and advice that ‘we’ve seen absolutely no evidence of anyone suffering any direct financial loss’, the supermarket was not able to quash a class action by 9,000 employees under common law and the Data Protection Act 1998 (as was in place at the time) for misuse of private information and breach of confidence – the first data leak class action in the UK.”

25

CLASS ACTION WARNING A key aspect of these cases was the use of class actions. Julian Copeman, a partner in Herbert Smith Freehills’ disputes practice, says: “Data breach class actions are on the rise in the UK and the judgment should be seen as a setback, not a roadblock. Funders and claimant firms are looking to build class actions in relation to data breaches even where there is no specific evidence of individual damage.

“They are seeking damages for the whole class for ‘distress’ or a standardised claim of loss of access to data, and even a nominal damages award per claimant could lead to a significant amount across a class of tens or hundreds of thousands.”

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WHAT HAPPENED? ● Morrisons:

During the course of his employment as a senior internal auditor, Andrew Skelton had access to considerable personal data, for the purposes of completing an auditing task.

Acting on a grudge stemming from employment action, he posted payroll data of almost 100,000 Morrisons’ employees on the internet, then notified the press of his actions. Morrisons acted quickly by removing the data from the internet, investigating the incident thoroughly and alerting the police. ● Barclays: Litigation was brought by 126 claimants against Barclays Bank for sexual assaults committed by a self-employed doctor during medical examinations carried out as part of the claimants’ employment with Barclays. Barclays relied on the defence that it had no contract of employment with the doctor that could give rise to vicarious liability and he was acting as an independent contractor.

Sources: Lockton and Clyde & Co

She points out that Morrisons lost a battle in the Court of Appeal in October 2018, when the court upheld the High Court’s decision that the company was vicariously liable for the actions of its rogue employee. As well as the exposure to compensation claims, the supermarket chain faced considerable negative publicity.

Interestingly, Ms Cathie adds: “From an insurance perspective, there was a consideration by the Court of Appeal in the Morrisons case that an employer holding insurance for losses arising from acts of malicious employees was a relevant factor in the finding of vicarious liability. In the Supreme Court however, the existence of any insurance policy covering the actions of a rogue employee was not deemed a relevant issue in determining the employer’s liability.

26

“This will bring some comfort to employers that where an employee is acting outside the scope of employment, those actions should not erode certain insurances,” says Ms Cathie.

SUFFICIENT CONNECTION Hollie Mortlock, head of finex financial institutions product development at Willis Towers Watson, reminds the market: “The abiding principle in cases involving vicarious liability remains whether there can be said to be sufficient connection between a rogue employee’s unlawful conduct and the course of their employment.”

For cyber insurers, Ms Mortlock has a warning: “It is worth noting, however, that the events that gave rise to the Morrisons action predated the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Different considerations would have come into play if the class action had centred around Morrisons obligations as a data controller under the GDPR, rather than on traditional common law principles of vicarious liability.

“While the Supreme Court clarified the correct application of the vicarious liability test, employers can still be held liable for data breaches caused by its employees and therefore they should still ensure they have robust protocols and security measures to protect personal data and comply with their obligations under data protection legislation.” ●

FAR FROM BEING AN ABSOLUTE ‘GET OUT OF JAIL FREE’ CARD, LITTLE HAS ACTUALLY CHANGED UNDER THE LAW ITSELF

Liz Booth is contributing editor of The Journal

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CLAIMS

With a reported 400% increase in UK cyberattacks since the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown, Liz Booth looks at how the cyber insurance market may see an increase in demand for its products

THE

CYBER

G

overnments and security agencies alike are raising concerns around cyberattacks and the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the World Economic Forum (WEF) warned in late May: “Covid-19 is forcing business leaders to adapt operating models faster than ever before to ensure existential survival. The large-scale adoption of work-from-home technologies, exponentially greater use of cloud services and explosion of connectivity allow companies to continue operations even with social distancing and ‘stay at home’ orders.”

However, it added: “The paradigm shift is putting immense pressure on cybersecurity operations. As organisations are making extraordinary efforts to protect their workers and serve their customers during the pandemic, exposure to cyber threats is increasing significantly.”

PANDEMIC

27

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CLAIMS

The WEF stressed that security bugs research group that mimics the and privacy-abusing practices are not Centre for Disease Control and new, but have been exacerbated by Prevention and World Health the growing demand for cost-effective Organization, requesting donations. and just-in-time solutions, along with ● Communications containing the pressure to digitalise and innovate investment scheme and trading quickly to keep ahead advice, encouraging of competition, people to take increase operational advantage of efficiencies, improve the coronavirus customer experience downturn. and improve business Malware, spyware decisions with and trojans have enhanced analytics. been found Closer to home, embedded in Action Fraud (the interactive UK’s national fraud coronavirus and cybercrime maps and Source: Action Fraud reporting centre) websites. reported a 400% Spam increase in coronavirus-related fraud emails are also tricking reports in March. And at the end of users into clicking on links May, Action Fraud said that, in a twothat download malware week period, the public had passed on to their computers or more than 160,000 suspect emails. mobile devices.

Law firm Burges Salmon says these There has been a spate figures relate to a variety of new scams. of online shopping scams First, there has been a wide for in-demand products range of phishing scams (bogus that are never delivered, communications that purport to be including protective from a well-known and trusted source, face masks and handwhich request confidential information sanitiser gel.

– typically login/password details or Security officials in the UK banking information), including: and US have been warning ● Emails purporting to be from that cybercriminals and HM Government, asking for ‘advanced persistent threat’ donations to the NHS during the groups are targeting individuals Covid-19 outbreak. and organisations with a range of ● Emails purporting to be from a ransomware and malware.

160,000

SUSPECTED FRAUDULENT EMAILS WERE PASSED ON TO ACTION FRAUD IN A TWO-WEEK PERIOD IN MAY 2020

28

CYBERSECURITY OPERATIONS FACING TREMENDOUS CHALLENGES Working from home has opened multiple vectors for cyberattacks through the heightened dependency on personal devices and home networks.

Social engineering tactics are even more effective on a distracted and vulnerable workforce.

Security operations centres (SOCs) have been designed to look for anomalous behaviours; today, SOCs are operating with impaired visibility because everything looks anomalous.

Critical business assets and functions

are significantly more exposed to opportunistic and targeted cyberattacks by criminal organisations and nation states seeking to exploit vulnerabilities and plant seeds for future attacks.

Public-sector services such as hospitals and healthcare services are under acute pressure and have been hit particularly hard by new types of ransomware aimed at disrupting connectivity, as well as denial-of-service attacks.

Source: World Economic Forum

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CLAIMS

IN 2019, THE AVERAGE COST OF A DATA BREACH WAS £4,180 PER CYBERATTACK. THIS WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER FOR MEDIUM-SIZED AND LARGE BUSINESSES, WHICH COULD EXPECT LOSSES OF £9,270 AND £22,700 RESPECTIVELY CYBER COVER So, what does this mean for companies and the possible purchase of cyber insurance?

