How does the UK’s flood picture compare to five years ago? In this edition of IBTV, Chris Hall, head of marketing at FloodFlash, explains how insurers and brokers can improve their approach to providing suitable coverage, and the role that parametric insurance is likely to play going forward.
Narrator 1: [00:00:05] Welcome to IB Talk, the leading podcast for the insurance industry across the UK and Ireland brought to you by Insurance Business.
Mia: [00:00:13] This episode is presented in partnership with Travelers Europe. In the latest episode of IBUK Talk, James Graham, director of Professional Indemnity at Travelers Europe, joins us to discuss what questions need to be answered to ensure the best PI coverage for legal clients today. Hello and welcome to the latest edition of IB Talk. The Insurance Industry Podcast brought to you by Insurance Business. My name is Mia Wallace, senior news editor at Insurance Business UK. And today I’m joined by James Graham, director of Professional Indemnity at Travelers Europe, to dig into the conversations required to ensure the best coverage for legal clients today. Many thanks for joining me here today, James.
James: [00:01:07] Thank you for having me.
Mia: [00:01:09] Absolutely my pleasure. And to start us off here today, it would be great to know a little bit about you and your role at Travelers Europe.
James: [00:01:15] Yeah. So I am the director of Professional Indemnity at Travelers Europe and I am responsible for both our solicitors and professions business in terms of underwriting strategy, broker and client engagement.
Mia: [00:01:29] Fantastic. I can imagine that’s a role that keeps you incredibly busy, particularly at the moment.
James: [00:01:33] Yes, it is.
Mia: [00:01:34] Especially interesting, one, given that it’s subject to such rapid changes and evolutions. And I just wonder, could you give me an overview of where the PI market currently stands?
James: [00:01:44] Of course. So I think it’s fair to say that the market has been for a period of correction over the past four years. Well, that is a long time in anyone’s book. That period of correction comes on the back of what has been two decades of softening within the market that led to policies being written at an unsustainable rate. At the start, the correction was driven by a sustained deterioration in both the frequency and severity of claims, and that was witnessed across pretty much all areas of legal practice. This produced an underwriting environment that proved untenable for some markets, and we saw exits from the class entirely on the one hand, or significant changes in underwriting approach in the appetite, whether that be in relation to deployment of limits, more stringent underwriting criteria being applied or restrictions in cover or even or premium increases that we saw with the rate. Rate increases and lost activity continued through that period of correction. But finally, towards the back end of 2021, a Traveler’s Europe, we started to see signs of stabilization in claims activity. This is not to say that the loss, frequency or severity has gone away because it certainly hasn’t. It’s just that we didn’t see a continuing worsening of loss experience across our portfolio. What that meant was that the premiums were finally starting to tackle some of the losses from the prior years and to start offsetting some of the suppression that we experienced from two decades of softening rates. And there’s been considerable uncertainty over the past four years in the form of Brexit covered conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, economic uncertainty and the levels of inflation that haven’t been seen for the past 40 years with the potential of a recession, recession on the horizon. As such, we’re not out of the woods yet and still have some way to go before we can consider the PI environment to be stable. And the uncertainty that we’re seeing is market wide. And where we do see some competition, it’s generally infrequent and within pockets of sort of specialist areas, and that’s from existing markets opposed to new entrants coming into the PI market. So the environment still remains pretty volatile.
Mia: [00:04:14] Fantastic. Thank you for that. And with so much happening in the space, I can imagine that clients are facing significant challenges at this time and going with a rule of three. What do you see as the top three concerns or emerging risks that you’re hearing about from clients?
James: [00:04:29] And so I think that the top three things would probably be. Inflation. I guess with mounting financial pressures created by the rise of inflation, coupled with the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and Brexit. Inflation is expected to rise to 10% by the end of the year. Within the UK and similar levels expected across the world, which is impacting us in terms of claims, inflation and fees and also premium. So it’s it’s a significant area of interest for ourselves and our clients at the moment. And with this, there will inevitably be an uptick in litigation, thus causing an increase in work volumes for law firms and the potential for an increase in errors and delays. With our clients facing financial difficulty and firm billing rates set to increase. A rise in the challenge to fee bills can also be expected. And in effect, at this moment in time, we would need to match inflation rates in order to, in terms of premium, just to stand still. So that’s that’s the key. One of the key issues the moment another one, which is sort of over the last few years as a result of sort of the pandemic with people working from home is well being. So we’re continuing to talk to our clients about staff wellbeing and in fact law firms and how they’re sort of looking to address what is now widely recognized and openly accepted as a as an issue for law firms, particularly in light of various market wide reports such as the recent one by law care, that identified that 69% of the people that completed the survey in the last year had experienced mental ill health. And the third is probably sort of client selection and sanctions. And we’ve increased geopolitical tensions. This has meant that some firms are undergoing more scrutiny over their new and existing client due diligence. And indeed, insurers are asking more questions and undertaking deeper dives when potential sanctions exposures are identified. This is unlikely to affect the average high street firm. However, we have received a few referrals with from smaller firms seeking to act on clients with a Russian nexus. And we were keen to understand a keen in understanding the underwriting and coverage ramifications in doing so.
