Profile
Lee Garvey:
Looking ahead in 2021 Lee Garvey, who has worked for all three major global brokers, was recently appointed as Willis Towers Watson’s head of financial solutions for Australia and New Zealand. Garvey talks to Covernote about the credit, non-payment insurance, political risk and lenders’ insurance advisory markets, and his predictions for the wider market
What are the main challenges for insurance brokers in New Zealand at the moment? Specialist brokers participating in the trade credit space, like Willis Towers Watson, are facing pressure to secure competitive new and renewal terms for clients, from participating insurers. Covid-19 is still having an impact on the market. Insurers remain quite conservative in their approach and in the way they protect risk commitments to existing policyholders. We have also seen insurers seeking to increase premium rates and imposing more restrictive policy conditions – something which we are working very closely with our clients to address. You are responsible for Credit and Non-Payment insurance, Political Risk insurance, Commercial Surety, Terrorism and Political Violence, and Lenders Insurance Advisory
10
March 2021
within the Financial Solutions line of the WTW business. Which of these lines are experiencing the greatest changes in the current market, and why? Many insurers consider that more insolvencies will eventually come when government support measures are rolled back. As a result, some insurers in the Trade Credit space have stayed away from taking new risks in the industry sectors most affected by the crisis such as air travel, hospitality and the private obligors that have a noninvestment grade rating. Instead, they have focused on betterrated entities and sovereignowned entities. How has the pandemic and economic downturn affected the Credit and Non-Payment insurance market? Claims in the Trade Credit and Non-Payment insurance market have increased compared to