Chris Riordan, part of the professional liability claims team at Miller Insurance, says: “As working from home becomes the new norm, many businesses and their employees will now be working on less-secure networks.

To avoid being scammed, it is essential for all employees to be aware of the cybersecurity standards and to approach all emails and calls with a sense of caution.

“To help mitigate the threat posed by cybercriminals, it is strongly advised that all internet users display heightened vigilance in the content they access and share. Ensure that the company has the most up-to-date versions of antivirus software,” he adds.

When it comes to insurance, broker Marsh says policyholders must double check to see if their business insurance policy covers home working. It urges companies to ensure cover did exist and to refresh any policies without any such wordings.

Marsh notes: “In 2019, the average cost of a data breach was £4,180 per cyberattack. This was significantly higher for medium-sized and large businesses, which could expect losses of £9,270 and £22,700 respectively.”

In an Insurance Journal vodcast, Darren McGraw, president of Mechelsen Private Client, also stresses the need for companies to have the right insurance. And Lisa Lindsay, executive director of Private Risk Management

Association, says clients need to make sure they are working with carriers that offer the most up-to-date, specialised products and services available in the marketplace.

“I would say that we are seeing a little bit of a low take-up where people don’t seem to possibly think that they need [specialised cyber] coverage,” Ms Lindsay says.

“As more attacks occur, I think we will see people being more interested in adding on that additional coverage to their insurance policies.”

Although insurers are still waiting to see the full effects on the pandemic on existing cyber policies, Mr McGraw says that insurers will respond with new products to reflect changing times.

“That is just part and parcel of what it is that we stand for as an industry,” he said. “I have no reason to expect that’s going to change because the nature of loss is cyber instead of a wildfire or some storm event.” ●

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Liz Booth is contributing editor of The Journal

CYBERATTACKS DURING COVID-19 Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has seen a dramatic increase in the number of cyberattacks directed at its staff, and email scams targeting the public at large. In one week in May, some 450 active WHO email addresses and passwords were leaked online, along with thousands belonging to others working on the novel coronavirus response. The leaked credentials did not put WHO systems at risk because the data was not recent. However, the attack did impact an older extranet system, used by current and retired staff as well as partners.

Scammers impersonating WHO in emails have also increasingly targeted the general public to channel donations to a fictitious fund and not the authentic Covid-19 Solidary Response Fund. The number of cyberattacks is now more than five times the number directed at the organisation in the same period last year.

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PROTECTION

G D BRI

E H T G IN

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n the past 10 years, natural catastrophe losses have averaged £131 billion of economic losses a year, according to a report from Swiss Re. Of that figure, only 37% are insured, resulting in approximately £83bn of uninsured losses a year.

This gap between insured and economic losses – the so called ‘protection gap’ – is all very familiar, but new global threats such as cyber, climate change and pandemic, as we are seeing with the Covid-19 crisis, are not only expanding the scope of the term but also the scale of the issue and those who are paying attention to it.

Increasingly, addressing the protection gap is a matter of national

Insurance protection gaps are fast becoming a high priority issue for national and international security, as James Vickers writes security. To put this into context, some comparative examples illustrate the relative significance of protection gaps.

The aftermath of the 2011 New Zealand earthquake provides a good example of how narrowing the protection gap helps economic recovery. With 98% of Christchurch properties covered, this was the most insured earthquake in the world. While economic losses from the earthquake reached NZ$40bn (£20bn), equivalent to 20% of New Zealand’s GDP, insurance and reinsurance claim funds enabled a relatively quick recovery.

Conversely, natural disaster events have tended to hit developing and vulnerable countries disproportionately harder due to lack of insurance. In the past 20 years, Asia has suffered almost half of the world’s economic losses from natural catastrophes (more than £730bn), of which less than 5% have been insured, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

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P A G Countries with well-developed economies are not immune from protection gaps either.

In the UK, 28% of households lack home insurance. Severe flooding and uninsured losses in the winter of 2019/2020 brought renewed focus on whether the UK government is doing enough to protect and support high-risk communities before and after floods.

is likely to make the insurance protection gap even wider, particularly in developing countries, many of which are prone to such risks and are least financially equipped to deal with them. Health is another area with a severe and increasing protection gap. In Asia alone, the health protection gap is estimated to be £1.5trn, according to Swiss Re, and is projected to grow.

Cyber risk is also a looming threat.

To provide appropriate levels of protection, it will be important to discover the point at which cyber risks can be shared between the private insurance profession and government, as a cyberattack on one part of the global network has the potential to spread widely and rapidly, causing losses that cover multiple countries and sectors.

GLOBAL CRISIS

CLOSING THE GAP

The current Covid-19 global crisis, which is creating previously unimaginable social and economic stress, clearly illustrates the lack of resilience and preparedness within the global economic system.

Insurance is playing a very modest role in helping to compensate for economic losses, but already discussions are underway in several countries to develop more capable public/private response mechanisms on an ex ante basis to manage major pandemics.

In recognition that it does not have the capital to meet the full cost of this type of global systemic event, the UK insurance sector is discussing how it could support the government to distribute the funds required to help keep the economy going, via a pandemic backstop system.

Against a background of weakening trust in governments and insurers, this type of public-private partnership could hail a new era and improve societal and economic resilience.

Yet climate change

Therefore, closing the protection gap is likely to require a multi-faceted approach that might include: improving understanding and quantification of risks through modelling to identify priority areas; reducing or avoiding exposure by, for example, avoiding construction in flood plains; increasing ex ante resilience through, for example, promotion of better building standards; and increasing ex post resilience through risk financing structures. The latter would include insurance or more innovative forms of alternative risk transfer, like parametric (re)insurance and insurance-linked securities.

At the same time, what is increasingly needed is a collective strategy that recognises that reducing the protection gap and developing an insurance culture stands to benefit economies in two key ways: ● Ex ante risk management, which fosters entrepreneurship, better resource allocation, and risk mitigation or prevention.

It can also funnel savings into more productive investment. ● Ex post financial protection, which

37%

OF NATURAL CATASTROPHE LOSSES IN THE PAST 10 YEARS HAVE BEEN INSURED

CHALLENGES IN REDUCING THE PROTECTION GAP ● Affordability:

Premium increases may remain unaffordable for individuals. Governments might have to step in to protect the viability of a national insurance pool. ● Cultural: In many developed countries, affordable insurance solutions are available but the take-up rate is low. ● Regulatory: Insurance needs a clear, stable regulatory framework to develop. ● Political cycles: Most national and municipal governments serve relatively short terms, which can disrupt long-term sustainable infrastructure. ● Systemic risk: Investment in data collection, technology and risk modelling is part of quantifying risk to support the development of insurance solutions.

functions as a safety net and stabiliser, reducing financial volatility for households and businesses in the event of shocks.