Mia: [00:07:04] Particularly in relation to that first challenge that you identified there. I can see it would be very helpful for clients and brokers alike to go into PI insurance conversations with an understanding of what insurance are looking for from them. So what is it that insurers want to know about?
James: [00:07:20] So really it’s I guess it’s understanding whether the clients do have any exposure in particular to the war in Ukraine. You know, whether there is exposure to Russian or Russian clients, it’s the type of work they’re doing with them. It’s making sure that the client due diligence is robust enough to identify any individuals that or companies that may be in any sanctions lists where sanctions applies to both our clients, brokers and ourselves. And it’s important that we do not fall foul of them.
Mia: [00:07:56] Absolutely. Zeroing in on the practicalities of solicitors PI, what advice can you offer clients, prospective clients with regards to proposal forming, submission, timings, etc.?
James: [00:08:07] So I think the key one is to really take care of your proposal form, ensure that it is legible. And you know, if you’re brokers, please try and help your clients to make their submission stand out and to demonstrate a firm’s approach to risk. It’s important that the submission is provided in good time, ideally sort of two months in advance of renewal and ensuring that any additional information that is provided is is supplied in a clear and concise format. And, you know, I think it’s important to try and tie back a firm’s approach to risk to some of the sort of hot topics that I mentioned previously, to do with well being sanctions or even new cyber threats.
Mia: [00:08:55] Fantastic. And what are some of the common mistakes that you see being made when it comes to applying and securing coverage?
James: [00:09:02] I think the mistakes we make are made that I’ve seen are really sort of simple administrative mistakes. For example, you know, not not fully completing a proposal form or not providing additional information where it is requested. You know, when proposal forms are provided last minute, there’s the your clients are at a disadvantage because there’s not enough time to fully review them and to understand the risks. You know, put up our best terms. As a broker, I think it’s important that you, in order to mitigate these issues, is to, you know, proofread proposals from clients. You know, give them examples of what’s a well put together submission would look like. But also, you know, stock brokers are fully aware of our appetite. So it’s, you know, making sure that submissions that are provided fit within appetite and those that may be borderline, you know, additional information is provided to help us to understand their business better. And then the other sort of key administrative bits is, you know, provide an up to date financials, up to date claims information and anything else that they feel could, you know, get the approach to risk and the type of firm that they are better across to us that would be helpful to.
Mia: [00:10:23] And given all the challenges sweeping the market at this time, and I can imagine that the supports and solutions that insurers are able to offer are really coming into their own. And what are some of the top ways travelers is able to support clients at this time?
James: [00:10:36] So we’ve got a very experienced and responsive underwriting team that willing to support our brokers in any way that we can. Whether that be meeting clients or by using our in-house claims team who are all legally trained. We also have an in-house risk management team who can help our clients with risk related issues. We have our own law firm, Travelers Legal, which obviously help our insureds defend claims and most recently sort of in tandem with our well being, which is such a hot topic at the moment. We have launched a claims well being service which is there to support our claimants that are obviously subject to the stresses of having to deal with, you know, a professional indemnity claims. That’s sort of an added value service that we provide as well.
Mia: [00:11:30] I can imagine you can see across the market that clients and brokers alike are responding extremely well to just the range of holistic services that Travelers Europe is able to offer.
James: [00:11:40] Yeah, I mean, it’s for us, it’s very important to sort of maintain a market leading position. It’s important that we have these sort of added value services that we think really bring benefit to our brokers and clients.
Mia: [00:11:54] That’s brilliant. And for those looking to find out a little bit more, more about those services and more about the coverage that Travelers Europe supplies, what’s the best way to get in contact?
