J U LY 2 0 1 9
NETWORKING NEWS
News inside from: Markerstudy Zurich Ageas Geo Specialty Bishopsgate Hiscox Covéa Property Protector Learning Network Placement Support
OUT OF THE ORDINARY
Into the Odd
Whether it’s placing a peculiar risk for your customer, or capitalising on a niche in the market, Broker Network and our Insurer Partners can help.
NEW REGIONAL MEETINGS VENUES ANNOUNCED | TOP UP YOUR CPD IN 3 MINS WITH ZURICH | BN MEMBERS MAKE AWARDS SHORTLISTS | AND MORE...
REGIONAL MEETINGS NEW LOCATIONS ANNOUNCED! As we always say, this is your Network. In direct response to your feedback, we’ve moved the locations of two of our Regional Meetings to venues that suit you better, allowing more of you to join us. HAVE YOUR SAY! You, our Members, are at the heart of the Network, and your needs drive everything we do. Take the opportunity to shape the content by voting for topics relevant to you and your business.
GLASGOW
3RD OCTOBER GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL
NEW LOCATION HARROGATE 7TH OCTOBER RUDDING PARK
moved from Newcastle, The Biscuit Factory
MANCHESTER 8TH OCTOBER TATTON PARK
To register your place today, contact your BDM or Alison Fordham on: E: alison.fordham@bravo-group.co.uk T: 01423 554 135
NEW LOCATION TEWKESBURY
9TH OCTOBER PUCKRUP HALL HOTEL
moved from Cheltenham, Pittville Pump Room
LONDON
11TH OCTOBER DRAPERS HALL
NEWS CON TENTS
NETWORKING
WELCOME...
Summer may well and truly be upon us now, but here at Broker Network our Member Services teams are as busy as ever working for our Members. In addition, our BDM community and Communications and Events team are in the throes of organising and promoting our Regional Meetings – and I may sound like a broken record, but it’s for good reason. This is your Network, so I urge you to attend one of these meetings and have your say. You should receive an email over the next few days inviting you to vote on the two remaining slots on the agenda. The options available are Mental Wellbeing; Apprenticeships; Upselling and Cross-selling; Fees; Adding Income through the Renewal Cycle; and Growing through Premium Finance Penetration. Please do cast your vote and have your say. I’m utterly delighted to say that the Learning Network won! The team’s stupendously hard work all paid off and we beat some stiff competition to bring the trophy home. The Learning Network is a truly market leading proposition and even just to have been shortlisted for the industry’s biggest awards demonstrates that – but to have won really is the icing on the cake. We really are celebrating this month as our annual golf day at Woburn saw us raise an unprecedented amount of funds for Cancer Research UK, where our Members helped us to put away £6K for the charity. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Hope you enjoy this month’s read, and please do keep giving us your feedback – it really does help us to shape what we are working on for your benefit. Yours, Richard Pitt Chief Network Officer
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12
INSURER NEWS
Interviews with Geo Speciality's Adrian Scott; Bishopsgate's Paul Longhurst; and Ian Newman from Covea. Plus, a Cyber case study from Hiscox.
60 SECONDS WITH...
Our new Insurer Relations Manager, Neil Laird, plans to shake up our Personal Lines offering.
UNLOCK YOUR FUTURE WITH LEARNING NETWORK
The award-winning proposition offers unique content curated especially with you in mind.
TOP UP YOUR CPD IN 3 MINS
Did you know that you can use Zurich Insider to reach your CPD objectives?
AFFILIATE OF THE MONTH
We've secured additional discount with our Affiliate, RPost!
FIND YOUR NICHE
Markerstudy could be interested in your scheme...
THE PLACE TO BE
Andy Hainsworth from Placement Support is an expert with tricky risks.
IN THE LIMELIGHT
Huge congratulations to all of our Members who have been shortlisted for industry awards!
