Nick Milton, UK and Europe head of sales and distribution at MGA Pen Underwriting, examines what being a regional business means today and why the definition is not perhaps as binary as it once was
What do we mean today by being a regionally focused insurance business? Surely it means having a network of regional offices where brokers and underwriters can interact in person, in the local market.
However, the answer may be less straightforward if we consider the service elements brokers are calling for. They want responsiveness, access to decision-makers and local or specialist technical knowledge.
And we all have a regulatory duty to deliver the best outcomes and best value for the end customer.
Insurer pledges to open up new offices have produced regular headlines. New or enlarged spaces in various towns and cities have been announced by large and specialist insurers alike.
If service levels are one of the underlying issues businesses are trying to address, will having more people in more regions solve that problem? Not on its own.
As one of the UK’s largest MGAs, Pen Underwriting’s own network of offices remains a mainstay of our commitment to the regions and our broker partners operating within them.
And that doesn’t stop at underwriting – we also have northern and southern claims hubs and regionally dedicated development managers who serve as the chief touchpoint for any and every issue.
But the dynamics and diversity of today’s insurance industry means that the definition of being regionally focused is less binary. Talent, cost, accessibility and underwriting authority all play their part.
Taking talent first, the competition for expertise – especially in specialist lines – is as fierce as ever. So, it’s not as simple as staffing every regional branch with niche underwriters in every line offered.
Well, you could try. But expertise isn’t equally distributed across the UK, making recruitment in some regions for some specialisms challenging.
Cyber is a good example. Specialist underwriters aren’t yet available en masse across every UK region. So, from a service point of view, isn’t it better for teams of underwriters to have a dedicated focus, such as Scotland or the south west, with the ability to travel if needed?
Cost must also be considered.
With fair value in mind, would it be right for a specialist MGA like Pen Underwriting, focused on niche areas, to try and match the branch footprint of large insurers, where their portfolios in the regions are more likely to be dominated by volume property, casualty and motor risks?
When a broker has a challenge – whether it’s a renewal, complex claim or new opportunity – it needs to know that its insurer partner will show up and send the person with the right expertise to have a meaningful conversation.
Arguably, that’s more important than being permanently down the road.
But perhaps the most crucial regional service aspect is empowerment.
There’s no sense in having a local branch if its underwriting authority doesn’t match its head office. That’s why we make sure that our high risk casualty underwriters in Leeds, or our professional indemnity underwriters in Bristol, for example, have the same levels of authority as their London counterparts.
Being regionally focused is about having the right people, in the right place, with the right knowledge and the right level of authority when it is needed.
Ultimately, there is only one thing that should drive our decisions on how to best support and service regional business: what delivers the best outcome for our end customer.
