Catherine Dixon, chief underwriting officer at Dual UK, provides a peek behind the curtain following the launch of the MGA’s new unified brand
What can brokers expect to see from Dual in 2025?
In mid-February, we brought five brands together under a single, unified Dual brand. This was more than just a visual change, reflecting our ambition to be a more joined up business and increasingly active with our broker partners – particularly as we scale up our regional trading.
We will continue to put expert underwriting at the forefront of our offering. Our underwriters are real specialists and take pride in the expertise that they bring to the market.
We’ve currently got 25 product lines actively traded in the market and we’re expecting to add to this stable in 2025, as well as refresh several products.
An example of this is our commercial combined product, which we’re looking to launch in mid-2025, concentrating on the £10,000 to £50,000 segment.
How are Dual’s plans to build a regional footprint progressing?
We’re making good progress building out our regional branches, with offices up and running in London and Manchester. We’re expecting our third UK location to be open this year.
We have been delighted by the interest we have had from carrier partners that want to support our new commercial combined facility and we’re expecting to finalise capacity soon.
Alongside building out our proposition, we’re turning our attention to recruiting expert property and casualty (P&C) underwriters – we look to welcome over 15 new starters to our regional team in 2025, adding to more than 100 underwriters already employed by Dual.
How are Dual’s underwriting teams supported to deliver a high quality service and in-demand products?
We have a well established compliance framework that supports our underwriting teams with regulatory compliance, product governance and ensuring that we put our customers first.
We’ve also built out our actuarial team, which is providing us with an even deeper understanding of our portfolios and areas where we can push for profitable growth. This will be further supercharged by the introduction of our new pricing platform, called HX, in the near future.
Our focus is on giving our underwriting teams the best tools, propositions and capacity to actively trade with our brokers.
Why do you think MGAs are attractive partners for brokers and carriers?
Most insurers are constantly scanning the market for opportunities, with the intention to enter new classes when the time is right. However, starting up new capabilities, finding new skills or diversifying existing teams is costly and time consuming.
At Dual, we have years of experience doing just that and can therefore take the strain away from insurers, allowing their entry to new markets to be lighter touch but no less effective.
This was evident in a recent survey published by Insurance Times, which found that more than 90% of brokers consider MGAs as a core part of their placement strategy.
Any predictions for the market in the year ahead?
The UK insurance market is arguably the most competitive in the world and I think this will hit new heights in 2025, with many markets signalling growth ambitions.
Those that consistently innovate, differentiate and deliver the best propositions to brokers and customers will succeed. At Dual, we have several new products on our production line, so watch this space.