James: [00:12:04] So the best way is either to contact myself my emails [email protected] or to speak to Donna Hurst. Alternatively, all inquiries can be sent through to [email protected]
Mia: [00:12:20] Well, thank you so much James, for such a clear and comprehensive breakdown of how to ensure the best PI coverage for legal clients. And thank you very much for your time today.
James: [00:12:30] Thank you. It’s been a pleasure.
Mia: [00:12:31] And thanks also to everybody for tuning in and I look forward to welcoming you next time here on IB Talk. Thank you for listening to this episode of IBUK Talk for more from James and the team at Travelers Europe, you can visit them at www.travelers.co.uk/industry-solutions/legal-sector-insurance. Thank you for listening to IB Talk. For the latest episodes, please be sure to follow us on SoundCloud, Stitcher and Apple Podcasts.
In this #IBTalk episode, Aston Lark Ireland’s CEO Robert Kennedy shares insights into his journey through the insurance profession and what the future holds in store for his team as part of Howden
Read more: ABI reveals fraudulent claims figures
Meanwhile, the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) has unveiled a cost-of-living linked anti-fraud campaign, noting it has seen a 17% increase in people being added to the national Insurance Fraud Register (IFR). Thought leadership published by insurance law firm Kennedys highlighted that there are four key drivers behind the link between economic pressures and fraudulent behaviour:
Read more: Man purchases wrecked cars to use for bogus insurance claims
Across Insurance Business UK, several notable examples of insurance fraud being committed have been spotlighted while a recently published guide highlighted the most common types of insurance fraud in the UK.
But there’s a fraternal twin to insurance fraud and its deep-rooted relationship to the economy which can often slip under the radar in conversations about mitigating the impacts of a recessionary environment on insureds and insurance businesses alike. Recession-linked crime is a consideration that has puzzled researchers and statisticians for multiple decades – with each dip in the UK’s GDP yielding new insight into whether crime increases or decreases during times of economic turmoil.
News from the frontlines of insurance businesses reveals that this time around at least, the latter looks more likely. A report from NFU Mutual emphasised a sharp rise in rural crime as the cost-of-living crisis hits the countryside. Rural crime saw a drop in 2020 and 2021, the mutual insurer said, but it has since risen over 40% in Q1 2022 – with farm vehicles, including quad bike and trailer thefts, continuing to plague the countryside
NFU Mutual noted that the data recorded from H1 2022, compared with that of H1 2021, reveals that the frequency and cost of fuel theft claims have more than doubled in that period. In a new poll of the rural community by NFU Mutual, almost half of respondents (49%) said that fuel theft was now their greatest crime concern.
Commenting on the findings, Rebecca Davidson, rural affairs specialist at NFU Mutual, said: “With prices of essential farm equipment such as tractors and quads rising fast and the cost of diesel soaring over the past year, there’s little doubt that criminals will be trying to steal from farms.
“We also know that essentials of rural living like heating oil tanks will only become more attractive to thieves as costs rise. A recent poll by NFU Mutual reveals that 89% of respondents believe inflation will lead to an increase in rural crime.”
Recession-linked crime, and insurance fraud as a subsect of that, represents a challenge to insurance brokers, requiring additional insight, support and thought leadership. As with so many challenges in insurance, however, it also presents an opportunity for brokers to highlight the immutable advantages that their services can offer insureds.
Brokers need to be in place to provide effective thought leadership aimed at helping clients – whether across the fine art & specie market, the high-net-worth market, the agricultural insurance piece or even just day-to-day personal lines insurance offerings – understand their exposures and mitigate the risks they face.
And they need to tap into every available resource from their insurance partners, across the entire value chain, to ensure that applicable support, advice and measures consistently find their way into the right hands. From encouraging clients to invest in effective security measures, to tapping into police resources, to reiterating best practices, insurance brokers have a keen role to play in protecting businesses and individuals as they weather the storm of the latest recessionary environment.
“As a business we understand that we have a responsibility to do more to tackle difficult issues, by ensuring that we operate responsibly and contribute positively to a sustainable future for generations to come. Doing the right thing defines who we are, and integrity is essential to everything we do.”
A volunteer-run network with more than 3,000 members, iCAN is part of [email protected]’s and advocates multicultural inclusion across the insurance industry. The sponsorship will back a wide range of initiatives, including mentoring schemes and member events.
