ldoherty

‘Inclusive economic infrastructure and financial services’

Revealing how the opportunity first came about, Duygun noted it was in October 2022 that she was invited by the Royal Academy of Engineering to join the Frontiers symposium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as co-chair for the theme on ‘Inclusive economic infrastructure and financial services’.

“It was a terrific event attended by entrepreneurs, academics, and policymakers with a common interest in promoting inclusive economies in developing countries,” she said. “It was at this event that I met with our project partners Jack Farren, as well as Stephen Waiswa from the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).”

As the co-director of INFINITY, the University of Nottingham Inclusive Financial Technology Hub, dedication to promoting financial inclusion is critical to Duygun, and so, she registered the opportunity to utilise the combined strengths of the organisations to develop a product potentially capable of yielding a significant positive impact.

“Fortunately,” she said, “the Royal Academy of Engineering offers seed funding opportunities in support of developing such projects under the Frontiers programme. We feel privileged to have been awarded funding for our research project from such a prestigious funder.”

What is this research project looking to achieve?

Outlining the key ambitions of the project, Farren – one of Insurance Business’s Rising Stars of 2022 – noted that its main objective is to research the effectiveness of both manual and digital delivery methods of financial and insurance education to coffee farmers in the Rwenzori region of Uganda. Rural Inclusion has developed an offline mobile app called Ostrii, he said, which is used by community agents of partner organisations to deliver training to farming communities through the use of animation in local languages.

He added: “Our local partner in the project, Agri Evolve, a coffee company based in the Rwenzori mountains of Uganda, will educate target groups through three methods which will be tested for their effectiveness: Traditional workshops delivered by a community facilitator; Ostrii delivered by a community facilitator; and Ostrii directly accessed by groups.”

The project contains two stages, Duygun said, and as it is currently at the initial stage, the priority is to build a solid foundation for the large-scale analysis implemented at the later stage of the project. This includes partnership-building, routine establishment and familiarisation, and a pilot research project to validate a scalable solution to educate farmers in vulnerable communities in Uganda.

What are the next steps for the teams?

“Moving forward,” he said, “we would like to expand the research project to other countries in Africa. Countries across Africa present different characteristics and face unique challenges. The pilot project in Uganda will provide a firm knowledge base of the best financial inclusion practices that we can serve to formulate comprehensive solutions to promote financial inclusion, we still need to conduct a larger-scale analysis that will take into account a greater range of factors affecting financial inclusion in Africa.”

Meanwhile, for the Ostrii platform itself, Farren said, this project is a significant milestone in its journey, and he believes the results from this project will provide key learnings for Rural Inclusion to improve the development of its solution. Ostrii is currently being used in four countries in Africa and Latin America, and projects such as this, which are researching the effectiveness of the solution, are crucial.

Interest in digital education around financial literacy is certainly increasing, Duygun said, and she believes this is being driven by two major factors. Firstly, policymakers around the world are increasingly seeing the importance of financial education in promoting productivity, addressing financial inequality, and improving the resilience of individuals’ financial health and henceforth the overall economy.

Financial education as a UN SDG

“As such,” she said, “financial education is not only one of the major focuses of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also among the top issues on governments’ agendas. The second reason is digitalisation. In today’s digitalised society, financial services are becoming much more accessible to many people while also becoming too complex to use for some. The proliferation of mobile services, for instance, enables millions to easily use financial services (e.g., saving, investing and borrowing) with their phones anytime anywhere.”

This trend is being further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Duygun noted, as many studies suggest that the number of digital service users surged over the past three years. Although digitalisation is a major trend explaining the proliferation and democratization of financial services, online services also increase the risk exposure of individuals who have yet to be equipped with sufficient knowledge to use such tools.

“This opens room for fraud and scams, not addressing but further exacerbating the economic challenges faced by many families,” she said. “Hence, the tension between digitalisation and financial security is another main factor driving the surge of interest in financial education.”

Adding to this, Farren highlighted that while the majority of financial education programmes in Africa are delivered through traditional means, the team at Rural Inclusion understands the importance of developing curriculums that are scalable across countries, while ensuring content that they are relevant and enjoyable to those with a low understanding of financial products and services. This is why the organisation focuses on developing content through animation in local languages, she said, and it’s why it’s seeing a rising demand for such solutions.

