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Read next: Does wedding insurance provide COVID-19-related cover?

So, what does a standard wedding insurance policy cover? There are several typical key areas of coverage including venue problems such as flooding, fire and bankruptcy; cancellation due to illness, accident, or the death of a family member; weather-related cancellation; lost or damaged items; photo or video issues; and personal liability.

And how much does wedding insurance cost? IB’s wedding insurance guide highlighted that insurance rates depend on a variety of considerations, including how much the wedding costs and the type of coverage needed. Premiums can start at as little as £49 for ceremonies costing less than £2,500 and can go up to £300 for weddings worth £100,000.

Given the range of coverage areas a wedding insurance policy typically covers, and the cost it entails, the natural question for a lot of would-be insureds is whether getting wedding insurance is required. The answer, it emerges, is both ‘yes’ and ‘no’.

The COVID-19 crisis gave everybody new insight into how unexpected factors can impact even the most meticulously planned celebrations and events. Surveys by wedding services providers For Better For Worse and Hitched.co.uk put the average cost of a wedding in the UK at between £30,000 and £32,000. With an expenditure of this magnitude, investing in wedding insurance looks like a wise decision.

However, as noted by Hitched.co.uk, you do not require wedding insurance if you’re hosting a small celebration and you have agreements in place with your venue and/or suppliers making it easy for you to postpone or cancel with little to no financial repercussions

“If it would be easier for you to rearrange your day by yourselves without the assistance of an insurance company, then this may be the preferred option for you,” the firm wrote in an article posted on its website. “However, in most cases, we do recommend having at least basic cover in place.”

Find out more about the ins and outs of wedding insurance in this free guide, available here

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Overall, 82.3% of all workers working from home (31.5%) are happier working remotely versus having to work on-site in an office.

But 35% are reporting they are burned out. The top reasons for the good feelings? Workers:

• can take care of household chores when necessary (51.2%);
• no longer have to order out for lunch everyday (35.4%);
• can shower in the middle of the day (30.3%);
• can listen to podcasts while working (22.5%).

Remote workers are also able to alleviate stress in a variety of ways, including:

• listening to music (48.1%);
• going for a walk (39.7%);
• scrolling through social media (34.5%) ;
• taking a nap (26.8%);
• mid-day workouts (17.5%).

Nearly one in five (18.1%) go so far as reporting they don’t have stress while working from home, finds the survey of more than 1,000 adults working full time conducted in the fall of 2021.

Also, 43.8% of respondents say their physical health has improved, with 39.5% reporting they now have time to work out.

What’s the best change for people now working from home? Work-life balance, according to an earlier report.

‘All about balance’

But not every employee will be able to manage the change to remote work “with equal skill”, says David Powell, Prodoscore president, adding that intelligence data on productivity will be critical.

“While throwing a load of laundry in the washing machine is completely acceptable, you don’t want your employees to spend four hours during the workday cleaning their house. On the other hand, you don’t want your employees to work 10 to 12 hours on a daily basis and ignore their family and friends and good health,” he says.

“It’s all about balance – and having the right data can help managers ensure that their teams are working productively, and also just as importantly not ignoring their mental or physical well-being.”

Remote workers think that they typically spend 42 minutes per day for breaks while working remotely. But when you factor in biological needs, entertainment, time spent communicating with co-workers and other chores and errands at home, they are actually taking breaks that average 2.7 hours, according to a previous report.

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Regarding shares, Aon revealed that its earnings per share (EPS) for Q4 soared despite the dire circumstances last year, reporting a 72% increase to $3.90. Meanwhile, its EPS after adjustment for certain items jumped by 42% to $3.71.

Meanwhile, its total operating expenses for Q4 2021 decreased by 6% to $2.1 billion compared to the same period in 2020 due mainly to a $200 million favourable impact from the repatterning of discretionary expenses within the year, a $64 million decrease in expenses related to divestitures, net of acquisitions, a $44 million drop in transaction costs, and a $12 million positive impact from foreign currency translation, partially offset by an increase in expense associated with 10% organic revenue growth and investments in long-term growth.

“In the fourth quarter, our colleagues delivered 10% organic revenue growth, an outstanding finish to a very strong year, contributing to full year organic revenue growth of 9%, margin expansion of 160 basis points, and EPS growth of 22%.” said Greg Case, Aon CEO. “These results are a direct outcome of our Aon United strategy. We’re accelerating innovation, with a focus on developing and scaling proven solutions to serve new and existing clients. This gives us confidence in our ability to build even greater momentum in 2022.”

