Roll of honour - brokers reveal UK’s best commercial lines insurers

Niche has trumped mainstream in this year’s Insurance Age commercial lines broker survey, but there are strong performers across the board - we can announce NMU came first, closely followed by Covéa Insurance and CFC Underwriting.

Commercial lines is critical for many brokers’ businesses and this is why they monitor insurer performance so carefully. Often, they will hold many agencies, and in this research, brokers referred to 55 insurers in total, but only 16 achieved a significantly high number of ratings to make it into the rankings.

The survey asked brokers to score insurers across five key areas:

• New business - efficiency in providing quotes
• Quality of underwriting, communication and access to decision makers
• Policy documentation
• Cover
• Renewals

They were also asked for their opinions on insurers, both positive and negative. This year’s results show more are satisfied rather than dissatisfied.

Brokers do not hold back if they are dissatisfied with service and it is possible that insurers have sought to make improvements, even if there is now more homeworking that pre-March 2020. However, there are signs pandemic triggered disruption is starting to recede. Some 280 brokers gave positive comments about individual insurers, compared to 221 who made negative remarks, and so the ‘ayes’ have it by some 27%.

The Gold Award - NMU

NMU’s highest score (80.19%) was for new business, efficiency in providing quotes and many brokers spoke in favour the company, with comments including: “Flexible underwriting and access to underwriters who are empowered to make decisions.”

Another said: “Efficient, clear and fair pricing.” A third broker added: “Good people, open trading relationships and a strong brand backed by Munich Re.”

Guy Smith, head of marine and specialty for NMU, responded: “Having the right people in the business who are always striving for excellence ensures that we can deliver a consistent, top-quality service to brokers and policyholders. It has been the foundation which NMU is built on and it will always continue to be part of our DNA.”

He added the insurer had introduced new lines to bolster the offering outside of marine and cargo, including cyber, construction and engineering, freight liability, terrorism, marine equipment and motorsport insurance. When we are looking at our products, our distribution and our service offering, we listen to brokers. Rather than build offerings we think the market wants, we engage at the outset by leaning on our strong relationships with our broker partners. We are self-critical, and we will always look to improve on anything which does not meet our own high expectations.”

One broker said: “NMU has experienced underwriters who are always looking to solve problems instead of causing problems,” and in response, Smith said: “These comments give me the most pride! This is something we strive for and really challenge our team to deliver on.”

The Silver Award

“Covéa are extremely supportive and have a can-do attitude,” was one of many plaudits, while another broker said: “I have dealt with many insurers but I have found Covéa to be the most responsive.” Another said: “Covéa had a few teething problems at the start of Covid because of staffing but sorted things out and have turned themselves around.” A further broker said: “Their efficiency, time to respond and access to underwriters is first-class.”

Lee Venamore, Covéa’s head of commercial sales, commented: “We know from feedback that our brokers and partners choose us because we care about the service they receive and it’s great to have that validated in industry surveys.”

He added Covéa had reviewed its referral and decline trades “to reduce our referral rates on e-trade commercial combined and our package products. This has enabled our experienced trading underwriters to focus on quotations where they can add value and use their expertise to help brokers bind business with Covéa.”

The insurer has also invested in more development underwriters in all regional offices to “enable closer dialogue with broker partners, working with our relationship managers to highlight larger prospects and pipeline to help our brokers to win and retain mid-market commercial business,” according to Venamore.

He concluded by saying Covéa has also “significantly increased” its face to face engagement with brokers, with sales and development underwriters “getting in front of brokers more frequently. This, “coupled with effective use of virtual calls for shorter tactical discussions on individual cases, has proven to be highly effective.”

The Bronze Award

With less than 1% between the silver and bronze positions, CFC Underwriting scored a combined average score of 74.66%.

CFC Underwriting is the self-proclaimed market leader in cyber, and also increasingly covers niche emerging risks – it achieved the highest individual score of 81.15% for the quality of its cover.

Brokers praised the insurer for its “response times, product range and simple and open wordings” and for having people who were “easy to get hold of and prompt to respond”. Another said CFC offered high standards of “efficiency and communication and provides room for negotiation.”

Pat Brice, distribution director at CFC, said positive feedback spurred on his team to deliver on products and service, backed by cutting-edge technology. “We’ve invested massively in building the most advanced, sophisticated smart quoting capability that is fast-forwarding frictionless trading for brokers and their clients in the SME commercial specialty lines market. Our Connect platform and the launch of Cyber Now on Acturis are just two examples of this technology in action.”

He added the introduction of a Cyber Threat Analysis team, rolled out over the past 18 months, had also been well received. “This helps customers avoid falling victim to cybercrime, identifying vulnerabilities and threats our customers don’t know they have and this expertise has prevented literally thousands of incidents. An insured is at less risk of a cyber event than if they were uninsured – a hugely valuable message for brokers to give to their customers.”