Why academics, practitioners, and policymakers are key financial education stakeholders

Having the right partnership in place to facilitate greater awareness of what can be done to improve financial literacy is extremely important. Academics, practitioners, and policymakers are key stakeholders in increasing financial literacy, Duygun said, and each group of stakeholders has unique knowledge and resources that can be deployed to promote financial education.

“Practitioners have first-hand experience of dealing with end users of financial products and services,” she highlighted. “Academics have in-depth knowledge and skills in creating and utilising suitable analytical tools that can help generate impactful scientific insights. Policymakers have access to a wealth of data at the macro-level and have the means to disseminate insights and convert them into practical actions that can benefit society. Combining the respective strengths of these various stakeholders creates significant synergies with tremendous potential in improving financial literacy.”

Such projects represent an enormous opportunity to move the dial on critical social initiatives. For Duygun, the potential to come up with comprehensive solutions to effectively promote financial education in Africa, and equip farmers with essential financial skills to mitigate the risks induced by climate change is ground-breaking.

“Beyond that,” she said, “I believe that our project is a solid foundation upon which to conduct future research on this issue, encouraging new creative research collaborations between a wide range of partners interested in tackling socially and economically significant challenges in Africa, including but not limited to financial education.”

What are your thoughts on the role of insurers in supporting financial literacy? Please feel free to share your comments below.

Source

Travelers Europe has announced that Peter McConnell (pictured) has been named chief financial officer.

As the new CFO, McConnell succeeds Mike Gent. He will oversee the financial management of Travelers’ European operations and will also take a position on the UK subsidiary’s board of directors – subject to regulatory approval – a release said. He will report to Travelers Europe CEO Matthew Wilson.

Source

“The increased capacity had softened the market and created an imbalance between demand and supply for reinsurance,” Lot said. “Reinsurers in general, though, haven’t been able to cover their cost of capital, let alone satisfy both shareholders’ expectations and generate new capital to support clients’ needs.”

Mitchell added that terms and conditions had “dramatically deteriorated” over the past decade, with reinsurance structures covering more and more for earnings volatility rather than capital preservation.

“Contract wordings had become broader and have stretched the boundaries of what was intended by reinsurers, as was shown by the disagreements over Covid business interruption (BI) claims,” Mitchell said. “At the same time, the risk environment has become more challenging with globalisation and increased litigation. Wordings need to keep up with these developments.”

Mitchell noted that the financial markets had hesitated to provide new capacity into cat bonds, sidecars, and other alternative capital instruments this year, which spelt disaster – and limited retrocession availability – when coupled with the rising interest rates. To Mitchell’s mind, this was what ultimately caused the tardiness and tension unique to the January 1, 2023 renewal period.

Lot said that Swiss Re’s strategy to support its clients and brokers through the fraught renewal process had been “to be predictable and consistent”. Swiss Re quoted early – generally before Thanksgiving – with meaningful lead shares that helped its clients manage their own stakeholder and board expectations well before the renewal period.

Asked whether Covid losses continued to be a key talking point at this year’s renewals – as it had been in 2020 and 2021 – Mitchell answered in the affirmative, albeit for a different reason than in previous renewal periods.

“Covid was a talking point this year, but more from the perspective of concluding the ongoing discussions about BI claims with partners,” he said. “This really boiled down to a major question on how to accumulate losses.”

Mitchell added that the pandemic had provided the reinsurance market with vital lessons on how reinsurers factored in previously unthinkable scenarios in order to make the world more resilient. It also made reinsurers realise how much clarification their contract wordings needed so that all parties were equally clear on what reinsurance policies did and did not cover.

“Key topics included strikes, riots and civil commotion, and non-damage business interruption, specifically around critical infrastructure,” Mitchell said.

“A number of challenging themes around what and how risks are covered by reinsurance contracts [remains],” he added. “For the industry to attract enough new capital to meet significant demand growth, we need to continue to work to address systemic risk themes.”

Source

The global broker’s broking segment saw 2022 net earnings of US$1.2 billion (adjusted: US$1.8 billion), an increase from the previous year’s US$1 billion. In the risk management segment, net earnings were US$115.8 million (adjusted: US$120 million), again up on 2021’s $89.5 million.