“I am in the unique position of being able to see the benefits from both sides,” commented iCAN co-chair and DWF senior associate Kishan Mangat (pictured). “Being a part of the DWF organisation myself, I am very proud that my company is making this important commitment to driving DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) progress within the insurance industry.
“And for iCAN, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to work closely together with DWF to create an impact more broadly across the insurance market when it comes to the inclusion of our multicultural and international colleagues.”
Co-chair Ajay Mistry, meanwhile, added that they “couldn’t be happier” to have DWF on board as a gold sponsor.
“By having their support at the highest level, we can really strive to do a lot more for our 3,000-plus members, and continue to successfully build and expand on the impact we have had over the last five years,” he said.
It is worth reminding ourselves why this is such a vital process for the market, and more importantly for its business partners and clients. Today, the London insurance market produces almost all its contracts as documents – often in Word. While this has meant that underwriters and brokers have the flexibility to create bespoke contracts, that comes at a price. These manual processes mean delays and errors and our clients are paying the cost of transacting business in this analogue fashion. And they are not alone. Brokers and underwriters are undertaking labour intensive processes to extract data, as well as not being able to take advantage of automation including portfolio analytics.
By allowing business to take place on the basis of a digital exchange of data, the electronic binding of the risks and a fully digital contact lifecycle, everyone in the insurance value chain will benefit from:
Ultimately, we want the market to move to a fully computable contract, a contract which can be read and understood not only be humans, but also by machines. The first stage was defining what data was required and the market has agreed the CDR. Next is identifying who puts in what data and when, so that data can flow to everyone involved in the contract. Then it is how to structure that data in contract and that is the iMRC. All of this will ensure that accurate, ACORD standardised data will flow through the entire insurance transaction lifecycle with minimal human intervention. It will be fundamental to the success of our transformation for open market placement.
The first step on the iMRC journey is updated MRC guidance. This will specify all the data that is needed downstream, so everyone knows what is required. The second part of the iMRC is being far more specific as to how certain data elements should be represented.
What we are not proposing is that all contracts conform to any one specific format – that is for the firms themselves to decide. But it will mean they are required to include the essential data and that it is in a prescribed fashion. While the consultation is underway, the Data Council will be conducting a full review of the amendments that are being proposed to ensure they do not compromise any legal and regulatory requirements.
The launch of the iMRC does not mean there will be a move to fully digital contracts immediately, however, it is an exciting first step on the journey. But this is the market’s contract, so we want the market to tell us what it thinks.
Please get involved and visit the LMG website – Market Standards – London Market Group (lmg.london).
As a result, Sedgwick’s latest Recall Index reached the market at a critical juncture, providing an essential reference for manufacturers and retailers seeking an objective and timely perspective on past, present and future recall data and product safety trends. The European ‘State of the Nation 2022’ brand protection report offered readers a year-in-review look at recall data and trends from 2021 and early 2022.
Discussing the report in a recent webinar, Chris Occleshaw, product recall consultant, international at Sedgwick Brand Protection highlighted that its findings are sourced from safety regulators, government resources, and research and interviews conducted with the firm’s strategic partners – which include insurers, law firms and communication companies.
“There is value in analysing recall detail from the previous quarter,” he said. “However, a core purpose of the Recall Index is to go a little bit further and help you plan for changes that may impact your business or firm, or potentially present risks to you as a brand. As part of our index, we get insights from our partners who are normally from legal or regulatory backgrounds, and we leverage their expertise to try and predict what’s around the corner, what’s looming on the horizon, what can learn and what steps can companies take to actively mitigate some of these risks.”
The report highlighted that Brexit and COVID-19 were the two most notable disruptions which impacted the UK and EU markets in 2021. Significant supply chain challenges have resulted from both of these, with businesses forced to adjust what would have been normal operations two years ago – and the supply chain has yet to recover from this immense disruption.
“Recalls were up in every industry in 2021, with the exception of toys, which saw a 28% decline in events compared to 2020,” Sedgwick’s report found. “The toy industry did however see the expected spike in the fourth quarter, which accounted for 38% of all recalls for the year. The pharmaceutical industry saw the biggest jump with 372 recalls, a 48% increase over 2020. Electronics experienced a 45% year-over-year increase in product recalls. While clothing saw a 25% increase, children’s sweatshirts alone experienced a 200% increase from the year previous.”
