Insurers
Allianz and LV=
revealed a new joint venture last week that is set to create the UK’s third largest personal insurer, launching under the LV= name and housing more than six million customers and over £1.7 billion in annual premium income.
Steve Treloar, LV=’s current managing director of general insurance and the man set to run the new partnership, spoke to Insurance Business about what lies ahead.
“We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with,” Treloar said. “Our vision is to increase our footprint in the personal lines market, continue to focus on delivering great customer service, and further develop and expand the services and products that our customers need and want.”
The new joint venture will immediately start from a position of strength as a top three insurer in the country, bringing LV=’s strong brand and longstanding reputation in personal insurance alongside Allianz’s significant expertise in areas such as digital and data analytics, the MD commented.
While there is high optimism for the new venture, Treloar admitted that in the current climate, it’s not all plain sailing.
“The UK market is not without its challenges, evidenced by the fact that whiplash continues to be an issue in the motor market. Like others, we’ve been negatively impacted by recent Government decisions, such as the change in the personal injury discount rate and the increase to Insurance Premium Tax,” he said.
“Having said that, there are still plenty of opportunities in the personal lines market. In our full year results for 2016 we delivered the best top line growth in five years so there is clearly plenty of opportunity for growth. While the market remains very competitive, our joint venture puts us in pole position to be a winner.”
As for those wondering whether the new personal lines venture will favour direct or the intermediated channel, Treloar said that there is room for both.
“We’re going to focus equally not only on the direct and broker markets, but also on the corporate partner channel. We have a strong and well-known brand in the UK, which is why we’ve decided to retain the LV= name for the new joint venture,” he explained.
“In the direct market, we’ll be looking to continue growing our motor and home portfolio, while in broker we’re positioning ourselves very much as the ‘go-to’ insurer for all personal lines brokers.”
Related stories:
Allianz, LV= agree to create the UK’s third largest personal insurer
LV= Broker joins O2 telematics panel
.jpg)