Indirectly, it also reduces poverty, encouraging inclusive growth.

An active partnership between governments and the insurance sector is needed to deliver such benefits. When properly managed, such partnerships should be able to enhance national resilience by shaping responsible behaviours and assist in getting national infrastructure, businesses and individuals more solidly back on their feet after an event.

A number of fundamental questions remain. How far can government and the insurers protect against risk? What is a citizen’s responsibility in building his or her own resilience? Where does national security start and finish?

Answers will vary depending on regions, political systems and risk cultures, and international crossindustry forums will be key in sharing best practice responses.

Nevertheless, they need to urgently be addressed and governments working in tandem with the insurance sector looks to be part of the solution. ●

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James Vickers is chairman of Willis Re International

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POLITICAL RISK

The Covid-19 crisis has added to an already challenging political risk landscape.

Tim Evershed examines how the market will cope

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s this year began, the political risk insurance market had a fairly normal roster of risks on its radar.

The transition toward a multipolar world order seen in 2019 – with multiple challenges to multilateralism and free trade – was expected to continue. The agreement between the US and China on phase one of a trade deal was considered likely to bring only temporary respite. In fact, Sino-American rivalry was expected to deepen in 2020, particularly as the US presidential election approached.

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POLITICAL RISK

Elsewhere, there were ongoing concerns about the situation in the Middle East, where an escalation of Iranian aggression looked likely following the US drone strike on General Soleimani.

In terms of country risk, there was unrest and political violence in Hong Kong and Chile; the disputed election result in Bolivia; and the continued fallout from Brexit.

IMAGE: GETTY

COVID-19 IMPACT However, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) has changed risk profiles around the world with its huge impact on countries, businesses and people. Covid-19 has put governments, health systems and finances under pressure, with trade and supply chains facing major disruption.

According to Marsh JLT Specialty’s country risk ratings, currency inconvertibility and transfer risks saw the most widespread increases, while contractual agreement repudiation risks also increased in many nations.

Roddy Barnett, head of political risk at Beazley, says: “The risks we saw at the beginning of the year haven’t gone away, but the landscape has certainly been turned upside down by the pandemic and there are many other risks that are likely to emerge from the coronavirus episode.

“Our attention is particularly focused on the secondary effects of the pandemic – the likely recession or even depression that’s going to result from the global shutdown that’s been necessary to contain the spread of this disease. Oil and commodity prices have absolutely plunged as a result of a really sharp dip in demand.”

Mr Barnett continues: “That will impact the emerging markets and frontier markets where we focus on covering risk. In particular, they will be in a difficult spot because a lot of their economies are dependent on commodity export flow.

“The impact of Covid-19 for us is

more about knock-on effects rather than the pandemic itself. There’s a high risk of certain countries being unable to sustain debt repayments going forward.

“There are also tertiary events feeding off of these. General political instability from these economic crises that you may see and governments wrestling with how to address these economic challenges ahead,” he adds.

POLITICAL POSTURING The Covid-19 crisis has also highlighted the shortcomings of some political leaders, who have abandoned long-term goals in favour of shortterm wins.

Although these tactics have proved adept at winning elections and extending political lifespans, they are often at the expense of sustainable gains.

Oksana Antonenko, director at risk consultants Control Risks, says: “Tactical thinking drives political uncertainty, unpredictability and insecurity. Tactical politics diminish the capacity of political leaders and institutions to offer strategic solutions to pressing global problems such as pandemics, climate change, nuclear proliferation, ethnosectarian conflict, rising inequality and deteriorating human security.

“More and more often, businesses are expected to take the lead in delivering global public goods in a more strategic and globalised manner than many national governments. In recent years, businesses have borne the brunt of the rising costs of trade wars and multiple sanctions regimes, government-mandated disruption to their global supply chains and regulatory volatility driven by polarised domestic politics.”

However, it is the immediate economic fallout from Covid-19

that will dominate companies’ risks perceptions. These range from a prolonged recession to the weakening fiscal position of major economies, tighter restrictions on the crossborder movement of goods and people and the collapse of a major emerging market.

STERN TEST These conditions will provide a stern test for the political risk insurance market, but Mr Barnett says it is one the market is ready to meet.

He adds: “We remain open for business and we have many clients who have long track records of staying open for business through good times and challenging times. There’s been an adjustment of underwriting appetite.

We’ve had to respond to the changing risk environment; there are certain longer-term risks that perhaps we would be cautious about putting on the books now.

“Although we have seen – and in the near term will likely continue to see – a huge drop in trade volumes, certain key goods and services still need to get through. Countries still need to import food, fuel and medical equipment. Governments will still prioritise payments for these goods.”

Mr Barnett concludes: “In terms of the outlook for the next year or two, we will definitely expect an uptick in claims in the market – that’s only natural in this part of the economic cycle. In particular, we will see an uptick for non-payment by governments of certain debt obligations. This is nothing new for the market; we supported clients through the aftermath of the financial crisis 12 years ago and although we paid out hundreds of millions, we emerged quite strongly.” ●

WE WILL SEE AN UPTICK FOR NON-PAYMENT

BY GOVERNMENTS OF CERTAIN DEBT OBLIGATIONS

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Tim Evershed is a freelance journalist

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R ERGEUGLUALTAOTROYR RY ARDAADRA R

W

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e are now more than three months into lockdown in the UK and as measures are eased and the economy is hopefully restarting, it is important to note some of the more recent regulatory guidance the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has laid out that applies to insurance professionals across the sector.

FCA GUIDANCE ON ASSESSING PRODUCT VALUE

FCA TEST CASE OF THE VALIDITY OF BUSINESS INTERRUPTION CLAIMS

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In June, the FCA confirmed its guidance for insurance firms on assessing product value during the In June, the FCA published a short consultation on draft coronavirus pandemic. guidance to set out expectations of all firms handling The guidance sets out what the FCA considers firms business interruption (BI) claims and any related complaints should be doing to identify any material issues that until the court decision. The guidance served to highlight affect the value of the general insurance and protection actions the FCA believe firms should take, including: identify products they offer, and their ability to deliver good the potential implications of the test case on their decisions customer outcomes during this time. to reject claims; keep policyholders The FCA stated that firms informed about the test case and should focus on reviewing The CII takes a look at what’s its implications for policies, claims products where benefits and any settlement offers; and treat cannot be provided or new on the policy and public policyholders fairly. where there has been a affairs front this month On 10 June, the FCA began fundamental change in risk proceedings in the High Court and products are now on its BI insurance test case. providing little or no On publication of court utility to customers. documents and an update Full guidance can on the test case, the FCA’s be viewed at: interim CEO, Chris Woolard, bit.ly/2zyzrhb stated: “The court action we are taking is aimed at providing clarity and certainty for everyone involved ASSESSING ADEQUATE FINANCIAL RESOURCES in these BI disputes – Finally, the FCA has published policyholder and insurer guidance on a framework alike. We feel it is also for assessing adequate the quickest route to this financial resources. clarity and by covering The guidance sets out multiple policies and the reasons for firms having insurers, it will also adequate financial resources be of most use across as well as expectations of the the market. t. procedures firms should adopt.