NETWORKING NEWS | VISIT HUB.BROKERNETWORK.CO.UK
NETWORKING NEWS
3
Sign in
Home
News
Sport
Weather
Entertainment
INSURER NEWS Home
UK
World
Science
Entertainment
How Geo Specialty thinks differently
CASE STUDY: Hiscox Cyber
Do you know the difference between Geo Specialty and Geo Underwriting? We caught up with Adrian Scott, Development Director, to find out the distinction between the two brands and get the lowdown on how Geo Specialty is building a business that thinks differently to other markets.
The team at Hiscox have a strong focus on Cyber at the moment with a webinar taking place on 18th July and a new cyber exposure calculator being launched. This case study demonstrates exactly how the team can help in a crisis.
Click here to read the full article.
Click here to read the full article.
EXTRA EXTRA! Read the latest from Markerstudy's schemes team on page 9!
A view from Lloyd’s
Introducing Covéa Commercial
In the last part of our catch up with Paul Longhurst, Broking and Distribution Director at Bishopsgate, we look at issues affecting the wider London Market – and, in turn, Broker Network Members.
We’re pleased to welcome Covea Commercial to our panel of Insurer Partners. Covéa has also increased its standard commission for all Members to 22.5% on several of its SME products. Click the link below to read a Q&A with Ian Newman, E-Trading (Specialist) Development Manager.
Click here to read the full article.
Click here to read the full interview.
What do microscope repair and violin making have in common? They’re both recent commercial trades from Ageas…
Click here to see what else the crew behind you have been up to.
4
NETWORKING NEWS
NETWORKING NEWS | VISIT HUB.BROKERNETWORK.CO.UK
WITH...
Neil Laird Our new Insurer Relations Manager explains how he plans to work on your behalf with our Partner Insurer panel to ensure that we can continue to deliver for you.
WHO WILL SIT ON YOUR PANEL OF INSURERS? Our new motor panel has four main players. Two of our strategic insurers, Axa and Ageas, are complemented by Zurich and Markerstudy who are relatively new to the Network. I’m sure you enjoyed the recent ‘On the Road’ campaign promoting Markerstudy’s new IHP products so look out for more from Markerstudy soon!
WHAT IS YOUR KEY FOCUS AT BROKER NETWORK? I will be working with Dan McNally to build, develop and grow our Personal Lines propositions to our Members. My primary aim is to extract as much value from our Insurer Partners as possible by working closely with them and the Network to ensure our products meet Members’ and, ultimately, customers’ needs. Our new motor panel will provide Members with a much stronger offering so completing the roll out across all software houses will be a key priority, in addition to launching new schemes on all lines of business. An enhanced and broader travel product is also on my radar, and I will be looking for insurers who can provide us with a compelling offering. Customer expectations of insurance is changing, with greater focus on personalisation and bespoke cover that will leverage data-led products. I believe we are uniquely positioned to capitalise on this by providing insurers with a distribution route that builds on strong broker/customer relationships that create distinct and positive outcomes in return.
Additionally, we are working with Sabre, Provisional Marmalade, RSA, Integra and Towergate to provide Members with a broad and competitive panel. I’m excited by an upcoming partnership which will soon enable us to launch a new and innovative panel across Private Car, Commercial Vehicle and Household and provide more sophisticated pricing and bespoke rating to Members – watch this space!
WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER ONE AIM FOR THE REMAINDER OF 2019? Can I be greedy and have two aims? Firstly, to demonstrate the value of our personal lines offering to Members through the roll out of our enhanced panels which will deliver improved schemes, bespoke ratings and pricing sophistication. This will create a platform for growth next year and beyond. My second aim is to see Kilmarnock FC top of the Scottish Premiership and in the group stages of the Europa League!