The net loss in its corporate segment grew from US$151.1 million (adjusted: US$56.8 million loss) in 2021 to US$201.6 million (adjusted: US$221.1 million loss) in 2022.

Revenues before reimbursements for the full year across the business were US$8.4 billion, an increase on 2021’s US$8 billion (adjusted: US$7.8 billion)

AJ Gallagher fourth quarter results

Reported company-wide net earnings for Q4 were US$135.5 million (adjusted: US$331.9 million), representing a boost on Q4 2021’s US$120.9 million (adjusted: US$290.3 million).

Revenues before reimbursements were US$2 billion, an increase from US$1.9 billion in Q4 2021.

“We had a terrific fourth quarter, to cap off another excellent year of financial performance,” said J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr, Gallagher chairman, president and CEO.

“During the quarter, our core brokerage and risk management segments combined to post 16% growth in revenue, of which 11.7% was organic revenue growth.”

Gallagher closed 36 acquisitions in 2022, with 17 of these coming in Q4, the business said in an earnings release.

“We completed 17 new tuck-in mergers in the quarter and our newly acquired reinsurance brokerage operations finished the year ahead of our pro forma revenue and EBITDAC
estimate,” Pat Gallagher said.

Premiums will continue to rise, the broking CEO predicted.

“Global primary P/C renewal premium increases were more than 9% in the quarter, consistent with the first three quarters of 2022,” said Pat Gallagher.

“Our primary carrier partners in many cases are facing higher reinsurance costs and seeing rising loss costs trends, so we believe there is good reason to expect continued premium increases.”

Meanwhile, positive policy endorsements and other mid-term policy adjustments were higher year over year for the seventh quarter in a row, which Pat Gallagher said was “indicative of the underlying strength of our P&C clients’ businesses”.

Source

The global broker’s broking segment saw 2022 net earnings of US$1.2 billion (adjusted: US$1.8 billion), an increase from the previous year’s US$1 billion. In the risk management segment, net earnings were US$115.8 million (adjusted: US$120 million), again up on 2021’s $89.5 million.

The net loss in its corporate segment grew from US$151.1 million (adjusted: US$56.8 million loss) in 2021 to US$201.6 million (adjusted: US$221.1 million loss) in 2022.

Revenues before reimbursements for the full year across the business were US$8.4 billion, an increase on 2021’s US$8 billion (adjusted: US$7.8 billion)

AJ Gallagher fourth quarter results

Reported company-wide net earnings for Q4 were US$135.5 million (adjusted: US$331.9 million), representing a boost on Q4 2021’s US$120.9 million (adjusted: US$290.3 million).

Revenues before reimbursements were US$2 billion, an increase from US$1.9 billion in Q4 2021.

“We had a terrific fourth quarter, to cap off another excellent year of financial performance,” said J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr, Gallagher chairman, president and CEO.

“During the quarter, our core brokerage and risk management segments combined to post 16% growth in revenue, of which 11.7% was organic revenue growth.”

Gallagher closed 36 acquisitions in 2022, with 17 of these coming in Q4, the business said in an earnings release.

“We completed 17 new tuck-in mergers in the quarter and our newly acquired reinsurance brokerage operations finished the year ahead of our pro forma revenue and EBITDAC
estimate,” Pat Gallagher said.

Premiums will continue to rise, the broking CEO predicted.

“Global primary P/C renewal premium increases were more than 9% in the quarter, consistent with the first three quarters of 2022,” said Pat Gallagher.

“Our primary carrier partners in many cases are facing higher reinsurance costs and seeing rising loss costs trends, so we believe there is good reason to expect continued premium increases.”

Meanwhile, positive policy endorsements and other mid-term policy adjustments were higher year over year for the seventh quarter in a row, which Pat Gallagher said was “indicative of the underlying strength of our P&C clients’ businesses”.

Source

However, the FCA also found that some firms are further behind in their planning, indicating a risk that they may struggle to apply the Duty effectively once the rules come into force.

The Consumer Duty will bring about a step change in the way #financialservices firms treat their customers and we welcome the work firms are doing to implement it. https://t.co/IEcFefsB8F

— Financial Conduct Authority (@TheFCA) January 25, 2023

“The Consumer Duty will bring about a step change in the way financial services firms treat their customers, and we welcome the work firms are doing to implement it,” Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the Financial Conduct Authority, said.