“The identification The FCA wanted to make it clear that while it has of a representative clarified that its intention was not to impose additional sample of policies requirements on firms, the current situation underlines and the agreement of the need for all firms to have adequate financial resources insurers that underwrite in place. them to participate in Full guidance on the new framework can be found these proceedings is a at: bit.ly/3d4vP4m major step forward in progressing the matter to court.”

Shayne Halfpenny-Ray is policy and public affairs adviser of For more information, the CII visit: bit.ly/2YPrU6v

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WHAT’S ON THE RADAR?

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Powering Personal Lines Professionals Personal Lines Knowledge Range

Technical knowledge and professional service Welcome to the Personal Lines Knowledge Range - a suite of learning and development tools built specifically for those in the consumer retail market. There’s something for everyone – from simple animations and short online courses to professionally recognised qualifications – designed and built by market practitioners to empower staff in delivering expert guidance and positive customer outcomes.

More details and to enrol cii.co.uk/personallines

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17/06/2020 10:29

INSURING FUTURES

GUIDING AN AGEING POPULATION The CII’s Matthew Connell reveals plans for Insuring Futures and improving later life financial resilience

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nyone who has worked in a clientfacing role will be familiar with this scenario: they are talking to an elderly client, who is unsure of what they need to ask for or even how to navigate the client verification process. In the background, a helpful voice is prompting them with information and helping them frame their questions.

Is this financial abuse? Is the elderly person being exploited? Or are they being given vital help, without which they would not be able to manage their finances? What is the legal and regulatory situation? How can the client’s data be protected, while still facilitating their request?

A wrong move, such as not treating the security implications seriously enough, or not being sufficiently helpful to the client, will result in a serious loss of trust between the client

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INSURING FUTURES

and financial services professionals.

This is only the most basic challenge facing the profession as it learns how to serve an increasingly ageing population. Overcoming each one of these challenges requires a strong act of imagination and empathy on the part of professionals to achieve a good outcome for their client.

The kind of knowledge and skills that are needed to service an ageing population rely not so much on technical knowledge, but rather on empathy and awareness of how other people live their lives.

INSURING FUTURES This kind of insight is at the heart of the CII’s Insuring Futures initiative.

It aims to build a picture of all the risks that people face in their lives, and how the services that are provided by financial advisers, insurers and the wider community are relevant to these wider risks.

The first phase of Insuring Futures looked at the lives of women in the UK and how their financial futures were affected by the career choices and caring responsibilities that they took on, as well as how they were saving for retirement and how family life affected their ability to save and protect themselves.

Our next stage of insuring futures will look at the ageing population and how people build and maintain independence throughout their lives. Considering not only financial independence, but also health, mental

and social wellbeing.

For many people, retirement can be a time of unparalleled independence – they may have enough savings to afford not to work for the first time, giving them a huge amount of leisure time that they can use to encounter new challenges and experiences, deepen bonds with their family and widen their social circle.

Of course, levels of independence are closely linked to health, but changes in health can also be managed to preserve independence. For example, as we encounter losses in mobility or even in cognitive ability as our lives go on, there are many ways that we can access help or reshape our environment to preserve our independence and increase our quality of life.

Usually, we build this independence in a tactical and unstructured way. We embark on a career based on opportunities that present themselves when we leave education, we amass assets like houses and pension pots along the way, and pick up caring responsibilities too. All the time, we are bombarded by advice and expectations around health and mental wellbeing that is sometimes sound but sometimes misleading.

Our work on insightful leadership will look at what people can do during every decade of their adult lives to build and maintain their independence, and look at the kind of conversations people need to have with their families, friends

and mentors to create more resilience throughout their lives, right into later life.

DIVERSE NEEDS The work will build on the insights from Insuring Women’s Futures, and it will be supported by work with focus groups to better understand the diverse needs of people in retirement and later life. These insights will form the basis of a conversation with members, which will lead to guidance and support for professionals around: ● How we design products and communications for older people that resonate with the way they live their lives; ● How professionals can structure conversations with clients that are more relevant to the risks and aims they have; ● How advisers can give advice to their clients’ whole family, rather than just the individual, as they grow older and their plans become more entwined with the needs of their family.

We will be working with experienced insurance and financial services professionals, charities, policymakers and researchers throughout the process, and looking to produce guidance that puts consumers and professionals in direct touch with each other in innovative and engaging ways.

We would love to hear from anyone wanting to contribute to this work, so if this is an area you are interested in, please email: sophia.kleanthous@cii.co.uk ●

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Matthew Connell is director of policy and public affairs of the CII

OUR WORK ON INSIGHTFUL LEADERSHIP WILL LOOK AT WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO DURING EVERY DECADE OF THEIR ADULT LIVES TO BUILD AND MAINTAIN THEIR INDEPENDENCE

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MEMBERS

MAXIMISE YOUR MEMBERSHIP Our core principles and benefits are designed to help you thrive in your career

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re you making the most of your membership? Our community of more than 129,000 members is active in all corners of the insurance profession. Being recognised by employers, regulators, consumers and government as the leading professional body for the insurance profession allows us to create a framework that underpins your membership.

At the heart of this framework sit our core beliefs: ● Standards: We play a pivotal role within the profession, setting standards for competence and influencing our future direction.

● Professionalism: We are dedicated to promoting high standards of professionalism – at the centre is a commitment to uphold certain standards of behaviour. ● Trust: Public trust is at the heart of all that we do – our Royal Charter ensures we never lose sight of our mission.

Whenever you use your designatory letters (on your CV, email signature or LinkedIn profile, for example) you are displaying your professional credentials, demonstrating your public commitment to these beliefs and to our code of ethics.

By working towards Fellow or Chartered status, you are displaying symbols of the highest technical

competence, signifying a public commitment to professional standards and helping to inspire consumer trust in our wider profession.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY Our societies – for those working in broking, claims and underwriting – offer an enhanced member experience by focusing on the topics and issues that matter most in your area of insurance. Each society provides tools and resources designed to deliver insight, shape good practice and support professional development, all delivered via society websites, newsletters, events, webinars, podcasts and our social media channels.

