Aqueous Underwriting has secured a three-year syndicated capacity agreement with insurers Allied World and Sompo. According to a news release, the new arrangement will enable Aqueous to expand and enhance its product offerings to support the SME sector.
The agreement will replace Aqueous’s existing partnership with Allianz on SME package business, transitioning gradually through 2024, but the firm will continue to collaborate with Allianz on other product lines. The new capacity arrangement with Allied World and Sompo has already gone live for SME package new business submissions.
Aqueous specialises in insurance solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in industries such as food, hospitality, leisure, and hotels.
“Allied World is committed to the SME market in the UK and partnering with Aqueous is a natural fit,” said Emma Lisi, senior vice president and head of UK commercial division at Allied World. “We look forward to leveraging our technical knowledge and market relationships to deliver insurance solutions for brokers.”
Joe Brown, head of UK middle market and SME of commercial P&C insurance at Sompo, added: “We are delighted to be partnering with the team at Aqueous, a move which fits in with our ongoing strategy to develop further our UK commercial footprint and support the needs of our growing SME customer base outside the London market.”
In addition to the new capacity deal, Aqueous plans to launch a product extension to address the growing risk of “dine and dash” losses in pubs, restaurants, and bars. The coverage, touted as a market first, will be available beginning January 2024.
“We are delighted to be working with Allied World and Sompo on a syndicated placement basis, enabling us to pursue our strategic objective of significantly enhancing our existing product suite and developing new products, whilst not being reliant on any single market,” said Tom Hill (pictured), head of e-trade at Aqueous Underwriting. “Next year will be an exciting one for us all at Aqueous as we accelerate our growth in the SME market.”
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