“Given the scale of the reform, we recognise that some firms need to make significant changes. For firms which are further behind in making the necessary changes, there is time to put that right and for them to show they are acting in the spirit of the new Duty.

“Firms will also see the benefits of the Duty, with increased trust in the sector, more flexibility to innovate, and in time, fewer rule changes.”

Over the remaining six months, the FCA, in its review of the implementation plans, said firms must focus on:

• Prioritising, with a focus on the areas that will make the biggest impact on outcomes for consumers
• Making the changes needed so consumers receive communications they can understand, products and services that meet their needs and offer fair value, and they get the customer support they need, when they need it
• Working with other firms so that they can share information and work closely with commercial partners

The Consumer Duty is a vital part of the FCA’s three-year strategy as it is expected to help the regulator set and test higher standards, and reduce and prevent serious harm. Parliament has given the FCA a mandate to introduce the Duty through the Financial Services Act 2021.

The rules come into force on July 31, 2023 for new and existing products or services that are open to sale or renewal, and on July 31, 2024 for closed products or services.

Mortgage executives react to the FCA’s review

Vikki Jefferies, proposition director at PRIMIS Mortgage Network, said it was great to see positive findings from the FCA’s review of Consumer Duty implementation plans.

“It is important to note, that the new Consumer Duty regulations require a combined effort from lenders, networks and providers, each reliant on one another, to ensure strong positive outcomes for consumers,” she added. “With this in mind, the next six months will be crucial for firms to work with their industry partners to iron out any concerns they may have.

“For brokers in a network, such as PRIMIS, regulatory support is provided on an ongoing basis and networks will be interpreting consumer duty requirements and adapting processes and procedures to meet the required outcomes.”

Stuart Wilson, chairman at Air Club, said that Consumer Duty reforms would reshape how advisers in the later life market do business, with their own research suggesting that 86% of advisers believe they will need to change their operations to comply with the new regulations.

“At Air, we are committed to supporting advisers in the later life lending sector by providing tools and information to help equip advisers in their journey to Consumer Duty implementation,” he said.

Source

This year – our Manifesto theme is Managing Risk – Delivering Stability, chosen because risk management is what brokers do, and we certainly want stability in regulation, stability in the economy and in inflation and not to mention stability with Government in these challenging times.

Insurance plays an important part in the economic well-being and stability of our society for both individuals and businesses too. It protects a firm’s balance sheet, enabling investment and growth.

The Manifesto has fantastic case studies that showcase the vital role brokers play. Legendary broadcaster ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris needing travel insurance, an inspirational example from charity Myra’s Wells using our Find Insurance Service, and one of our member brokers, who could source travel insurance for their teams to go and drill wells to supply fresh water for local communities in Burkina Faso, as well as Rugged Nature a men’s cosmetics firm which struggled to find insurance after changing their operations – until they found a BIBA broker that is! We have a great story to tell.

So what are BIBA’s key agenda items and broker issues for 2023?

Firstly new research from Aon, and by Premium Credit, highlighted the risks CEOs are most concerned about and gave insight on insurance buying choices. BIBA, with London Economics, conducted a new study which shows that the average regulatory costs (direct and indirect combined) are equal to 8.1% of insurance intermediation fees and commissions. Yes, we did a double take when we saw that and will do our level best to make it more proportionate.

We will be working on issues around the cost-of-living crisis, the hard market, underwriting considerations, flood, inflationary pressures and how that affects underinsurance and claims, careers and apprenticeships, overburdensome regulation, ESG, cyber, service, IPT, financial inclusion, motor, the coming Protect Duty and the review of the Personal Injury Discount Rate. There are also the big ticket issues that continue their progress including:

• The ‘once in a generation’ opportunity in the Financial Services and Markets Bill, to put into statute a new growth and competitiveness objective on regulators – finally holding the FCA’s feet to the fire.
• Working with the FCA to provide brokers with a smoother sales journey through much needed changes to the fair value assessments process.
• Continuing the positive progress made with the FCA on FSCS fee reforms where we are examining the funding class thresholds. We believe the ‘polluter should pay’ and have put forward some alternative proposals ahead of a welcome next level of consultation. 

