Mark Plews: ‘Proactive’ risk management is ‘an increasing part’ of Markel UK’s service for care sector

Successful insurers of the future will need to do more than the bare minimum of providing an insurance product to mitigate a risk, says Markel UK’s director of underwriting, Mark Plews – for him, insurers will have a greater role to play in informing clients’ risk detection and management approaches.

Speaking exclusively to Insurance Times, Plews uses the example of Markel UK’s involvement in the care sector to illustrate his point – the insurer’s Markel Care proposition provides products for care organisations, charities, community groups, not-for-profit organisations and educational facilities.

He explains: “We can offer our clients expertise, support and advice around areas such as safeguarding regulation, staffing challenges and legal support, including general business advice.

“It is a case of offering more than simply the insurance product – it is very much a proactive approach and we ask ourselves what more can we do for the client. It is an increasing part of our thinking.”

Plews notes that the care sector is currently wrestling with a number of rising risks, including a changing regulatory landscape and operational challenges. As such, the need for additional support from insurers is even more pressing, he adds.

“We do see risks increasing in size and that has driven organic growth for us as an insurer. As the risks grow, [this] comes [with] a demand for greater coverage,” he says. “Underinsurance is an ongoing challenge and [we are working with] our broker partners and clients to highlight the issues and the risks.

“It is a question of keeping focused on risk management – you have to sympathise with businesses given the economic pressures they face, but we need to highlight that it is [a] false saving to reduce investment [on] risk management.

“We can provide a lot of risk management at no additional cost – for instance, we have a 24-hour legal helpline and access to a range of expert care practitioners [that] can support clients.

“[These practitioners] also support our underwriters and tell them what is happening in the sector to aid in their approach.

“It is still better not to have a claim and we are investing in ways in which we can encourage our clients to use our resources. We will continue to work to get brokers and clients to use those resources.”

Horizon scanning

Markel UK’s holistic approach to risk management proved popular with judges for 2024’s Insurance Times Awards. During the December awards ceremony last year, held at Mayfair’s Grosvenor House, the insurer took home gold trophies in the Excellence in Risk Management and Specialist Insurer of the Year categories – a feat Plews is understandably proud of.

He says: “We have been consistent in our loyalty to the market and our customers.

“During [the] Covid-19 [pandemic], while other [insurers] left the sector, we remained and grew our book of business.

“We have remained consistent throughout. Clients have had enough uncertainty with insurers coming and going. We take a long-term view of the classes in which we operate.”

This “long-term view” is fuelled by relationships between Markel UK and “some high quality brokers, many of which have detailed knowledge of the sector and its risks”, Plews adds.

Collaboration between the insurer and its broker partners, therefore, includes the provision of “training, insights, resources and joint client visits”.

Plews continues: “These have proved very popular and have been working well for all parties.”

As 2025’s first quarter draws to a conclusion, Plews notes that Markel UK is still keeping its finger on the pulse of the care sector.

He says: “We understand the sector and, as such, we can tailor [our] cover to meet the needs of the client.

“The cycle is changing. We are in what I would describe as a transitory market. We have seen new underwriters enter the sector and with it has come a more aggressive approach.”