Nikki Lidster: Zurich UK reinforces ‘people business’ philosophy with investment in underwriters

Zurich UK has added 68 new underwriters to its workforce this year in a bid to deliver a better service to its broker partners – the firm’s head of SME and trading, Nikki Lidster, emphasises that insurers cannot “forget that insurance is a people business” and that this human element is crucial for engaging with brokers.

In terms of what brokers want from their insurer peers when it comes to eTrading, most feedback is centred around a quick turnaround on referrals and speedy responses to queries.

For example, Insurance Times’ Five Star Rating Report: ETrading 2024 – which polled 700 UKGI brokers and was published on 14 May 2024 – cited “faster referrals” as a must for successful collaboration.

One broker surveyed noted that “waiting times to speak to someone for a referral or query are quite long” at the moment, often exceeding 30 minutes.

These findings are backed up by Zurich UK’s own examination of 30,000 transactional net promoter scores (TNPS), which revealed that brokers want “quick answers for referrals and minimal wait times”.

Lidster, who took on her new role in October 2024 after first starting at Zurich UK in 2005, explained: “This investment in our underwriting team is about ensuring that brokers feel supported and have the resources they need to serve their clients effectively.” 

The insurer’s boost to its underwriting resources has paid dividends so far.

In Q1 2024, for example, 30% of eTraded broker enquiries to Zurich UK were handled within 30 minutes and 40% were responded to within 60 minutes.

Due to the insurer’s “continued focus on service improvements”, these figures have improved as at December 2024, so that 44% of broker queries are responded to within 30 minutes and 59% are reacted to within 60 minutes.

Lidster added that the speed of handling referrals has improved too. The firm’s December 2024 stats show that 47% of commercial referrals are processed within an hour, while 71% are completed within three hours.

Around 81% of referrals have been processed in three hours over the last three months.

Lidster said: “Our TNPS score [this year] is +76.5, based on 40,000 pieces of broker feedback. We are proud of the seven [point] increase compared to our 2023 result.

“For the second year in a row, we are on track to handle over 400,000 broker interactions, ensuring brokers receive a personal service each time.”

Showing empathy

Not only is Zurich UK considering the scale of its underwriting resources, but also the quality. For example, it launched empathy training for its underwriters in October 2023.

Lidster says: “Zurich has invested in training, such as our empathy training, to support our underwriters in recognising different personality types. This allows us to provide a personal service each time.”

This type of training can be a powerful differentiator for Zurich UK, as it is important for underwriters to understand that different brokers have different preferences – some prefer to “engage in casual conversation, while others prefer a straightforward answer right away”, Lidster adds.

“We empower our underwriters to provide the type of service that brokers [want],” she says.

Diverse workforce

Zurich UK is also committed to improving underwriting performance by prioritising diverse hiring.

According to Lidster, hiring staff from diverse backgrounds is not a “box ticking exercise”, but a strategic imperative that “drives innovation” and enables the insurer to “tackle complex challenges in [the] industry more effectively”.

Lidster believes that diverse teams excel at problem solving and can adapt more effectively to changing market dynamics.

This mentality is reflected in Zurich UK’s hiring practices. For example, in September 2023, the insurer updated its graduate programme to scrap candidates needing to disclose their university details and it replaced competency-based interviews with strengths-based assessments.

This shift has allowed Zurich UK to welcome individuals with varied backgrounds and skills, such as those who have previously worked in retail or customer service.

Lidster says: “By building a workforce that embraces diversity, we position ourselves to respond more effectively to the complexities of the modern insurance landscape.”