It makes a pleasing change to have a Manifesto that does not have to focus on COVID or Brexit!

We will continue to burn the midnight oil to ensure that transparency and more insurance solutions are brought forward to leaseholders residing in multi-occupancy buildings with cladding. We met the Housing Safety Minister recently, and good progress is being made.

We are perennially grateful to our members who are so open about feeding their issues into us and to key insurers and other stakeholders and bodies mentioned in the Manifesto for their support on the issues raised.

I hope you will read our 2023 Manifesto, and if anything inside strikes a chord, engage with the BIBA team and perhaps consider joining a BIBA committee (we have lots) to help the cause of broking.

We will be taking the Manifesto with us to discuss these issues, with those of all political persuasions in Westminster, in the devolved administrations, to regulators, party conferences, charities, journalists and will do our level best to progress as many of these points as far as we can get them.

I’m looking forward to working with everyone for the year ahead in what should be another exciting year.

Source

British holidays group and insurer Saga Plc has confirmed discussions to sell Acromas Insurance Co, the underwriting unit of its wider insurance division, to help pay down its debt. The group declined to give details on the potential buyers or selling price.

Saga’s insurance division, the largest business of the group, has been grappling with rising claims, which led to a half-year loss and a warning on full-year earnings in September. According to Reuters, the company’s net debt was £721.3 million as of July 31, 2022.

Source

This question, she said, asks how the court can assess damages for ‘pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA) where the claimant suffers a whiplash injury which comes within the scope of the 2018 Act and attracts a tariff award stipulated by the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021’ but also suffering suffers additional injury which falls outside the scope of the 2018 Act and does not attract a tariff award?

In addition, she said, the appeal and cross appeal in Rabot v Hassam (Rabot) and Briggs v Laditan (Briggs) concern claims which arise out of a road traffic accident as a result of which each claimant suffered whiplash and other injuries.

The acceptance of the appeals has garnered a mixed reaction from the insurance sector.

Commenting on the ruling, Nick Kelsall, head of motor claims at Allianz Commercial stated when the whiplash reforms were first introduced, they established limits to compensate claimants for their genuine injuries – done with the ambition of deterring fraudulent or exaggerated claims.

“However,” he said, “our data shows that since whiplash compensation has been capped, we’ve received more claims for mixed injuries, which would suggest that some are gaming the system to inflate their payout.”

Motor insurers have always looked to reduce claims costs to keep premiums commensurately down, he said, and in the view of Allianz Commercial, this remains the right approach, particularly at a time of such high inflation. He added that the business will monitor the impact of this ruling, but is sure it will now see further ‘gaming’, potentially reducing the benefits from the whiplash reforms.

Martin Milliner, LV= GI claims director, added: “Today’s judgment is a hammer blow to hard pressed motorists. The ruling will undermine the intention of the whiplash reforms that were designed to pass back millions of pounds in lower premiums as a result of reduced volumes and costs of whiplash claims. Britain could now become the bruises and sprains capital of the world.”

Meanwhile, Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of ACSO (the Association of Consumer Support Organisations), heralded the judgement as “worth waiting for”, especially due to the court’s view that compensation for mixed injuries should reflect each injury.

“It seemed to us perverse that an injured person received less compensation for, say, a fracture or laceration, because they also suffered a whiplash injury,” he said. “The court prioritising the needs and requirements of injured people should be welcomed by all who believe in good consumer outcomes.”

Scott added that the absence of judicial direction on how to compensate for mixed injuries in the Official Injury Claim portal has been a significant problem since the portal was launched over 18 months ago. Today’s judgment will come as a relief to many, he said, and looking forward the ACSO urges both claimant and defendant representatives to collaborate to improve settlement times and make sure consumers get the right service levels.

“The government’s rationale for its reforms was partly to make the process more consumer-friendly, but the OIC has been dogged with problems, including the mixed injuries position,” he said. “This inevitable issue was clearly flagged to the Ministry of Justice before implementation, but ministers chose to proceed anyway. Regardless of today’s positive news, it’s not acceptable that consumers and practitioners have been forced to wait until 2023 to get this important matter resolved.”