NETWORKING NEWS | VISIT HUB.BROKERNETWORK.CO.UK
NETWORKING NEWS
5
WINNERS 2019
AWARD-WINNING
CONTENT CURATORS
We’re thrilled to say that our Learning Network team have won the Investing in the Profession/Training Award at the British Insurance Awards – less than a year after the service launched. The awards are the Oscars of the insurance industry and it really is a testament to the hard work the team have done in empowering our Members’ learning. DESIGNED WITH YOU IN MIND The Learning Network's unique approach encourages collaborative learning across multiple audiences, connecting industry leading experts and bringing learners together through our digital learning on LINK, webinars, Virtual Classrooms and our newly launched apprenticeship programme. Designed with each learner and their role in mind, it has never been so easy to access learning and development at the point when you need it most. A UNIVERSAL APPROACH Our team curates learning that supports you, our Members, with everything from technical qualifications to behavioural development – it is a true holistic offering. We are championing development in the broking arena and driving increased professionalism across the industry.
YOUR DEVELOPMENT AT THE CORE The team are on hand to support your business and people whenever you need it. Watch the team’s BIA submission video above, which brings to life how the Learning Network’s award-winning service can help Members at any time of the day.
We’re over the moon that we’ve won a British Insurance Award. The standard was incredibly high this year and I’m unbelievably proud of the team, and everything they have achieved this year, from launching our first-of-a-kind apprenticeship scheme for Members to introducing new virtual classrooms. We’re passionate about helping Members to reach their business and careers goals, and we’re always looking to bring them the latest development opportunities. Here’s to the next chapter for the Learning Network. GAIL BRAITHWAITE, Head of Learning Network
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE COURSE SCHEDULE 6
NETWORKING NEWS
NETWORKING NEWS | VISIT HUB.BROKERNETWORK.CO.UK
TOP UP YOUR CII
CPD IN
JUST
3 MINS
Did you know that you can use Zurich Insider to reach your CPD learning objectives? For busy brokers, improving your knowledge and professional requirements may seem an additional burden after years spent achieving industry qualifications. Zurich Insider’s CII-accredited CPD portal can help you earn and record either structured or unstructured CPD hours by simply reading a Zurich Insider article and then answering three related multiple-choice questions about the story.
Click here to try it for yourself
Once logged in, the simple, user-friendly CPD dashboard will also log the progress of each individual broker and issue approved online certificates.
The latest from Zurich Insider‌
Unoccupied homes analysis Whether going on extended summer holidays, or splitting time between houses, there are many reasons why your customers might leave a home empty for a period. But how does this affect their home insurance? The Zurich underwriting team look at the insurance implications of leaving a house unoccupied for extended periods.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON NETWORKING HUB
NETWORKING NEWS | VISIT HUB.BROKERNETWORK.CO.UK
NETWORKING NEWS
7
AFFILIATE OF THE MONTH ALL IN ONE SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE Around 205 billion emails are sent worldwide every day, and the team at our Affiliate, RPost, can help you enhance your security, communicate better with your clients and give you peace of mind that you’re remaining compliant with your emails. You can tap into both of their digital tools; RMail, the all in one service for encrypting and proving delivery of emails, and RSign, which makes web-based electronic signatures simple. Both services allow you to boost security and productivity, while staying compliant with GDPR and other privacy laws.
"
“We know that brokers are heavily regulated and
we’re passionate about helping Members to stay compliant with GDPR, the Insurance Act and FCA regulations. We understand that it is just as important to help you reduce costs, make your email system more efficient and reinforce your own in-house cyber security. That’s why we’re offering Premier and Advantage Members who have not used our service before a discount on our RMail tool until the end of the year."
KEVIN HUGHES, UK SALES MANAGER
VISIBILITY AND LEGAL PROOF RECORDS
Empower your emails with ultimate visibility on sending them and their open statuses, as well as court-admissible proof of delivery, time of delivery and exact message content.
PRIVACY AND COMPLIANCE
Protect sensitive information and documents, while benefiting from auditable proof of privacy compliance.
SIMPLE & LEGAL – E-SIGN ANYWHERE Close deals faster, record signatures with irrefutable proof and automate your business processes with e-signatures.