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MEMBERS

COVID-19 SUPPORT We have reacted quickly to minimise the impact of coronavirus on members, including: ● Exams: Significantly accelerating work to deliver on-screen assessments and remote invigilation for members sitting exams from July onwards. ● Discounts for learners: Learners who are furloughed, or whose income has materially reduced, and whose learning and assessment costs are not funded or subsidised by their employer, are eligible for a 20% discount on a one-off digital purchase of selected study resources. ● CPD: Rapidly expanding provision of online and digital content to help members meet the CII’s CPD requirement of 35 hours of CPD per year. ● Digital content: Developing digital solutions for our Professional Focus and face-to-face CPD events. ● Perks: Our affinity benefits scheme has prioritised access to money-saving deals and discounts tailored to those working from home, including supermarket discounts, digital fitness and wellbeing. ● Member support scheme: If your membership is due for renewal and you are temporarily out of work through redundancy, unemployment or other circumstances that may cause financial hardship, you may be eligible for a temporary 50% reduction in your subscription fee.

YOUR LOCAL INSTITUTE PROVIDES A DEDICATED PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY AS WELL AS PROVIDING FIRST-CLASS TECHNICAL AND REGULATORY CPD EVENTS, SOFT SKILLS TRAINING AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

LEGAL HELPLINE We offer members access to a legal helpline service, which provides advice on a range of business and personal legal issues (excluding employment law advice). Subjects covered include partnership law, contract law and various commercial and private issues.

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SHUTTERSTOCK

PERKS – MEMBER AFFINITY SCHEME

LOCAL INSTITUTES

MENTORING

Integral to membership is the network of 56 local institutes across the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man. Your local institute provides a dedicated professional community as well as providing first-class technical and regulatory CPD events, soft skills training and social activities.

Connect is our member-only digital mentoring platform, enabling you to share your collective knowledge and experience with other members. It facilitates personal and professional growth for insurance professionals at any stage of their careers by matching them within our membership pool.

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

VOLUNTEERING

Participating in your society and local institute is a great way to obtain CPD. Our digital learning content hubs also provide extensive programmes of ongoing learning and development, helping to keep your knowledge up to date and relevant.

Another way to ‘give back’ is by participating in one of our pro bono volunteering opportunities, which help build public trust in the profession. These see our members delivering financial education workshops to schools and colleges across the UK.

The collective bargaining power of membership has been harnessed to bring all UK and international members access to ‘Perks’, our affinity benefits scheme. Perks provides members with a range of money-saving deals and discounts with major online retailers and high street brands, across lifestyle, travel, business and advice.

Find out more about all aspects of membership on our website at: cii.co.uk/membership ● Simon Webster is membership marketing manager of the CII

WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST? Which part of membership do you feel provides the greatest value? Share your thoughts using #CIIValue on LinkedIn (tag @chartered-insuranceinstitute) or Twitter (tag @CIIGroup).

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FLEXIBLE WORKING

HOME DISCOMFORTS

With thousands of insurance employees still working from home despite the easing of lockdown, Liz Booth looks at some of the strains it can put on professionals

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FLEXIBLE WORKING

F

or years, women INTANGIBLE BARRIERS and childcare and are, on average, have called for bosses However, Diane Maxwell, former now doing childcare for nearly twice at insurance firms retirement commissioner in New as many hours as in 2014-2015. to consider flexible Zealand, warns: “Sometimes the Claire McDonald, UK manager for hours, work from barriers are not the immediately insurer, HDI Global, says: “There is home options and obvious ones. They can be intangibles. a belief that it is the mums in your parental leave if they The current lockdown actually has organisation who still have the truly wanted to improve the gender potential to exaggerate some of the parental responsibility, even when balance of the profession. As a result existing barriers. they are working. But that is not of the government’s instruction back “Women more broadly carry the necessarily so. Many of the younger in March to stay at home to slow logistical load of the home. Women men have wives at work and they are the spread of coronavirus, suddenly working from home currently might taking on the responsibility.” nearly everyone in the profession was be increasing the very long list of no longer required to enter the office. things they are juggling.”

DISRUPTED ROUTINES Whether the new way of working It seems her worries are justified – Ms Maxwell worries it can be from home created by the lockdown the UK's Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) the difference between someone will prove game changing in opening has found that mothers in two-parent applying for a promotion or not. up new opportunities for a better households are only doing, on average, “It is a big question around women gender balance from top to bottom a third of the uninterrupted paid-work in the workplace. Right now, our of organisations remains to be seen. hours of fathers. Before lockdown, routines are out of kilter and we have Barbara Schonhofer, mothers did about 60% women who are worrying about all chair and founder of of the uninterrupted the people affected by Covid-19, so the Insurance Supper work hours of fathers. leaving themselves with less mental Club (ISC) Group, This sharp reduction in bandwidth to apply for senior roles. believes it the time that mothers Without a doubt that is making it will fundamentally are spending dedicated harder, particularly for women.” change the way the to paid work risks lasting Ms Schonhofer agrees: “All the sector works – harm to their careers research shows that we can maintain with a resulting when the lockdown is our energy for about eight weeks. As improvement in lifted, the IFS has warned. lockdown happened, we all had to gender balance.

The survey also reveals learn about Zoom or Teams, find space Source: ISC Group A recent informal the extent to which in our houses to work, rearrange our survey carried out by mothers have picked up lives and rearrange our work. the ISC Group showed 80% wanted to the bulk of the time spent on new “It has taken a huge amount of carry on with home working in some responsibilities for childcare and energy and now people are dipping in way after lockdown eases, having housework: they are looking after energy. The message has to be that proved it can work. children during an average of 10.3 it’s fine to be tired. The learning has Until early March, Ms Schonhofer hours of the day (2.3 hours more than been done; the spinning of plates has explains, the insurance profession was fathers) and are doing housework been done.” ● mostly fixed in its ways, arguing that during 1.7 more hours than fathers. people needed to physically be in the However, fathers have also increased Liz Booth is contributing editor of office, at their desks from 9am-5pm, the time they spend on housework The Journal if not 8am-6pm.

“There was a general resistance to home working from a hard core in the London market,” she says. “There FEMALE FIGURES are notable exceptions but basically the tradition of the London market • Mothers are 23% more likely than fathers to have lost their jobs (temporarily or permanently) has involved an autocratic style of during the current crisis. Of those who were in paid work prior to the lockdown, mothers are leadership, which has worked very 47% more likely than fathers to have permanently lost their job or quit; and they are 14% more likely to have been furloughed. well for some sectors, but it has lost • Mothers who are still doing paid work have reduced their paid working hours substantially, and its mojo. by more than fathers. Prior to the crisis, working mothers did paid work for 6.3 hours of a “And then 12 weeks ago, we found weekday on average; this has fallen by more than one fifth to 4.9 hours. Working fathers’ hours out that suddenly, guess what, we have also fallen, but by proportionally less, from 8.6 hours before the crisis to 7.2 hours now. could all work remotely and function Source: Institute of Fiscal Studies very efficiently.”

80%

IMAGE: GETTY

OF INSURANCE PROFESSIONALS WANT TO CONTINUE HOME WORKING IN SOME WAY AFTER THE LOCKDOWN

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Local Institutes link you to a community of professionals for support, guidance, development, and advancement.