Stewart McCulloch, MD of the digital ADR provider Claimspace, highlighted the “clarity” provided by the Court of Appeal’s ruling today, noting that thousands of backlogged disputed cases can potentially be brought before the courts for resolution. These cases can now be arbitrated against a background of clear legal principles that were lacking until today, he said.

However, he also noted his concern that there is now the risk of a logjam of mixed injury OIC cases building up at the courts. Only around 1500 disputed OIC cases have been processed by the courts since June 2021, he said, but it has taken an average of 20 twenty weeks to dispose of them. He noted that delays at court can expect to become significant which has “the potential to be a calamity” and so encouraged the use of ADR whenever possible.”

Following the decision, Andrew Wild, head of legal practice at First4InjuryClaims, said the “long-awaited ruling is welcomed.”

“Today’s decision will assist with putting to an end the limbo that lawyers and claimants have found themselves in since the Official Injury Claim portal went live,” he said. “Having clear guidance should enable the personal injury sector, and the team here at First4InjuryClaims, to clear the bottleneck of cases that have been building up whilst waiting for this decision.”

He continued that hopefully the decision should help reduce the average length of time it takes to settle a case in the portal – which currently stands at 227 days – enhancing the claims experience for clients.

Matthew Currie, chief legal officer at Minster Law also emphasised the clarity invited by the court’s decision and stated that the ruling provides “some certainty for insurers and means that a potential wave of litigation can be avoided”. He added that this should help remove potential pressure on the court system which has been struggling to cope for a long time.

“It remains disappointing that both consumers and insurers have faced uncertainty in relation to this issue until now,” he added. “The policy and guidance could have been developed as part of the reform package and included in legislation; lessons must be learnt for future reforms in this and other areas, especially those which directly impact the general public.”

Ian Davies, partner and head of motor at global law firm Kennedys also commented on the decision, noting that today’s judgement, “Perhaps unsurprisingly [confirms] the approach in the 2011 Court of Appeal ruling in Sadler v Filipiak.

“With the comments of Davies LJ providing encouragement to the claimant market and the dissenting judgment of Voss MR ensuring the defendant has more than a little hope going forward, the focus will turn back to the detail of each medical report and the case presented on an individual basis. More appeals are a strong possibility.”

The ABI’s assistant director, head of general insurance policy Mark Shepherd, also commented on the ruling, calling it a “disappointing judgment from the Court of Appeal that lacks the desired clarity for claimants and defendants on how to value mixed injuries.”

The ruling risks undermining the intent of the whiplash reforms to create a simplified and cost-effective system, he said, while opening the door to double counting of injuries that could significantly erode the benefits of the reforms for premium paying motorists.

“It is unfortunate that the approach advocated by the Master of the Rolls was not adopted by the majority of the Court, as this would have provided the clear guidance that is needed whilst ensuring access to fair and proportionate compensation for claimants,” he continued. “In the face of rising cost pressures, motor insurers are doing all they can to keep prices competitive for customers, but today’s decision will only make it harder to keep premiums as low as they otherwise could be.”

What are your thoughts on this ruling? Please feel free to share your comments below.

Source

Drawing on the insights and experiences of leaders across nine industry segments, the research is the largest UK-focused insurance report of its kind and, at first glance, the outlook for UK businesses looks decidedly, though perhaps unsurprisingly, bleak. Breaking down the most pressing risks facing UK businesses, Aviva mapped out the following concerns:

1. Economic concerns (the top risk for the second year running)
2. Skilled workforce challenges
3. Impacts of Brexit
4. Loss of reputation
5. Supply chain interruption
6. Business interruption
7. Legislature and regulation
8. Public health events
9. Market developments
10. Cyber security, and mental health & wellbeing (tied)

In a panel session chaired by Jane Poole, CFO, Aviva UK&I General Insurance, Winslow joined Paul Wilson, policy director at the Federation of Small Businesses, and Rodney Bonnard, UK insurance leader at EY, to review the changing risk profile of UK businesses. Amid discussions around the key takeaways of the report, two underlying factors became increasingly evident – the interconnectivity of the risks concerning UK businesses, and the disconnect between concern and protection.

