Navigating the insurance broking market of the UK means continually balancing the challenges present in the market with the opportunities that are also available. Helping brokers with this balancing act is the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) and in a recent Leader Profile interview conducted by Insurance Business UK, executive director Graeme Trudgill (pictured) voiced the concerns he is hearing in the market.
Brokers are really challenged by a particularly hard market now, he said, and that’s been the case for some years. It was present pre-COVID, but the pandemic is making it harder. COVID-exclusions in areas such as public liability on care homes, for instance, are making things very difficult for insurance brokers. Meanwhile, another challenge is around the cladded buildings issue and the reputational harm this continues to cause.
What’s interesting is how opportunities relate to the challenges facing the market, Trudgill said, and he highlighted how the ongoing regulatory framework review is a chance to achieve change in regulation.
“We’re really hopeful that we can end up with a better balanced regulator going forward,” he said. “, I think the new flood insurance directory that we’re about to launch in conjunction with the ABI, Flood Re and DEFRA is a really positive step because flood insurance remains a significant concern in a lot of areas.”
Trudgill noted that the Amanda Blanc led review of flood insurance in Doncaster over the last few years recommended creating a new signposting service because some household clients have a home insurance policy that excluded flood. If clients can be directed to the BIBA Find Insurance Service, he said, then hopefully people will be able to get coverage either through Flood Re or one of BIBA’s members.
“One of the really important issues in our manifesto this year, is cyber insurance, because the take up of cyber insurance is still really low,” he said. “Only 6% of clients buy a standalone cyber policy, and I think 37% of clients buy cyber cover as part of a wider insurance policy. We need to really improve penetration, so we’re working really closely with the National Cyber Security Council and GCHQ.
BIBA’s going to be putting out a guide that members can use with their clients to explain why cyber insurance is really important, the different covers you can get, etc. There’s a real opportunity to improve cyber protection for customers, he said, and ongoing conversations are critical as the cyber insurance market is hardening at the same time.
Read more: BIBA Manifesto 2022: Managing risk
“With our manifesto, there’s always challenges and opportunities,” he said, “but there’s a lot that BIBA can do. That’s why we exist, we’re here as a trade association to help members trade, to get the changes that we want and to stop the changes that we don’t want… Ultimately, we’re about supporting members and helping them to help their customers at the end of the day.”