The CII’s network of 56 local Institutes help make careers more rewarding.

cii.co.uk/local

Local institutes are a constant source of support, inspiration and new possibilities

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Q U A L I F I CAT I O N S

LOCKDOWN LEARNING How to add to your skillset during the coronavirus pandemic

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ome conventional sources for qualifications and learning have been affected by the coronavirus lockdown, but the CII is working hard to help members maintain a focus on their professional development.

Clearly, some professionals are working harder than ever, keeping clients informed and managing day to day. For others, this may be the perfect time to focus on development and this is one of the reasons the government made it clear that while anyone furloughed must not engage in any work for their employer, they may invest in their own professional development.

The situation is of course progressing rapidly, so while all the below is correct at the time of writing, please refer to the CII’s coronavirus hub for latest updates: cii.co.uk/coronavirusupdates

Many of the face-to-face CPD events that members would ordinarily benefit from have had to be cancelled or postponed. However, members are still expected to meet the CII’s CPD requirement of 35 hours per year – whether members are full-time or part-time workers.

The good news is that there is lots of CPD content available through the CII website as digital content. We have produced a set of FAQs on how to complete and record CPD while working remotely, at: cii.co.uk/faqs The CII is offering free digital study texts and revision aid updates to personal finance students worried they may be unable to sit their assessment before the end of August 2020.

If a student is unable to take their assessment before the expiry of their 2019 to 2020 study text, we will add a 2020 to 2021 digital study text, together with any revision aids purchased, to their RevisionMate account along with an assessment extension.

This guarantee also extends to study texts and revision aids for those enrolling between now and the current expiry date.

DISCOUNTS At the end of April, the CII began offering financial support to furloughed members of the insurance and personal finance profession and those facing financial hardship as a result of Covid-19. Our intent

is that those financially affected by Covid-19 can continue to invest in their professional development at this time.

A 20% discount on digital learning materials is available for members and non-members who as a result of Covid-19 have been furloughed or seen an equivalent reduction in their income, and their learning and assessment costs are not funded or subsidised by their employer.

Those who are facing financial hardship due to being made redundant or working for a business that has collapsed as a result of Covid-19 are also eligible for financial assistance on digital learning.

If lockdown makes it impossible to safely use test centres and exam halls to hold assessments, we are encouraging all eligible candidates to consider taking exams remotely in a suitable location of their choice, using a PC or laptop with access to a webcam.

To see a full unit list and find more information, visit: cii.co.uk/remote-invigilation

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LEARNING HUB Don’t forget, there is a huge reservoir of third-party publications, databases, reports, recorded lectures and good practice guides available free to members to download from the website.

As government guidance develops, we will keep the coronavirus hub updated with the best ways for you to continue to develop your skills. ● Ian Simon is marketing director of the CII

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E D U CAT I O N

FIT FOR PURPOSE Vivine Cameron explains how the Higher Education Alignment programme is bridging the gap between academic and professional qualifications

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he CII has a vision to achieve parity of esteem with established professions such as law, medicine and accountancy, and one of our metrics is encouraging students to achieve CII professional qualifications as part of their university course or academic journey.

At the heart of what the CII is focusing on is attracting, engaging and recruiting new talent into the profession, while helping individuals find a fulfilling role in which they wish to progress. As a learning and development professional, my remit is the creation and management of CII partnerships within higher education to expand the range of education options available to insurance and personal finance professionals – both existing and going forward.

The CII’s two routes of accreditation were revisited with CII university partners to determine a more comparable approach to that of other professional qualifications. Graduates would need from their degree programmes to be either en route to, or part-qualified in, insurance and financial services professional qualifications – in the same way as, for example, accountancy or law.

Therefore, an alternative model, Higher Education Alignment (HE Alignment) was created and piloted in 2018/2019 to bridge the gap between

the current academic and insurance and financial services professional qualification achievement. The net results are:

● Earlier achievement of professional qualifications. ● Undertaking professional qualifications at an academic (reduced) rate. ● Professional qualification positioning them as a stronger employable marketable prospect. ● Access to insurance and financial services employer networks.

Dr Lien Luu, associate professor in finance at Coventry University, says: “I started my career 25 years ago and in addition to my academic qualifications, I am also qualified as a Chartered financial planner, a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society and a registered life planner with the Kinder Institute.

“At Coventry University, we run the Wealth Management Mentoring Scheme, giving students exposure to financial planning. In addition, their ability to take R01 before they graduate makes them very employable.

“This enables our students to consolidate their learning and obtain valuable qualifications, especially when they have already studied a personal finance module in year one and a financial services module in year two,” says Dr Luu. “Even if they do not pursue a career in this sector, I believe that taking these financial services professional qualifications will give them a lot of personal benefits.” ●

GENERAL AND FINANCIAL SERVICES EMPLOYERS

Vivine Cameron is education partnerships manager of the CII

HIGHER EDUCATION ● Strengthening of their proposition for students, linking to employability. ● Stronger offering of new talent for employers in the profession. ● Access to resources and materials produced or endorsed by the CII. ● Competitive edge as a provider in the HE landscapes.

NEW LEARNERS

● Additional route of recruitment for acquiring new talent. ● Engaged and committed new talent demonstrated by additional professional qualifications. ● Cost saving as certification exams have already been achieved or are near completion.

GET IN TOUCH If you are a higher education provider interested in this exciting opportunity with the CII HE Alignment arrangement and would like to know more, contact Vivine Cameron via: educationpartnershipcoordinator@cii.co.uk

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CHARTERED

REDUCING THE BURDEN Melissa Collett explains how the CII is helping Chartered firms with status renewals during the coronavirus crisis

RESPONSIBLE MEMBER As a board director of a Chartered firm, the Responsible Member takes on the role of ensuring that the Corporate Chartered firm complies

with the CCS terms and conditions at all times, and undertakes to notify the CII if there is any material change in the firm’s details or ability to meet the criteria for CCS. The current crisis does not change this obligation.

Indeed, it is the strength of this that allows the CII to help Chartered firms complete the renewal process with minimal administrative burden during this period.

It should be emphasised that this modified process will not in any way relax the required uired standards for Corporate Chartered rtered status, which are still required uired to be met.

This recognises the e trust we place in Chartered firms’’ and Responsible Members’ ongoing g compliance with the CCS rules and criteria.

We are aware that at our members’ priority is to follow w government guidance to slow the spread of the coronavirus and nd help clients concerned about the he impact of these unprecedented ted times on their financial circumstances. cumstances.

Given this unique ue and challenging time for or us all, we believe that, t, as a professional body,, one of the ways we can n offer support to the profession fession is by temporarily reducing administrative trative requirements, allowing owing members to focus on continuing to serve clients as effectively as possible.

