Aviva signs £200m capacity deal with Gallagher’s OIM

Aviva has signed a deal to provide capacity to Gallagher Heath-owned MGA OIM.

The arrangement covers standard and non-standard household products and is expected to generate more than £200m of gross written premium over a three-year period.

Aviva has been working with Gallagher Heath’s household e-underwriting team at OIM since the early part of 2012.

Commenting on the deal, Aviva intermediary and partnerships director Janice Deakin said: “Following on from our excellent start this year, trading with the e-underwriting team at Gallagher Heath for non-standard household business, we saw a great opportunity to build on this and extend the trading to include additional areas of standard household business.

“Over the past two years, Aviva has achieved significant growth in the broker channel with our personal lines motor book and we want to replicate that success with our household book.”

Deakin added: “By leveraging Gallagher Heath’s strong distribution capability in conjunction with Aviva and OIM’s underwriting experience, we anticipate this will give us a real strength in the personal lines household market.”

Gallagher Heath schemes and affinity division managing director Des O’Connor said:  “We are delighted to have the support of an insurer with the firepower of Aviva. It’s a real vote of confidence in our people and our strategy. This is a sizeable deal, which underpins Gallagher Heath’s growth plans, whilst allowing us to deliver unparalleled levels of service to our clients and partners.”

OIM UK managing director Jason Anthony added: “OIM is investing heavily in the e-underwriting platform, as we recognise the efficient and profitable distribution opportunity it provides for. We are delighted that this deal widens our underwriting capabilities, offers choice to policyholders and strengthens the underwriting partnership of OIM and Aviva.”

OIM is no stranger to signing large capacity deals with big-name insurers. In May the MGA signed a five-year, £375m household and commercial combined deal with RSA.