"
SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR NEW CUSTOMERS! RPost is offering Members a discount on its RMail service for sending up to 200 RMail messages a month until 31st December 2019 for new customers. BROKER NETWORK STANDARD MEMBER RATE:
£125 + VAT
NOW £115 + VAT for Premier Members pp/py NOW £120 + VAT for Advantage Members pp/py CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER DETAILS
999
NETWORKING NEWS | VISIT HUB.BROKERNETWORK.CO.UK
GA
L PRO
O
NETWORKING NEWS
LE
8
F
ES
T
.1
RPOST
FIND YOUR NICHE
Secured £30K annual GWP or above? Markerstudy could be interested in your scheme… With a panel of in-house manual underwriters, in addition to their standard screen-rated products, the Markerstudy team have significant portfolios of niche scheme business available to you. Markerstudy has helped brokers with providing insurance for sizeable portfolios of Bespoke and HNW business, motorhome, minibus, catering vans, driving instructors, agriculture, and showmen to name but a few. The Bespoke and HNW products offer a referral underwriting quote facility to target single and multiple vehicle risks which are uncompetitive or would otherwise not be accommodated via screen rates. Markerstudy specialises in offering bespoke quotations for risks with a story. These include high performance vehicles, high profile occupations, adverse driving records such as rehabilitated drivers, and spent or reduced NCB. Average premiums tend to be high, well in excess of £1,000.
Markerstudy can also offer terms for a mix of vehicles (effectively a ‘family fleet’) all on one policy - including Private Car, Classic Car, Commercial Vehicle, Motorhome, Quad Bike, Horsebox etc. The good news is that as a Broker Network Member you have access to Markerstudy’s expertise for these schemes providing it is of a significant size and GWP value, so why not see if the team can help you? If you are looking to place business, but perhaps the clients’ requests are more unusual, speak to your BDM and they will be able to put you in touch with one of the team.
“Hundreds of independent brokers know that Markerstudy products deliver a genuine broking edge. We are therefore delighted with our Broker Network partnership and the shared ambition of driving best value for Broker Network Members and your customers. Amongst offerings that may seem at times a bit vanilla, we’re sure you’ll find the Markerstudy flavour refreshingly unique.” Anthony Foster, Head of Broker Management, Markerstudy Insurance Services Limited
NETWORKING NEWS | VISIT HUB.BROKERNETWORK.CO.UK
NETWORKING NEWS
9
THE PLACE TO BE ON THE CASE Due to the strong relationships the team has with our Partner Insurers, Andy Hainsworth, Placement Team Executive, recently helped one Member to find PLACEMENT a market for a pop up bar in just three working days from the If you’ve used our Placement initial phone call to the cover being arranged. Support team to help you
place a case, you’ll already know how great they are at helping you find markets for those complex or tricky risks your clients come to you with. If you haven’t had the need to speak to the team before now or it’s been a while since you picked up the phone, here’s a look at how Placement Support can assist you.
RISKY BUSINESS Some of the other quirky cases the team have placed recently include: • • • • • •
Rage room Children’s choir A forensic examiner Customiser of high end watches Ex-Premiership footballer’s property A very famous football trophy
Click here to find out how Placement Support can help you.
10
NETWORKING NEWS
Andy used the Placement team’s tried and tested model to assist the Member and their client. Here’s how it works… Call the Placement team with your clients’ risks and agree the markets to approach Send a presentation to Placement Support (the more detailed the better) The Placement team will get in touch with the agreed markets to discuss the risk The presentation will be sent out on your behalf and monitored Quote received back from the market
Your Placement Team Executive will call you to discuss the terms back from the market and then email them over If your client is happy with the terms, then instruct the Placement team or market to incept cover Congratulations, cover has been arranged and the risk has been placed!
NETWORKING NEWS | VISIT HUB.BROKERNETWORK.CO.UK
HEARD IT ON
THE GRAPE V IN E A S N E AT A S A N E W P I N It’s that time of year again, your BDMs will be coming out to you with the new hard copies of the Member Schemes, Facilities & Affiliates Directory. But don’t forget, that you can always check the most up to date digital copies on the Hub.