If your corporate Chartered status is due for renewal during the next few months and you require the temporary CCS renewal form, please get in touch with our Corporate Chartered customer service team via telephone or email: Tel: 020 8989 8464 Email: charteredfirm@cii.co.uk ●

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Melissa Collett is professional standards director of the CII

IMAGE: IKON

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s the coronavirus crisis affects our members’ personal as well as professional lives, the CII has taken a decision to make the renewal process for Chartered firms as efficient as possible, while still maintaining the necessary standards and demonstrating the trust we have in them.

The CII’s aim is to ensure existing Corporate Chartered firms are given extra support to maintain their Corporate Chartered status (CCS) during this difficult time, when firms’ resources are stretched with helping customers deal with the impact of the economic downturn. Firms are also under pressure at this time to support staff with remote working and maintaining financial resilience.

For these reasons, Corporate Chartered firms facing the renewal process during this period of lockdown have been given the option for a Responsible Member to read and sign a temporary renewal declaration form. By confirming key information, the Responsible Member is giving the CII assurance that the firm continues to meet the criteria for Chartered status and therefore the renewal can proceed without the need for a complete review.

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18/06/2020 13:11

Connections made easier Introducing your new e-mentoring platform Whether you’re looking for career development support, or keen to share your experience to guide the next generation, Connect is designed to help.

Start your mentoring journey.

Visit: cii.co.uk/connect CII.06.2020.046.indd 46

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THE INSURANCE MUSEUM

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or centuries, insurance has enabled the risk of human progress to be managed and mitigated. But its rich history and diverse stories of people, events and innovations have rarely, if ever, been brought together in one place.

The Insurance Museum’s (IM) mission is to change all this by opening the doors on the incredible story of how society has managed risk and how it will continue to navigate what is on the horizon. The museum’s aim is for visitors to discover and enjoy learning about the challenges and triumphs along the way.

This mission to tell the story of risk through the museum is also inspired by the CII’s Royal Charter to “build public trust in the insurance profession”. Never has this Charter been more relevant than now, as the world faces the devastating impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

Public trust in the insurance profession is undeniably being impacted at this complex and emotive time. Lessons will be learned and a

crucial aspect of responding to this pandemic is that insurance can, and must, improve its dialogue with those outside the profession.

This is a profession that underwrites the launching of satellites into space, manages earthquake risk and assesses the impact of new technologies such as artificial intelligence. None of these exciting endeavours that keep the cogs and gears of societies moving would be feasible without insurance.

A WEALTH OF HERITAGE In 2018, CII CEO, Sian Fisher, asked Reg Brown to chair a working group to review what should be done with the Institute’s heritage items following its office move.

From there, Mr Brown created the idea to open an insurance museum for the public. With his determination and energy, word quickly spread, prompting chairs and CEOs from across the market to join in and share their support.

The IM initiative working group (I’M IN), with the support of the CII, commissioned a feasibility study that

revealed overwhelming market support for the idea of delivering a world-class visitor venue – in the City of London, the global heartland of insurance.

The initiative — now sponsored by Ageas, Aon, Aviva, AXA, Beazley, Guy Carpenter, Hiscox, Howden, IGI, LMA, Marsh, McGill and Partners, Morning Data, Mulberry Risk, PSC Insurance Group, RKH Specialty, RWA, Swiss Re and Willis Towers Watson — is a once-ina-lifetime opportunity for the insurance community to come together to curate and share the story of insurance. It will not only be educational, but inspire future generations to consider joining this exciting but little-understood financial services sector.

If you would like to support this initiative, visit: insurancemuseum.uk to pledge your support and sign up to our newsletter with its details of future fundraising.

For more information, contact: jon@insurancemuseum.uk or visit: www.insurancemuseum.uk ●

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Jonathan Squirrell is Insurance Museum project manager

UNLOCKING THE WORLD OF RISK Jonathan Squirrell reports on the progress of the Insurance Museum initiative planned for the City of London NEXT STEPS Phase 1: Establish a first-phase museum in London, EC3 (4,000sq-8,000 sq ft), with supporting docufilm series and digital resources (online/virtual museum, app). Initial fundraising target of £3m+ from across the corporate market, trusts, funds and crowdfunding.

Phase 2: Creation of the permanent world-class visitor venue (20,000 sq ft), in London, EC3.

Aimed to open in 2028.

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Q U A L I F I CAT I O N S

PIONEERING PROFESSIONAL

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arlier this year, the CII fellowship advisory board wrote to me confirming my election as a Fellow of the CII. Given that the insurance profession has flourished in my small country in recent years, I was proud to learn that I was the first Gibraltarian to achieve this qualification.

The journey to fellowship was a three-year affair and, while it involved hard work and sacrifice, with the right plan I believe it is very achievable alongside a full-time job.

As a strong advocate for trust and professional standards in insurance, I would like my fellowship journey to inspire and serve as motivation to other aspiring professionals, both in Gibraltar and further afield.

As part of the fellowship plan, one must complete a major achievement (MA). I always felt that this was an overambitious task and would involve a sabbatical from work. After I spoke to the CII advisory service, I discovered the project-based option as a route towards completing this.

I decided that if I could align the fellowship ambition with my career by way of a work-related project then, with good planning, this was achievable. As it happened, I was looking to start my own business and found that this could serve as my MA, so I simply accelerated the process.

I brought a team together and, with my business partners, formed Senate Insurance Brokers – a general insurance intermediary specialising in the corporate insurance sector from Gibraltar.

Nicholas Pecino reflects on becoming the first CII Fellow in Gibraltar and will now work to encourage trust and professional standards across the country NEW FOCUS Starting a new business was outside the comfort zone of a monthly salary and a company credit card. I was working a 30-hour week on the setup, while focusing on my CII learning the rest of the time. The project fitted in perfectly with my ambition to start a company, while the ACII exams provided me with the knowledge, confidence and expertise I needed, as well as a sense I was achieving something worthwhile.

I began my project in April 2017 and by the beginning of 2018, I had achieved Chartered status, while Senate had attained the regulatory licence as a general insurance intermediary.

Thankfully, business increased, but with work hours becoming much longer than expected, it was challenging to keep on top of the CII fellowship programme. It would be misleading to say it wasn’t a struggle at times, but I got through it. Teamwork was key – my business partners were understanding and helpful, while my mentor provided me with the support

and motivation I needed to manage the workload. Slowly but surely, the hard work began to pay off and the rewards exceeded expectations.

As part of my post-fellowship plan, I outlined that I would like to support insurance starters by way of training and mentorship. I believe that young, aspiring professionals should be aiming to achieve the FIT and Cert CII exams within 12 to 18 months of starting their first role, but it’s a real joint effort for both employees and employers, who also need to commit their support.

I will now be developing a scheme locally to help guide aspiring professionals in Gibraltar through their CII exams. And, fingers crossed, I’ll soon be one of many CII Fellows in my small country. ● Nicholas Pecino, FCII, is a Chartered insurance broker at Senate Insurance Brokers

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Q&A STUDY ROOM

This set of questions, courtesy of online CII training package Insurance Assess, will test your knowledge of topics.

