Insurance Times has today published the top line results from its latest MGA survey - but what has been the three-year journey for this year’s five star winners?
Insurance Times has published the headline results from its annual Five Star Rating Report: MGAs 2022/23 report, based on a survey of 1,300 UK-based insurance brokers.
Participating brokers, who completed the survey in June and August this year, rated the MGA partners they have regularly placed business with over the last 12 months, providing insight around MGAs’ service, products and capacity.
Brokers were also asked about current gaps in the MGA market, how MGAs could work better with brokers and what their future concerns for the MGA market were.
The results this year revealed that a total of 43 MGAs met the report’s threshold to be awarded a star rating by brokers.
The report - now in its third year - awards MGAs with a star rating out of five, which is linked to the performance scores given to each firm by brokers. This rating can be used, therefore, as a practical tool to help brokers assess MGAs, while MGAs can use the star rating to benchmark their performance against peers.
For 2022/23, seven MGAs were awarded a five star accolade by UK brokers. These MGAs are: MPR Underwriting, Renovation Underwriting, KGM Underwriting, Lorega, First Underwriting, Prestige Underwriting and Nexus Underwriting.
Out of the remaining 36 MGAs included in the report, brokers awarded 19 MGAs with an overall four star rating, 11 MGAs received a three star rating and six MGAs were awarded two stars by broker partners.
Click here to view the overall star ratings for 2022/23.
An increasing number of brokers are choosing to work with MGAs due to the exceptional service they receive from these firms. This is evident when looking at the overall combined service delivery across all 43 MGAs that met the threshold to be included in Insurance Times’ report this year.
Last year, MGAs featured in the Five Star Rating Report achieved an overall market average of 4.29 out of five in terms of service. This year, the MGA community achieved an improved market average of 4.37 out of five.
It is worth noting that the overall average achieved by MGAs this year is far higher than the overall average achieved by commercial insurers in the Five Star Rating Report: Commercial Lines 2022, which was published in March 2022. In this publication, 13 commercial lines insurers achieved a market average of 3.59 out of five.
Although the insurers featured in this report are assessed against five service areas, while the MGAs were assessed against one overall service criteria, the data suggests that the MGA market is growing to fill a service gap left by insurers.
The seven MGAs awarded five stars by brokers in 2022 received the highest scores. Let’s take a look at how these winning companies have performed over the last three years.
Three-year performance
MPR Underwriting has this year been awarded a maximum five star rating by brokers in Insurance Times’ Five Star Rating Report: MGAs for the third consecutive year
In 2020, MPR Underwriting achieved a high score of 4.85 out of five. This improved to 4.87 in 2021 and this year reached 4.90 out of five. It will be interesting to see if MPR Underwriting can continue this positive trajectory, or at least maintain this score, moving forward.
In the MGA survey each year, Insurance Times asks brokers to put forward the MGAs they have predominantly worked with over the last 12 months - this brings new MGAs to the fore each year.
The MGAs that were submitted by brokers this year for the first time were Renovation Underwriting, KGM Underwriting and First Underwriting, which all achieved a five star rating at their first assessment.
Renovation Underwriting and KGM Underwriting achieved the same 4.81 score out of five, while First Underwriting received 4.76 out of five.
Lorega has also shown consistency - 2022 marks its third year as a five star MGA.
In 2020, Lorega achieved a score of 4.86 out of five, improving to a remarkable 4.97 out of five in 2021. This year, however, Lorega experienced a small decline in its score, achieving 4.81 out of five.
The road to a five star rating for Prestige Underwriting and Nexus Underwriting has been different.
In 2020, Prestige Underwriting achieved an overall four star rating, with a score of 4.69 out five. In 2021, due to the overall average across the report impacting the rating tiers, the MGA gained a five star rating - even though its score dropped by 0.01 points. This year, Prestige Underwriting improved its score to 4.76 - this was the minimum score an MGA had to achieve to reach the five star rating tier.
Last, but not least, Nexus Underwriting has had a positive journey to the top over the past three years.
It achieved a score of 4.53 in 2020, resulting in the MGA achieving a four star rating. A year later in 2021, brokers witnessed improvements in the MGA’s service, rating it 4.64 out of 5 – this was again a four star rating, with Nexus Underwriting marginally missing out on a five star award by a few points.
This year marks the third year in a row that Nexus Underwriting has improved, achieving a score of 4.76 out of five. It will be interesting to see if Nexus Underwriting can continue this trajectory or not.
The pressure is on for all MGAs to maintain their service levels and continue to exceed broker expectations throughout the challenges that lie ahead.
To view how all 43 MGAs performed in this year’s Five Star Rating Report: MGAs, please click here.
The Five Star Rating Report: MGAs 2022/23 will be available to subscribers this November - it will provide further insight into the performance levels of MGAs and discuss the products and services the 43 MGAs offer.
For MGAs wanting advanced in-depth analysis from the report, the Data Insight Book can be purchased by emailing Aisha Roberts at Aisha.roberts@insurancetimes.co.uk.
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