Top insurers in UKGI revealed

FM Insurance – the UK arm of FM Global – has been named as the best insurer in UK general insurance (UKGI) by Insurance DataLab’s latest Underwriting Ratings report.

Seven UK-regulated insurers picked up a gold award in this year’s report, which was published yesterday (30 October 2023), with each receiving a score above 70%.

FM Insurance led the pack with a score of 92% for 2023, increasing from 69% a year earlier – the rise was driven by the firm improving its combined operating ratio (COR).

Meanwhile, Scor UK achieved a score of 87%, followed by Arch UK (83%), Starr International Europe (83%), Berkshire Hathaway International (79%), International General Insurance Company (UK) (75%) and Fidelis Underwriting (74%).

Insurance DataLab co-founder Dan King said that “in such a tough market, we’re delighted to recognise these top achievers”.

“Insurers have faced a challenging time of late with rampant claims inflation, increasing levels of regulation and a difficulty economic landscape creating a perfect storm,” he added.

“Each of our gold award winners have demonstrated expertise in delivering best-in-class underwriting performances and we would like to congratulate them on their success.”

UK vs Gibraltar

Insurance DataLab’s research rated every UK and Gibraltar-regulated insurer across three metrics to assess underwriting performance – including COR, aggregate COR over the last three years and the improvement in the COR for the most recent year.

The research also found that UK insurers had ranked higher than Gibraltarian counterparts for the first time – the aggregate rating for insurers in Gibraltar sat at 51% for 2023, which was some 13 percentage points behind the UK aggregate.

That also marked a 14 percentage point deterioration on the previous year, when Gibraltarian insurers’ aggregate score sat marginally ahead of their UK-regulated peers at 65%.

Despite this, five Gibraltar-regulated insurers picked up gold awards in this year’s report.

Nelson was named the best with a score of 78% for 2023, reflecting a rise of 57 percentage points compared to a year earlier.

The specialist motor and liability insurer’s performance coincided with the business’ return to underwriting profitability, with its COR improving 34.9 percentage points to 77.3%.

The best insurers in Gibraltar after Nelson were Acasta European Insurance (72%), WDP Insurance (71%) and Argus Insurance (Europe).