Breaking down its individual units, its Commercial Risk Solutions business saw 11% growth in the final quarter, Reinsurance Solutions was up 13%, Health Solutions dropped 13% and Wealth Solutions grew by 2%.

For the whole financial year of 2021, Aon boasted a 10% increase in total revenue to $12.2 billion, including 9% organic revenue growth. However, its operating margin decreased by 800 basis points to 17.1%.

Focusing on shares, Aon saw a 34% decrease in EPS to $5.55 for FY21 and a 22% increase in EPS after adjustment for certain items to $12.00.

In addition, the cash flows from its operations dramatically dropped by 22% ($601 million) to $2,182 million compared to the previous year, mainly driven by the $1 billion termination fee payment and additional payments related to terminating the combination with WTW, partially offset by solid revenue growth.

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Now, the LMA has announced that several underwriting committees confirmed that most syndicates represented will be at the box or in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

LMA underwriting director Patrick Davison revealed that during the first week of February, around 1,200 brokers and underwriters entered the Lloyd’s underwriting room each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday – the same as the figures in November 2021, when the market first returned to more normal levels of attendance.

“The commitment from LMA members to return to trade in-person in the room is made in support of the efficient negotiation and placement of complex risks as part of a hybrid working approach. In a dynamic marketplace made up of multiple carriers and brokers, different working practices are to be expected, but managing agents have shown clear support for a structured and transparent approach which incorporates working in the room, in the office, and at home,” Davison continued.

Andrew Brooks, LMA chairman and Ascot Underwriting Ltd CEO, said the agreement emphasises the need for face-to-face trading in Lloyd’s because the ability to discuss specific risks personally in detail is part of the singular value chain that the organisation provides.

“Brokers, underwriters, and insureds all stand to benefit from ensuring this type of trading, unique to Lloyd’s, continues well into the future,” Brooks added.

“This availability agreement allows everyone to trade as they wish: at the box, in the office, or remotely, without accidentally losing the advantages of trading in the room. Personally, I’m looking forward to meeting our broker partners and underwriting colleagues at Lloyd’s or in their offices in the months to come.”

Details of these committees and underwriters’ availability will be published on the LMA website and may be updated in due course.

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Here’s how the insurance group performed in the year ended December 31, 2021:

Metric	2021	2020
Net income to shareholders	US$2.4 billion	US$816 million
Underwriting profit	US$628.1 million	US$127.6 million
Net investment income	US$374.6 million	US$371.8 million
Markel Ventures net income	US$174.4 million	US$145.4 million

The group’s insurance segment posted an underwriting profit of US$696.4 million, a 312% increase from the corresponding figure in 2020. The reinsurance unit, however, suffered an underwriting loss worth US$55.2 million.

In a joint statement, Markel co-chief executive officers Thomas S. Gayner and Richard R. Whitt commented: “Our 2021 results show what we can achieve when all three of our operating engines – insurance, investments, and Markel Ventures – power us forward.

“Each contributed in meaningful ways to a record-setting 2021 across many financial metrics, including operating revenues and operating income, among others.”

The Markel Ventures segment spans a portfolio of businesses from different industries.

Meanwhile, the co-CEOs added: “Our underwriting operations delivered a 90% combined ratio, which reflected the impact of recent underwriting actions we’ve taken to enhance our profitability while growing gross premium volume to US$8.5 billion.”

The duo also thanked Markel’s employees, trading partners, and customers for their “tremendous” role in the latest set of financial results.

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The 2022 annual Insurance Business UK 5-Star MGAs survey will end next Friday. Brokers are encouraged to give feedback on their top three MGAs’ performance and services over the past 12 months.

Participation is free through this online form. MGAs will be assessed based on nine key areas such as underwriting responsiveness, technical expertise, compensation, claims support and others.

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“This is my last job, I won’t ever have another job after this,” McManus said. “But this is also the only business that I think I’ve ever been able to influence the culture of. Of course, we started more or less from scratch, so we didn’t have a culture to inherit. In my previous roles, I’d worked in companies that were sometimes 200 or 300 years old and trying to influence their culture or even move it even one degree is kind of impossible no matter how senior you are.

“But in this business, we wanted something really simple to understand – whether you are an 18-year-old apprentice or a 62-year-old manager – to put it simply, we want our culture to be defined by collaboration. And that’s collaboration with purpose for the benefit of our clients.”

