ERS premiums and COR hit by Covid-19

The 2021 year-end financial results released today (7 March 2022) by specialist motor insurer ERS show that the company has continued to be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic – it recorded £319m in premiums, down from £329m in 2020.

The insurer, which is part of IQUW Group, also revealed a rise in its combined operating ratio (COR) for 2021 – moving to 98% from 91.9% in 2020.

Trends impacting these figures include the pandemic driving down demand for some passenger carrying vehicles, as well as the reduced availability of semiconductor chips, which subsequently reduced sales of new vehicles.

ERS active underwriter Martin Hall said: “I am pleased with ERS’ 2021 results as we continue our disciplined underwriting strategy and refrain from chasing underpriced business that will ultimately require significant rate increases.

“Our consistent approach will ensure that our brokers will benefit from our long-term disciplined approach and strategy.

“We have built a solid track record of results and I have every confidence we will continue to grow through disciplined underwriting and expert judgement through 2022”.

Continued destination for brokers

Meanwhile, the insurer continued to see strong growth in its commercial products, with a surge in online purchases.

ERS’ agriculture motor arm also saw premiums increase following continued service excellence and disciplined underwriting.

Hall added: “I am delighted that we have continued to create efficiencies across the business by digitalising our distribution.

“ERS etrade continues to be a destination for brokers to trade our commercial products and we successfully launched Plug in to ERS [in November 2021], with brokers now directly linked to our rating engines via application processing interfaces (APIs) to quote, bind, renew and adjust policies in real-time, providing our brokers with the most efficient way to trade with ERS.”