Great Lakes to replace Ageas on UK General’s personal book

Underwriting agency UK General has named Munich Re subsidiary Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) as the main capacity provider for its personal lines business, replacing Ageas.

The three-year deal will come into effect from the beginning of April and ends UK General’s five-year capacity relationship with Ageas.

Great Lakes will provide capacity across all eight of UK General’s personal lines product categories, which include property, warranty and travel (see full list below). UK General said the deal is “critical” to hitting its £500m gross written premium (GWP) target, and praised Ageas as a “key factor” in its success.

Great Lakes is perhaps best known in the UK market as the co-insurer of 40% of Admiral’s UK motor book.

UK General personal lines managing director Karen Beales said: “UK General has long operated a hybrid model, which combines underwriting and actuarial discipline with the advantages of being an MGA, such as a lower cost base relative to traditional insurers, a high degree of niche and specialist sector knowledge and agile distribution.”

“With Great Lakes, we are taking the next obvious step by linking our personal lines book to underwriting profitability, building on UK General’s underwriting and actuarial capabilities developed in partnership with Ageas during the last five years.”

She added: “This deal will be critical in achieving our aim to grow to £500m gross written premium and beyond during the next phase, by expanding our underwriting footprint and enabling UK General to deliver further profitable growth with potential new as well as our existing products.”

Beales paid tribute to Ageas, saying: “Our capacity relationship with Ageas has been a key factor in UK General’s success story during the last five years, and I want to thank the team at Ageas for their support for our business during that period.”

Personal lines is the largest of UK General’s three main units. It also has an agricultural arm, Rural, and a commercial lines unit, One Commercial. The three units now run as standalone entities following a restructure last year.

Last month UK General chief executive Peter Hubbard announced his intention to step down at the end of February.