Chapman and Stacey managing director Paul Wingfield provides an overview of the subjects impacting MGAs and explains what his firm has been up to over the last 12 months
As UK brokers respond to this year’s MGA Survey, Insurance Times speaks to MGAs on the current and future challenges they face.
Here, Insurance Times catches up with Paul Wingfield, managing director of Chapman and Stacey.
The 2022 MGA Survey aims to investigate the service levels of MGAs over the last 12 months - how have things been at Chapman and Stacey during the last year? How has the firm adapted to challenges it has encountered?
Over the past 12 months, we have strengthened our capacity panel - including new long-term agreements - to ensure stability over the next few years.
We have capacity deals that have been in place for more than a decade and agreements that are placed at least five years into the future.
Our service levels remain market-leading - we aim to never exceed a couple of hours for delivery of contract terms.
There has been a huge drive across the industry to ensure digital capabilities are in line with customer expectations. What changes have you made in terms of digital innovation?
As a broker facing MGA, our technologies are designed around servicing broker needs and ensuring that brokers can meet customer expectations.
We use cloud-based technology to enable our underwriters - who can be remote working or office-based - to deliver instant contract terms to our brokers, when and where they need them.
On a general level, our software and hardware is subject to continual updates, ensuring that we are always ready to take advantage of new opportunities.
Why should brokers stick with MGAs in an ongoing hard market?
Part of being an MGA is preparation for the future, so most MGAs will be prepared for the coming months and years.
Hard markets come and go, capacity appetite changes, while M&A can alter distribution arrangements. These challenges face all of the market’s underwriting businesses - be they insurers or MGAs .
It seems to me that MGAs largely provided better continuity and service levels throughout the Covid-19 pandemic than was managed by most insurers. I see no reason why MGAs will not continue to thrive in the face of other challenges that arrive in the future.
There continues to be market-wide concerns around the potential reduction or removal of capacity from an MGA. What is your view on this?
At Chapman and Stacey, we have always been supported by a panel of complimentary capacity providers. We have capacity deals that have been in place for more than a decade, with agreements set to run at least five years into the future.
Risk appetite will always evolve, at both insurer and MGA level, but continuity is core to what we do. As we approach our 60th year as a business, we are already considering our 65th birthday and beyond.
How have you used the insights from last year’s MGA Survey to develop your service or products?
Service levels remain key to our market position and essential in a fairly crowded marketplace. Product development is always ongoing and this year, we will launch a whole new product line as well as enhance established products.
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