Answers are at the bottom

QUESTION 1

QUESTION 5

QUESTION 9

Which of these is the trigger found in the liability sections of cyber policies?

When considering political risk insurance, which of these actions will all underwriters take?

A Refer to their country risk rating model b Deal with country risk after the premium has been fixed c Look only at the possibility of invasion d Check the credit rating of the insured

What is the purpose of the departmental clause in a business interruption policy?

A It requires the policyholder to calculate losses on a department-by-department basis b It allows insurers to calculate losses on a department-by-department basis if they wish c It allows the policyholder to calculate losses on a department-by-department basis if they wish d It allows insurers to exclude payments to any departments not making a net profit

A Claims made b Occurrence c Causation d Manifestation

QUESTION 2 In respect of cyber risks, which of these is a form of computer infection?

A Worm b Slug c Snail d Germ

QUESTION 6 Lloyd’s syndicates are regulated by: A Government statute b Lloyd’s and the Financial Conduct Authority c Lloyd’s only d The Financial Conduct Authority only

QUESTION 3 In respect of cyber risks, which of these statements explains what cloud computing is?

A A brand name for an internet services provider b A type of computing in which IT-related capabilities are provided as a service by a third party using internet technologies c A type of backup hot-start system d A form of social networking site

QUESTION 7

QUESTION 4

QUESTION 8

Which of these is not a common claims condition in a cyber policy?

A Fraud/non-disclosure b Repairs must be carried out within 12 months of the loss C No duty to defend D Claims series

Assuming a travel insurance policy is in force, when does cover for cancellation commence?

A Once the final payment has been made b Once the holiday is booked c Three months before departure date d When the holiday journey starts

QUESTION 10 Why do business interruption policies include a material damage proviso?

A To ensure finance is available to reinstate the damaged property b To ensure that the insurer will not have to pay large claims c To ensure the insurer gets the premium for property cover as well d To ensure that the insured buys business interruption cover

Under a business interruption policy, the percentage limit under a supplier's extension should be based on what? The percentage of: A The insured's annual turnover b The insured's turnover during the indemnity period c The total gross profit over the period of insurance that could be lost following damage at the supplier's premises d The total gross profit over the maximum indemnity period that could be lost following damage at the supplier's premises

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YOUR SCORE » 1–3 POOR 4–6 GOOD

7–8 VERY GOOD 9-10 EXCELLENT

ANSWERS 1A. Liability sections are all on a claims-made basis.

2A. The following are common infections: viruses; worms; trojans; malware and spyware.

3B. Cloud computing relies on the cloud provider creating a network of hosting computers

that are connected.

4B. Insurers will expect prompt mitigation of the loss but there is usually no clause requiring reinstatement within a set period.

5A. Underwriters will always refer to their country risk rating model.

6B. All Lloyd’s syndicates are

regulated by Lloyd’s and the Financial Conduct Authority.

7B. The cancellation cover commences from when the holiday is booked and continues until departure date.

8D. Suppliers' extensions must be assessed independently and the

figure chosen should represent the percentage of the gross profit over the whole indemnity period that could be lost as a result of damage at that premises.

9C. It allows the policyholder to opt for the rate of gross profit and economic limit calculations to be

made at departmental level rather than for the business as a whole.

10A. It means the business interruption insurers can be confident that the damaged property will be repaired or reinstated.

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CII BLOG

HANNAH MEADS

THE NEW NORMAL The Covid-19 pandemic has seen a mass adoption of home working.

Hannah Meads considers what the future of the profession will look like

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hether we like to admit it or not, working from home – and flexible working in general – has always had stigma associated with it. It has been debatable as to whether it is right for us as a profession, largely due to the face-to-face nature of our business, priding ourselves on the history of our marketplace.

However, in the last few months, we have all been forced into a situation where the majority, if not all, of the working week has been from home.

I’m proud to say that, as a profession, we’ve done a brilliant job at adapting – probably more so than most of us imagined possible. We have been accommodating and understanding that our clients and colleagues have their own personal circumstances to deal with.

There have certainly been some positives to working from home, too. I have saved a small fortune in travel costs (and from not visiting Pret every single day) and am enjoying the flexibility that working from home brings, like taking a 10-minute break on our balcony to sit in the sun with a coffee. I feel happier having been forced to slow down and, personally, my work/life balance has dramatically improved.

But working from home isn’t always easy, especially during a pandemic. I miss my colleagues.

Despite setting up regular team calls and making

every effort to catch up virtually, it’s not quite the same. Negotiating space (especially for those who are in a one-bed flat like me) can be challenging – let alone when two of you are trying to work.

FINDING BALANCE

I’M PROUD TO SAY THAT, AS A PROFESSION, WE’VE DONE A BRILLIANT JOB AT ADAPTING

Arguably, the biggest challenge is separating work from home life. Stressful work situations are now part of our home environment, without having that physical office space to ‘leave it at work’. And without having a commute, or ‘set’ working hours, it’s easy to justify staying logged in for an extra hour or two.

It’s left me wondering what the ‘new normal’ will look like when we can finally return to work.

We’ve proved we can successfully work from home – and done properly, this new way of working could revolutionise businesses and have a positive impact on our lives. In turn, I have a new-found appreciation for the office and look forward to a change of scenery.

I am excited for what the future of our profession will look like. In an ideal world, a balance between home and office would likely suit most of us, with trust and flexibility from our employers on how and where we work, as we continue to service our clients to the highest standard.

We can still respect the traditions of our market, but being able to adapt to change will mean we can continue to improve on the service we deliver.

Here’s to the future and to the new normal. ● Hannah Meads is broker at Miller Insurance

We ar are now halfway into the year and coming to terms with the idea that social distancing in some form or another is likely to be with us for some time. We are beginning to adapt to the new world in different ways – at the CII one key likel cchange has been that remote invigilation, which was an experiment a couple of years ago, has now become the norm for professional organisations all over the world.

We are gradually learning how to have effective video conferences and webinars, while learning more than we ever thought we would about colleagues’ spare rooms, kitchens, families and pets.

We are also learning more about the challenges of truly understanding risks. Often, as insurers, we can assume that likelihood and severity of different risks continues more or less unchanged from year to year, but now we have had a reminder about what real risk management looks like as we try to figure out how far apart to stand, when to wear a mask, and how to shop safely.

It is a good reminder that behind the numbers, there are always real risks, as well as good and bad practices. The more we engage with this reality behind the numbers, the more we can deliver the very best service to our clients. ● se Sian Fisher is CEO of the CII

ILLUSTRATIONS: LUKE WALLER

LOOKING AHEAD

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Your career will advance faster with the benefit of knowledge, guidance, experience and encouragement of others.

The CII’s network of 56 local institutes put all the advantages of membership on your doorstep.

cii.co.uk/fivebigwords Local institutes are a constant source of support, inspiration and new possibilities

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