Read more: PIB Group swoops for two insurance brokers

That culture is at the root of all the market moves made by PIB – of which there have been many in recent weeks, with January 2022 seeing the business welcome four acquisitions. Touching on this M&A activity, McManus highlighted that PIB does not measure success by comparing itself to its competitors but rather focuses on forging its own path. Right now, he said, the group has a strong pipeline and quite a lot of deals in due diligence, keeping the M&A team very busy.

It’s an exciting time in the market, McManus said, because COVID-19 did hamper deal-making due to travel restrictions but now he and the team are embracing the opportunity to get back out into the wider European market to tell the PIB story and build strong relationships with potential vendors once more. The intermediary group’s recent trio of acquisitions in Ireland reflects the depth and strength of broking opportunities available there. The Irish market is becoming more consolidated but PIB has identified several businesses as solid prospects and is delighted to see the collaboration already emerging between their existing Irish businesses.

Similarly, the group is exploring prospects elsewhere in Europe, as emphasised by its recent acquisition of the Polish firm Brokers Union, as Poland boasts a range of opportunities including a well-educated workforce, a variety of specialist businesses and a good GDP. However, PIB has no intention of limiting its focus to Poland and Ireland, he said, and there will be other EEC countries that the team will be looking to invest in over the upcoming period.

Despite the geographic variety of businesses that pique PIB’s interest, McManus emphasised that there is a clear through-line in the firms it looks to invest in. The intermediary focuses on businesses that have a specialism and are prominent within that specialism, he said, because he has seen that specialist businesses tend to have a closer relationship with their clients, due to the depth of industry insight they can offer them.

“It’s not just about being the lowest price,” he said. “And we also know that when there are more difficult economic times, and we’ve had some recently, that specialist businesses not only retain their clients better than a general business, but they also continue to grow… We’re investing in these businesses with a purpose. That always starts with strategy… And we tend to focus on people that have got a core central focus on a vertical or an industry sector and we will continue to do that.”

In addition to, but also running through PIB’s M&A focus, are three key pillars – people, tech and performance. People are integral to PIB’s success, McManus said, and its entire M&A strategy hinges on having great relationships with vendors to ensure strong collaboration going forward. PIB buys and invests in businesses that are managed by excellent people because they want to empower those same people to continue to successfully run their firms.

Backing up this people focus, PIB is making substantial investments in its learning and development across the wider group for its staff. It’s also currently recruiting about 200 more people to join the team, McManus said, and the larger its team becomes the more critical this L&D investment becomes as well. These initiatives will be centred on people at every level, whether that’s technical training for apprentices, management training for new managers, or MBAs for senior people.

“Becoming a big business doesn’t need to be complicated,” he said. “I think we can keep it fairly simple. The critical thing for us is that we keep our people. If we keep our people, we keep our clients, we keep the revenue, and then we can grow. There’s always going to be some turnover but if too many people leave, then that makes it difficult to service your clients and it makes it difficult to retain your revenues and it makes it impossible to grow. People are a critical part of this business, we don’t have a lot of big, silver machines that do all the work. It’s the people that do it and it’s the people who build relationships with clients.”

Supporting those same people is PIB’s continuous investment in its tech platforms and that capital expenditure isn’t slowing down, he said, as the group continues to invest significantly in these systems. People and tech will continue to be key areas of emphasis for the business going forward, as it’s not looking to change its strategy of investing in specialist commercial-lines driven businesses.

Read more: PIB Group welcomes first deal of 2022

“We’ve got a long way to go in Europe,” he said. “I think we’ve got another four or five years before we’re where we want to be there but once we’ve got good traction in Europe, we’ll also start to look at other geographies. We’re looking at Asia, we’re looking at the US and Canada as well and we’re thinking about the long-term future for this business.”

From McManus’s perspective, PIB is now in the position of coming out of its teenage phase, the business is growing up and everything is starting to come together very well. That’s not to say that there are not certain elements the group would like to do better, he said, and he knows they’re not getting everything 100% right yet. Key areas for improvement will include continued investment in technology and upgrading infrastructure but, overall, the business is now very well-placed to be considering its long-term future.

“And that long-term future is that PIB will remain privately financed,” he said. “Of course, we’ll need to refinance our business from time to time, we’ll bring in new investors from time to time. But it’s never our intention to say sell this business to one of the alphabet brokers, as some of our competitors have done. We won’t do that. And I always describe PIB as being a destination business – whether you come here to work or whether we invest in your business, we won’t then sell you on to somebody else again. You’ll remain PIB.