As outlined in Sedgwick’s cross-market survey, there are sweeping changes ahead for all industries. In many cases, regulators are working to update laws written 20 years ago, before the widespread adoption of online marketplaces and connected devices. The report revealed that while the goal of these changes is to protect consumers, and sometimes the environment, these updates can cause challenges for businesses that may need to make significant adjustments to their business processes to comply with new regulations.
Read more: Sedgwick unveils European product recall index for Q2 2021
In terms of where the product recall landscape goes next, Sedgwick highlighted that the ongoing global health crisis that is COVID-19 means continued uncertainty in terms of supply chains, normal business operations and regulatory oversight.
“Regulators in the UK and EU are looking at updates to old legislation across several industries to reflect risk to consumers from technologies that were not in use when the regulations were written,” the firm stated. “This includes threats from the technology itself – such as data being hacked from connected devices. It also means technology shifts in how goods are sourced and purchased thanks to online shopping.”
The team at Sedgwick emphasised that while it is impossible to know all the longer-term impacts of these regulatory changes, it is evident that firms need to plan for risks across a variety of areas, including:
“While no one wants to admit that they will face a product recall,” Sedgwick said, “if plans to mitigate such instances are tested and updated – and become as routine as other business processes – then when the inevitable occurs, both your brand and bottom-line will remain protected.
“Working with an expert partner to leverage their experience and insights can help deliver significant saving in regulatory and litigation costs, as well as time and internal resources. In addition, their expertise will help you honour your commitments to customers, supply chain partners, industry groups, and regulators, while protecting your reputation among the stakeholders that matter most.”
Aquila Taekwondo, Sidcup London, is one beneficiary. It will use the funds to pay for venue hire and equipment for the classes it runs for children with disabilities.
Thanet Wanderers Rugby Union Football Club, Broadstairs, will use its grant to better promote rugby among girls in the Thanet area of Kent.
Beacon Hill Football Club, Surrey (pictured above), bought special frames for children with cerebral palsy to play the game using its grant.
“With this donation, we look forward to building throughout the next season and beyond,” said Neill McWilliams, frame football coach for the club. “This incredible donation will have a real impact enabling children with cerebral palsy to enjoy football.”
As the worldwide insurance partner for the Olympic and Paralympic movements, Allianz Insurance head of brand and social responsibility Carolyn Rich said the company was “passionate about the power of sport”.
“This year we took the opportunity to support clubs who have, or would like to have, programmes which focus on diversity and inclusivity,” Rich said. “We know the important impact that sport has within a community and we’re very happy to support the amazing work local clubs are doing to ensure everyone can benefit.”
The next round of funding will provide support to clubs looking to implement new initiatives and improve coaching. Nominations open on Sept. 5.
That fervent picking apart of what each figure means, where it came from and what its implications are for the future is a well-worn ritual, started in childhood and borne cheerlessly into adulthood. The problem with the autopsying of the way things are is the open invitation it offers to considering what might have been and what ought to have been – twin considerations that hold little water when dealing with absolutes.
There is, of course, value to be found in critiquing results but all too often it’s a time-consuming affair that yields fewer insights than might be expected for the time invested in its practice. And so, it was with an open mind to the suggestion of a substitute that I recently came across the suggestion of an alternative tradition – a managerial strategy known as a pre-mortem.
Seemingly coined by the research psychologist Gary Klein, a pre-mortem sees team members “assume that the project they are planning has just failed—as so many do—and then generate plausible reasons for its demise”. In doing so, those with misgivings are able to voice them at the outset of a project in a bid to future-proof its success.
I confess I was initially quite dubious about the wisdom of engaging in such an enterprise – it struck me not so much as putting the cart before the horse as resigning the horse to the pasture and the cart to firewood before you’ve actually looked at either. But the more you dig into the mechanics of the strategy, the more sense it makes, particularly with respect to the insurance profession.
By its very nature, insurance needs to be forward-looking. The ambition to future-proof businesses is embedded in the very DNA of risk management. In a recent interview, Marsh’s James Crask highlighted that without a focus on resilience measures, the ability to proactively mitigate effective business continuity measures is throttled.
Between Brexit, COVID, the cost-of-living crisis, rising energy bills and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, there is no shortage of wolves at the door and it’s understandable that so many businesses are deploying the tried and tested recourse of worrying about tomorrow, tomorrow. But the reality is that most businesses have never faced such a maelstrom of combined economic, social and political factors hitting at the same time.
