EXCLUSIVE: iPrism and specialty insurer join forces in multi-year £30m capacity deal

Independently owned underwriting agency iPrism has teamed up with specialty insurance group Tokio Marine HCC on a new multi-year capacity deal.

The firm will be able increase its capacity to £30m over the next three years initially, however there is no specific termination date for the deal.

The additional capacity will enable the underwriter to write more tradesmen, contractors and professionals, contractors combined and commercial combined insurance

The original agreement was made back in July 2016, but the recent capacity increase was only agreed last month.

Ian Lloyd, iPrism’s managing director, told Insurance Times that the firm has a long-standing relationship with Tokio Marine HCC.

“It’s on the backdrop of some of the capacity issues that are happening in the MGA world. It actually supports our ability to deal with the increase in demand that we expect to see from brokers because of the capacity for tradesmen and contractor’s liability,” he explained.

This news follows iPrism changing its senior management team since it began making adjustments in November 2018. 

Hardening market

There have been some challenges in the market around capacity for professional indemnity and public liability cover in the last 18 months, with many private building inspectors filing for liquidation due to the difficulty of getting insurance - this is so they can trade safely as the market hardens.

Other main problems in the broker market, according to Lloyd, are rate increases and capacity issues. He said: “The capacity is not there as readily as it has been. We are starting to finally see it come to fruition, [but] it does feel like it may well be turning.”

Lloyd said this is because many markets have been unprofitable for insurers for a number of years.

Why tradesmen? 

Tradesmen insurance was one of iPrism’s very first products that it launched.

When asked why iPrism has chosen to focus on these particular products within this partnership, Lloyd said: “It’s one of our core trading relationships; we have a really good relationship with [Tokio Marine HCC], they supported us back in 2016 with one product.”

However, Tokio Marine HCC are now part of three products in iPrism’s repertoire.

“They are a partner that have helped us with specific brokers, so brokers have come to us with opportunities,” Lloyd added.

Meanwhile iPrism also fits into Tokio Marine HCC’s strategy – the group currently deals on the open market but working with the underwriting agency has allowed it to cater to smaller, niche tradesmen and contractors.

Lloyd continued: “It’s a partnership that works from both sides.”

Vanilla

“It is a big sector, we very much specialise in the smaller part of the [tradesmen] market; most composite insurers do offer a product but the appetite has become very vanilla. We exist to offer brokers a separate solution that gives a bit more flexibility and cover enhancement,” Lloyd said.

This is because iPrism has a larger capacity limit as opposed to most firms offering this type of cover.

Finally, when asked what gives iPrism the edge on this, the managing director said that the firm is flexible with both digital and more traditional methods of communication.

“That’s a key part in the change of the business; we recognise that we can’t just do the same as everyone else in the etrade world,” he added.

Lloyd concluded that it is about how the service is provided, giving the example of the old-fashioned method of actually talking to an underwriter who will come up with a solution for the broker and the client.