Click here for Schemes
Click here for Facilities
Click here for Affiliates
S T A RT I N G T H E D AY W I TH A B A N G !
TH E F U T U R E I S L EARNING We launched our apprenticeship scheme for Members at BN Live in April, and now we’ve welcomed our first cohort taking the Learning Network and CII Aspire programme, which we kicked off with an exciting launch event. The ‘class of 2019’ joined some of the Learning Network team at the CII office for the chance to meet their fellow apprentices, so they could start forming those invaluable relationships as they go through the journey together. To top the day off and for a chance to network, the apprentices enjoyed a tour of Lloyd's.
They say the early bird catches the worm… how about the early bird gets a new quote for their client? That’s exactly what some of our Members did at our recent BNU Breakfast Club meetings. Attendees were encouraged to bring their risks and rollovers on the day and our expert underwriters were able to provide them with quotes there and then.
The meetings were such a success that we'll be rolling them out across the UK. Limited places will be available so watch this space for further details.
D O U B L E TH E F U N W I T H P R O P E RT Y P R OT E C T O R We’re excited to report Hiscox has joined Property Protector’s panel – bringing with them two new products, Alpha and Delta. These products are only available to Property Protector and cannot be sourced directly from Hiscox 'open
market'. They will complement the BN Exclusive product suite and are available to you as a Broker Network Member.
Click here to read more
NETWORKING NEWS | VISIT HUB.BROKERNETWORK.CO.UK
NETWORKING NEWS
11
IN THE LIMELIGHT! We’re always delighted to see you going from strength to strength, and we know that each and every Member is paving the way at their own brokerage. We’ve been blown away by how many of our Members are getting the recognition they deserve and receiving nominations in the UK Broker Awards, Broker Innovation Awards and Tech and Innovation Awards. We spoke to a few of this year's finalists to find out what it means to them and to get their top tips on writing a winning submission.
NOMINATED FOR THE HIGH NET WORTH BROKER AWARD IN THE UK BROKER AWARDS
I believe you should approach applying for an award the same way you’d create a business plan, it’s an opportunity to evaluate your company, so that ultimately you can grow. You may think you’re the best, but when you look it from an outside perspective there may be areas where you can develop. John Lumley, Chairman and Managing Director, Lumley Insurance
NOMINATED FOR THE CYBER BROKER AWARD IN THE UK BROKER AWARDS, THE CYBER RISK AWARD IN THE BROKER INNOVATION AWARDS AND THE TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION OF THE YEAR AT THE TECH AND INNOVATION AWARDS Being nominated for such prestigious awards is a testament to the hard work and dedication that the Daulby Read team has put into creating our Xposed Risk Management Tool, and ultimately, our efforts to make the UK a safer place to run a business. Pete Goddard, Managing Director, Daulby Read
NOMINATED FOR THE BROKER START-UP OF THE YEAR AND YOUNG BROKER OF THE YEAR AWARDS IN THE UK BROKER AWARDS Award nominations are a great tool for marketing, we will be using ours to improve brand awareness, and promote our business to attract new customers and talented employees.
Vahed Khan, Director, IC Insurance Solutions 12
NETWORKING NEWS
NOMINATED FOR THE DIGITAL BROKER; MARKETING & CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT; TRAINING; AND YOUNG BROKER OF THE YEAR AWARDS IN THE UK BROKER AWARDS This is a fantastic achievement for Be Wiser. We were thrilled to be shortlisted in so many categories this year. Glynn Evans, Director, Be Wiser
NETWORKING NEWS | VISIT HUB.BROKERNETWORK.CO.UK
NOMINATED FOR THE CLIENT CARE AWARD IN THE BROKER INNOVATION AWARDS Think about why you’re entering and the audience you’re trying to target, there might be an award that really resonates with your clients. For us, accolades that champion innovation and customers’ needs are incredibly important and the most suitable for what our clients are looking for. Rhiannon Bates, Managing Director, The Risk Factor CLICK HERE TO READ MORE