It’s a good time to be a mutual insurer in the UK: last week, an International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) report found that growth in the sector has
exceeded that in the average market for six of the previous nine years.
In 2016, mutuals saw a near 10% rise in insurance premiums – from 2015’s £17.8 billion, to a “post-crisis record level” of £19.6 billion. According to the ICMIF report, carried out in partnership with the Association of Financial Mutuals (AFM), the mutual sector posted a market share gain of more than one percentage point over the previous three years, with its 2016 share of the total UK market at its highest level since the 1990s.
But just what is the mutual sector doing so well?
Insurance Business asked the CEO of Together Mutual,
Jon Craven, for his perspective.
“At Together Mutual Insurance we believe that the combination of personal service and value for money products that we offer sets us apart from our competitors, and is why we, alongside our mutual peers, have done so well in recent years,” Craven said.
In last week’s report, AFM chairman and The Exeter CEO Andy Chapman highlighted the resilience of the UK mutual insurance sector, adding that during the last 10 years, while the UK insurance market has lost £1 in every £6 of premium income, mutuals have grown premiums by two-thirds.
“Thanks to our mutual model, we’re able to reinvest any surplus that we make directly back into improving products and services for our members – and that’s something that many of our privately owned competitors can’t match,” Craven commented, adding that the success of the model has been seen “right across the mutual insurance sector,” as demonstrated in the recent ICMIF and AFM report.
The 10% rise in premiums between 2015 and 2016 shows that consumers are continuing to express a preference for mutuality, according to the CEO.
He added: “It’s a model that we’re extremely proud of at Together Mutual Insurance, and which has been proven to be resilient in the financial turbulence of recent years. Our members value the quality of products and service they experience, and that’s at the heart of our sector’s growth.”
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