Daily briefing: Tuesday

Which insurer will be all guns blazing at the Biba conference this year? There’s one candidate already high up in the pecking order. On the eve of Biba 2011, we revealed that RBS insurer NIG will be unveiling its new brand to brokers and the rest of the on looking insurance community in Manchester over the coming days.

The timing around the Biba conference is no coincidence. Let’s be straight, NIG’s decision to pull out of the personal lines market last year didn’t win it many friends. So the rebrand is a perfect opportunity to move away from its legacy and focus solely on commercial.

Since realigning to a commercial only insurer it has made its intentions very clear. Earlier this year it launched the Guaranteed to Beat offering in the broker market to much fanfare. It promised to beat up to 15 rival insurers on price, but maintained it would not entertain ‘suicidal’ rates. NIG won’t talk about its progress on Guaranteed to Beat, but the rest of market certainly is. Its aggressive approach to winning new business is creating a stir and expect there to be plenty of questions asked of it and other insurers at Biba this week.

In a further push to increase its market share in the SME market, it is launching its own version of a ‘broker club’ this year. NIG First will most likely compete with the likes of Aviva’s Club 110 and Broker Independence Group. NIG is clearly looking to bring brokers closer and by creating a ‘club’ it will have to work hard to win their trust. No doubt it will target existing broker partners but the challenge of building new relationships in such a crowded market is equally important in its bid to add scale to the business.

Finally, what will the new brand do to quell speculation that NIG will be sold or separated by RBS Insurance prior to a sale or flotation, now set for the second half of 2012? The motives to keep NIG intact with the rest of the group have yet to be made clear and the company still insists it won’t be hived off. I am yet to be convinced.

And also ...

Is there light at the end of the tunnel in solicitors' PI? Today we reported that two new insurers could be on the brink of entering the solicitors' professional indemnity insurance market. And HSBC is the latest bank to be hit by reserving for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI).

Danny Walkinshaw is digital news editor.

Email: danny.walkinshaw@insurancetimes.co.uk.