Aviva pounces as big names circle for NIG personal book

Aviva is poised to swoop for around £100m of NIG’s business, as the big-name insurers battle it out to grab their share.

AXA is keen on picking up chunks of the NIG personal lines book, which was worth between £250m and £300m in gross written premium last year. LV= is also in the race.

Insurance Times understands that Budget, Swinton, Kwik-Fit and Endsleigh act as brokers on large portions of the book, while the rest is dispersed among independent brokers.

Although NIG says it is still accepting renewals, brokers are looking at alternative insurers to place business.

Aviva intermediary and partnerships director Janice Deakin said: “We are actively working on opportunities of more than £100m – we have probably done £5m-£6m in the past week.”

She said she would look at NIG’s policies on a case-by-case basis.

AXA personal lines director Mike Keating said it was unlikely AXA would participate in rollovers – the price matching of NIG business.

Keating said AXA would pick up a lot of the business through its existing distribution network, adding he was impressed with how quickly brokers had reacted to the news that NIG was putting its personal lines into run-off.

LV= managing director John O’Roarke also threw his hat into the ring. “As a growing insurer, we are always looking for new opportunities, including picking up business from insurers such as NIG that are leaving the market," he said.

"We strongly believe in the personal lines broker market, and want to do what we can to support brokers and enable them to run a successful business.”

Meanwhile, brokers reacted angrily to an email sent out last week officially confirming the departure of NIG from personal lines.

Topaz Insurance director Richard Mikula said the email was confusing because it didn’t give any dates of when renewal ceased, adding that NIG's commercial reputation would suffer as brokers feared downsizing.

He said: “Most brokers that deal with personal lines will also have a reasonable commercial account with NIG. They will be thinking about replacing it this year to avoid the grief next year, especially if the risk is clean.”

Macbeth Scott & Co director Duncan Macbeth said the email was “uninformative”. He was also concerned about NIG's commitment to commercial lines, especially with it having lost its Newcastle office in the past year.

An NIG spokesman said it was a generic email, officially confirming the situation, and that a specific response would be sent out to brokers individually.