Back-office staff will be retained to run off old business
Brit will not be making redundancies as a result of today’s announcement that it has sold its UK regional renewal rights to QBE, says Brit chief executive Mark Cloutier (pictured).
QBE will take around 130 staff from Brit under the transaction, but this will not include back-office staff such as claims handlers. However, Cloutier said that these staff would still be needed at Brit because QBE has only assumed the renewal rights of the UK regional business and not any of the legacy business, which Brit will now run off.
“We are announcing no job losses as a result of this transaction,” Cloutier told Insurance Times. “Brit Insurance Limited [The UK-regulated insurance company from which the UK regional business was written] will be continuing to write premium for some time because the transaction will involve QBE moving over all of the coverholder relationships as well as renewing policies onto QBE on their natural expiration date.
“We will have premium and claims associated with that premium earning through that insurance company probably through 2014.”
He added that even once the premium has been earned there will still be claims to handle. “The business reality is that there is going to be a fair amount of activity in Brit Insurance Limited for some time.”
Even after there is no more work at Brit Insurance Limited, Cloutier said there may be roles for the staff at Brit’s core operation, Brit Global Specialty, which Brit created this January by combining its global markets and reinsurance business units.
“As we grow Brit Global Specialty and have needs over there, it is my intention to deploy resources as they are freed up in Brit Insurance Limited over to our ongoing and hopefully growing business.”
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