The interconnectivity of the risks facing UK companies

“If the last few years have taught us anything it’s that businesses need to be prepared for the unexpected,” Winslow said. “And as the report says, the sheer breadth of issues businesses face, as well as the interconnected nature of those issues is, I think, the key thing that businesses need to face into to trade successfully. One way through that, with my insurance lens on, is proactive and holistic risk management – what is the plan for the plan?”

Among the findings of the Risk Insights Report, Aviva revealed that only 14% of small businesses have business continuity plans in place. So, very few of these businesses have really thought about the impact and consequences of these risks, he said, as well as how they play together. What they need to be doing is actively considering these and working with brokers and insurers to ensure they have the right response plans and coverage in place to continue to trade effectively in a fast-changing and tumultuous risk environment.

Underinsurance among UK bsuinesses

Following on from this, Poole emphasised the particularly concerning statistic that Aviva estimates that as much as 5% of UK businesses are likely to be underinsured. Underinsurance is a true measure of the gap between concern and protection – and she turned to Winslow for his thoughts on how the economic backdrop is impacting the insurance needs of businesses.

In a tight economic environment, he said, underinsurance is the risk that Aviva’s team have seen emerge and re-emerge over many cycles. The report specifically references that many businesses aren’t inflating their sums insured i.e. their inventory stock, machinery and all the other things that would need replacing in line with inflationary increases should the worst come to pass.

“Now, there’s an advantage to businesses not doing that, because clearly, they’ll pay less,” he said. “But there’s a disadvantage in that if that’s not a conscious choice, in the event of one of those perils coming to pass and a claim being made, then the payout won’t cover effectively what’s needed to get them back working, get them back trading and get them back on their feet.”

Navigating tough trading conditions

Winslow noted that the same is happening around the business interruption piece, with disruptions in the supply chain making it very hard for businesses to get their hands on parts and inventory as quickly as they might have previously. Aviva understands how important it is to be conscious of how tight trading conditions are, he said, as clearly businesses can’t automatically afford to pay more year-on-year-on-year.

“So, [it’s about] making a really conscious choice,” he said. “I think this is where the broker comes in, on having that conversation. We encourage businesses to sit down with their broker to talk about what’s on their mind, what they’re worried about, and then create a programme that effectively responds both from a cost and a coverage perspective to those concerns.”

From Aviva’s perspective, offering the right tools and data to brokers to empower to have proactive discussions with the clients around underinsurance is critical, he said. Claims happen in insurance and the last thing the profession wants to happen is the development of a “mismatch between expectation and reality” among insureds.

How aware are SMEs of the risks around underinsurance?

Touching on the level of awareness he sees among SMEs about this concern, the FSB’s Wilson highlighted that there is some awareness but that all too often being underinsured is not a conscious decision being made by small business leaders. The FSB did a report on insurance last year which found that one of the ways firms have reacted to rising premiums is just by reducing their insurance levels.

“Now if that’s after a conversation with a broker, and they get the decision that they’re making, and they’re balancing it against other things they could be spending their money on then fine,” he said. “It’s not ideal, but it’s fine and potentially a good risk-based decision. However, if they’re not sure exactly what their coverage is, and if they’re not aware they’re underinsured, then that is concerning. Because then, if and when something goes wrong, that will be more difficult to deal with.”

The full extent of underinsurance as a risk

Another issue around underinsurance, noted EY’s Bonnard, is that too many people think of insurance just in terms of bricks-and-mortar business interruption. The reality, he said, is that the actual risk landscape has shifted dramatically and is no longer just based on physical risks, with concerns such as cyber presenting a looming threat.

“If you look at all the aspects of the Ukraine war and just the number of hacks that are happening, it’s just unbelievably ubiquitous,” he said. “A lot of the value of companies isn’t just in their bricks and mortar, it’s also in their reputation and it’s in the data they hold for the customers that they manage.”

Companies need to register that their insurance decisions are not just about choosing whether or not to cover their physical premises, he said, but they also need to consider the range of intangible assets that also require protection. On that point, Winslow added the report’s finding that large corporates tended to be better at thinking about such risks – with a huge percentage of small businesses unaware that cyber insurance even exists.

“So again, you come down to businesses needing to make consciously aware choices about what they’re covering and what they’re not,” he said. “And there’s a real awareness and understanding gap [among some SMEs].”

What are your thoughts on this story? Please feel free to share your comments below.

Source