“That’s a very important part of our proposition and you can only do that if you’re really successful and you continue to give your investors a great return as then they want to keep on investing more and more. So, our performance is the third leg of that [strategic] stool. It’s learning and development, it’s technology but it’s also making sure we’re performing really well, as giving our investors a great return is an important part of making sure that our future remains in our own hands.”

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“They have not increased the rate, that rate has stayed the same,” he said, “But the receipts are an enormous amount at £6.3 billion in the last 12 months. We feel that this is affecting the take up of insurance at 12%. And our main board would like us to call for the government to reduce the headline rates of IPT in the next budget. Now, I know that’s not an easy ask and we will be coming up with costings for that, and a full argument in due course, but it’s something we’re going to put our stall out about.”

In its Manifesto, BIBA highlighted that IPT is “a regressive tax that acts as a disincentive to buying adequate insurance” and the IPT receipts collected in the last 12 months stand at a near-record level despite the pandemic and the resultant shock to the economy. BIBA’s call for action to the government is to reduce the rate of IPT to 10% in the next budget.

Zeroing in on the changes the association would like to see implemented, Trudgill highlighted the targeted relief it wants to see from IPT as well. BIBA is calling on the government to grant IPT relief in several key areas – property insurance for high rise residential buildings with cladding that requires remediation, telematics led motor insurance policies, cyber insurance and travel insurance.

“Take cladded buildings. If you think that a big, cladded building is paying half a million pounds in premium, £60,000 of that goes to the government for doing nothing,” he said. “We’ve been speaking to DLUHC about that, how we don’t think that’s fair, how they should have a carve-out in these incredibly difficult times when they’ve seen an 800% increase in their premiums. So, we think that’s a strong argument.”

Meanwhile, the telematics argument continues to be absolutely valid, he said, as young drivers that use telematics are far less likely to have a claim. This has been highlighted by additional evidence from BIBA member Adrian Flux which has demonstrated the benefits telematics can bring by offering discounts for people that moderate their speed and the clear correlation between that and significant improvement in road safety.

Read next: COVID interventions – BIBA on their critical role

BIBA’s call for action around telematics is, “for government to publish the results of their research into young driver telematics and to incentivise more young drivers to buy telematics policies by granting an IPT exemption on these policies.”

Looking at how IPT relief would impact cyber insurance, BIBA highlighted that only 6% of all firms, and 4% of micro-firms, buy dedicated cyber insurance. The association believes that an IPT break would help the uptake of cyber insurance, Trudgill said, as it’s the number one risk facing firms. It is therefore calling on the government to make cyber insurance more affordable for sectors with limited resources, like SMEs, by making dedicated cyber policies exempt from IPT.

“On travel insurance, they are still paying the 20% rate because of an ancient issue about value swapping, which disappeared with regulation many years ago,” he said. “Let’s bring travel down to 12% because the travel sector has had the worst time. It really does need some support and it’s the right time to do that.”

BIBA’s call for IPT action relating to the travel insurance market requested the government “to simplify IPT and reduce the rate on travel policies to the rate applicable to other classes of general insurance to encourage uptake and lessen the burden on Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office consulates.”

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Having served the insurance market for over three decades – in a range of senior roles that saw him lead Zurich UK’s P&C business and the UK and international operations of RSA – Lewis has amassed significant insight into the machinations of the insurance industry, both in the UK and globally. Joining Pro represented an opportunity to tie the weight of all his experiences together and apply that in an advisory setting to the industry he knows so well.

Earlier in January, Pro announced a re-positioning from its role as a trusted provider to a wider, more holistic trusted advisor role, and Lewis emphasised the value that seeing the industry from a slightly different perspective brings to such positioning. For, at the core of his own professional evolution and the work being done by Pro is an emphasis on the critical function that strategic partnerships play in the long-term success of a business.

Read more: Pen Underwriting extends 20-year strategic partnership with QBE

“A personal belief of mine is that focus is one of the critical ingredients to business success,” he said.  “I think that’s a reflection also that the world is a complex place and is changing at pace. The pacesetter of the last 10, 20, even 30 years has been technology and that’s technology that is amplified with data analytics and the advances in AI and associated deep learning aspects that technology brings.

“It’s about recognising, therefore, that it’s highly unlikely any business can be good at everything so that ‘focus’ point is about a business identifying where its core competencies lie and what allows it to do something differentiating and compete effectively. [The question then] is how to partner with the other capabilities that are still important for entire business delivery, in a way that helps the business amplify its competencies.”

