Legal expenses insurer expands products to include motor cover
Elite Insurance, a provider of after-the-event legal expenses cover, has announced it is now offering UK motor insurance.
Insurance Times revealed the insurer’s plans to launch a motor proposition in April.
The business will initially be written through a managing general agency, with Elite taking the risk, though Elite is planning to underwrite the business itself and is in the process of hiring a technical motor underwriter.
Elite has teamed up with claims management company IV Assure to handle motor claims.
In a statement, Elite said that the company was hoping to capitalise on the legal reforms established by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Laspo), which came into force on 1 April and is expected to reduce motor bodily injury claims.
Elite chief executive Jason Smart said: “The motor market for us was always very interesting. Having been in the ATE market, we are very close to the motor market and have observed the way things were going.
“We realised that, post Laspo, the potential cost liabilities that caused the inflated loss ratios to motor insurers would, to a certain extent, dissipate.
“The key thing for us is that there is no legacy issue for pre-Laspo policies, which we do think will make a huge difference to the ratios.”
He added that Elite would focus on niche motor business such as classic car cover.
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