Tomorrow is being written by today, and today is looking increasingly uncertain. Insurance businesses are in the unenviable position of having to share that message and create the resilience structures that when put in place might mitigate its worst excesses. True resilience requires a Janus-esque approach to risk – where the eye fixed on the present and the eye fixed on the future are sharing what they’re seeing and finding those patterns that inextricably link that vision.
Right now is the best time for businesses to be evaluating the likely success of the strategies, measures and procedures they’re putting in place to weather the storms they’re facing. The insurance profession needs to communicate that far more important than the question of ‘where are we now?’ is asking ‘where we will be in 12 months?’
And no pre-mortem investigation is going to be perfect, or even necessarily accurate, given how rapidly our PESTLE environment is shifting. It’s a sad indictment of the times that we’re all living through but there really is no time like the present to worry about the future. But a retrospective examination will simply come too late – and ‘too late’ is not a fair or fitting epigraph for the businesses that make up our communities and economy.
Read more: Auto salvage agent Copart UK swoops for green parts specialist Hills
Discussing the deal which was announced last month and is subject to approval by the CMA, Pocock noted that the thought process behind the acquisition was based on the same question asked of all the business’s strategic decisions – what do our insurance customers and partners want from us?
“We are quite strong in this market segment,” she said. “And most of our customers were saying ‘we love what you do on the salvage side but – following Brexit, Ukraine, COVID and with the cost of everything going up and with so many environmental factors to consider – can you also do green parts for us?’
“They were also very much aware that there isn’t too much succession planning going on in the green parts industry… so they were questioning how to future-proof this part of the sector. And it’s not just about insurance repairs or bodywork repairs, it’s also about second life for engines and mechanical repairs.”
After assessing the market, Hills Motor was quickly identified as a strong fit, both culturally as the two firms share similar values and digitally-focused mentalities, but also geographically as the acquired firm’s location between two industrial hubs – Manchester and Liverpool – made for a great match. It’s a complementary addition, she said, and the news has resonated very well with Copart’s customers.
“Our ethos is ‘they ask, we deliver’,” Pocock said. “And that’s been the secret to our 40-year success so far – it’s our innovation. We’re incredibly innovative. We’re a listed company that is run like a family business. We make sure there are no politics, we just make instant decisions and deliver. And those dynamics are what excites me most about working here.”
Given the financial turmoil being experienced by so many across the UK right now and the increased spotlight that has been shone on ESG practices, it’s little surprise that green parts are having their moment in the sun. But Pocock highlighted how important it is that companies all across the auto value chain keep the green parts initiative in the spotlight and make sure it is built for the long haul.
“We will 100% be using our marketing machine to educate people more and more about the benefits of green parts,” she said. “Because some of the smaller businesses haven’t had that platform. We will absolutely be able to sell to our repairers and to mechanical repairers and a much wider audience. So, we’ll be doing our bit to promote reuse and recycling.
“And we’ve started to overcome that COVID blip of parts availability with manufacturers getting production back on track. But while some of that emergency piece is over, the education and changes that have come about post-COVID are here to stay. I think future generations are demanding more, because they do want to preserve the planet. So, I do think younger people will be more accepting of having used parts fitted to their vehicles as they are less materialistic in that way.”
The green parts initiative is an integral element of the wider ESG programme, she said. There’s the environmental aspect of saving carbon every time you reuse a part, and preventing more raw materials from being used. And also, repairing cars rather than disposing of them is a much more sustainable way of doing business. At Copart, 70% of its cars are repaired while 30% are recycled, so promoting the value of taking a sustainable approach to the auto sector is critical to Pocock’s ambitions as a leader in the space.
Once the acquisition of Hills Motor is fully signed and sealed, the next step will be integrating the business into Copart, she said, and she’s looking forward to working with the teams involved in that piece. Continued growth is high up on her strategic agenda for the year ahead, with Copart planning to expand its fleet of vehicles and move into electric vehicles.
“We’re looking at how we can constantly enhance our business and streamline what we do because we know the insurers are under huge price pressure with premiums and with claims costs,” Pocock said. “We work really hard to see what we can do to benefit them through our part of the process. And further M&A is definitely on the cards, as is organic growth and expansion.
“We’re also currently going through a process of looking at solar energy and planting trees. We’ve already got 120 acres of green space in our portfolio so we’re looking at how we can create more biodiversity in our own green space. And having completed it myself, we’re now putting all our staff through carbon literacy training as well… So really, everything is on the agenda. The one thing we don’t do is slow down.”
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