Pro’s modus operandi is that “focus fuels success”, Lewis said, and recognising that is of increasing relevance to clients as he believes that the businesses that will survive the upheaval of current market conditions will be those that have identified their core competencies and play to those strengths. For Pro, it’s not a case of ‘do as I say, not as I do’ and he noted that this messaging around focus is one it takes very seriously as it explores where it needs to partner strategically in order to amplify its client offering.

If you get that strategic partnership piece right, he said, that should be mutually beneficial for your business, your partners and your clients alike. He highlighted an example of this in the way that Pro looks to support its clients. Ultimately, the team’s aim is to help a business transform and respond to the challenges, not just of the market of today but also the market of tomorrow. When the market of tomorrow looks set to be influenced by factors such as technology and data analytics, the pressing need is to produce a holistic, transformative offering built to negotiate changing market conditions. 

“Now you can look at that and either ask whether we should build the necessary transformative technology and analytical capabilities or whether there are other organisations out there for whom that it is their bread and butter, their focus,” he said. “We ask, ‘are we better to marry Pro’s practioner competencies together with a partner’s tech & analytical capabilities to provide that comprehensive transformative offering to our clients?’ And why is that a win-win? Well, it’s a win-win, because quite often one of the failure points of technological transformation is a lack of practitioner-led understanding.”

In the above scenario, what Pro brings to its partners is the ability to assure their implementation, Lewis said. At the same time, what they bring to Pro is the ability to broaden its offering to make it more transformative so Pro can address its clients’ challenges. And what clients receive as a result of that, is a holistic transformative offering, he said.

Read next: Pro Global team reveal the legacy claims insurers should be considering

The value in identifying what you’re good at and finding partnerships to fill in the gaps has been firmly instilled in Lewis by his experiences working across a variety of roles in insurance. Before Pro, he lived his insurance life on the carrier side, operating in large composites that looked to provide insurance coverage on a global basis and across every line of business – from personal lines, to small ticket corporate, to large international programmes.

“And yet, what you often find is, in every one of those dimensions, you face off in the market against a mono-line insurer,” he said. “That mono-line insurer, all they do every single day is get out of bed and worry about that mono-line. And what you’re trying to do as a composite is solve all of that continuously, so you’re making trade-offs. So, are you as sharply focused on what it takes to win?

“There are many examples in our industry that demonstrate that focus gives you an advantage. The classic example is personal lines motors in the UK and Admiral. It’s that focus that has allowed them to ultimately deliver profitability throughout what was a highly challenged market during the last 20 to 25 years. And you can find many of those types of examples in our industry, but it’s not just reflective of our industry, it’s a thematic issue that I think plays out across any sector.”

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As part of the deal, the advisory and brokerage services provider will complement and enhance the offering provided by WDB, a Polish brokerage that is part of PIB and plays a key role in its consolidation strategy for the Polish insurance brokerage market.

Brokers Union CEO Filip Rybacki (pictured) said the acquisition is a massive step towards building a competitive brand in the Polish and foreign markets.

“I’m very glad that we are now, together with WDB, part of the PIB Group,” Rybacki added. “I am convinced that the combination of our knowledge and experience will bring both sides many tangible benefits. It is not only an opportunity for business development, but the investment also represents a huge injection of energy and inspiration that will support our daily operations. Most importantly, for our employees, I believe that we are building a great space for their personal and professional development.”

WDB CEO Mariusz Muszyński welcomed Brokers Union to PIB and WDB, noting it represented the group’s growing Polish operation and the opportunity to work together on several synergies.

“Their experience in handling public tenders will be a particularly valuable addition to our combined offering. I look forward to working with Filip, Patrycja, and their fantastic team, whose proximity to us in Wroclaw is a great start to our ambition of building a strong brokerage hub for our region,” Muszyński continued.

The announcement follows PIB’s acquisition of Ireland-based Campion Insurance (Campion) and Oliver Murphy Insurance Brokers (Oliver Murphy), following regulatory approval. Earlier this month, the group also announced its fourth retail acquisition in Ireland with the purchase of Alan Tierney & Partners Ltd (Tierneys).

Commenting on the latest acquisition, PIB CEO Brendan McManus said: “This is another exciting moment for PIB Group as we welcome everyone at Brokers Union. Their arrival boosts PIB’s growing international footprint, and their expertise further strengthens our existing capabilities in the territory through our WDB operation. We look forward to investing in the next chapter of success for Brokers Union and their collaboration with WDB for the benefit of their customers and colleagues alike.”

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