Who also impressed?

As a major player, QBE showed it is a serious contender, achieving a score of 74.71% for both cover and policy documentation. Brokers said the insurer “goes above and beyond to help” and was “keen to pick up new and challenging risks”, with another saying there was “lots of engagement and quality underwriting.”

Natalie Ferrigan, head of UK distribution at the insurer, said: "QBE has continued to build upon our approach to providing agile customer solutions and consistent service levels across our broker partner network. One of our strengths is that we are big enough to be able to take on complex risks yet small enough to be nimble, meaning we can really focus on tailored solutions and adapt quickly to the needs of customers and brokers. By giving brokers multichannel access to QBE, we’re able to provide ease of access to decision makers, from those dealing with the larger corporate risks through to our SME E-trade solutions."

She added: "In addition, we have ramped up our support for the mid-market, which is evident with our new contractors combined offering earlier this year. We are continually looking at ways to make placing risks and getting the right cover as straightforward as possible and will continue to invest in developing leading capabilities that complement our growth strategy while meeting our customers’ unique needs in 2023 and beyond.”

Arch was a whisker behind QBE, gaining its best score of 74.66% for cover. Brokers described Arch as “flexible and commercially minded” and as being “keen for new business and with high services levels”. Another said the insurer was “very keen to develop personal relationships.”

Mike Bottle, senior vice president, strategy and distribution, for Arch Insurance’s UK regional division, said: “From day one we have maintained a regional network of empowered, experienced underwriters who are focused on working together with our brokers to provide informed solutions.

“We seek to maintain sustainable rates and coverage consistency in the cover we provide across all market cycles. ‘We trade the way you want to trade’ has always been our operating mantra. Our regional trading network means brokers have direct access to our skilled underwriters who can make rapid decisions, while our expanding digital platform offers speed and efficiency.”

As the sixth highest rated commercial insurer, Aviva scored highest for cover, achieving 76.40% and gaining a raft of strong comments. One broker said they had been “moved to a new team who are willing to grow our account and are responding positively to enquiries. Another described the Fast Trade system as “excellent”, while a third praised the “consistency - in terms of management, underwriting and claims.”

Ryan Birbeck, distribution director – regional brokers, at Aviva UK GI, said: “We are investing in significant additional underwriting capacity in the regions and in our digital channels to accelerate our service and delivery for this incredibly important broker segment. We have a market-leading position in digital trading and have delivered over 250 enhancements in 2022 so far with a further 65 planned by the end of the year. Brokers are central to Aviva's business: we offer an end-to-end solution for their clients and we are committed to continue listening to their needs and to acting on their feedback.”

AIG and Chubb came in next, gaining seventh and eighth places. AIG scored highly for its cover, gaining 78.13% and Chubb did even better with 79.25%. However, to gain top positions, consistency is essential, with high scores replicated across all areas.

Chubb for new business – efficiency in providing quotes, only gained 64.81%, while AIG received 66.52% for quality of underwriting, communication and access to decision makers.

In terms of positive comments, a broker said AIG offered “an easy referral system” and on Chubb, that the insurer had “a desire to win new business”.

No response from either AIG or Chubb was received when they were contacted for comment.

Allianz was also in close contention, scoring highest for its cover with 75.22%, although slipped with renewals at 63.84%. One broker said there was “a commitment to work with us on all product lines and with quick responses and great support”. Another said they had noted a “positive shift in appetite and commerciality” while others said the insurer was keen to write large commercial combined and was “fantastic” for fleet.

Nick Hobbs, chief distribution and regions officer, said: “Some key items to highlight for 2022 would be our regional branch presence, expansion of our broker support, the SME transformation programme and getting the basics right on claims and on underwriter access.”

He stressed Allianz was determined to be more accessible and responsive. “Our local teams have also been further empowered to ensure faster decision making.”

Hobbs added Allianz continued to focus on broker training, allowing them to ‘dip’ or ‘dive’ into this depending on their needs. “For those wanting to do so for specific topics we have our popular webinars, engaging podcasts and LinkedIn learning options.

“Furthermore Allianz Digital Trading designed the SME transformation programme specifically using broker feedback, data and new technology that coupled with a frontline service restructure has reshaped the broker and customer experience. That will continue to grow and to deliver for our broker partners.”

Zurich made it into 10th place, with its highest score being for cover at 73.78%. Brokers said the insurer was “always open to helping with new risks” and it was “easy to talk to someone if necessary, even for e-trade enquiries.”

Room for improvement?

Simply making it into this top 16 indicates that an insurer is active in the broker market and securing business. But brokers were prepared to be critical in some areas.

Take this view on Aviva: “Underwrite literally according to the textbook. Zero room for negotiation. Want to push things online. Attitude is we’re Aviva, we’re number one and we can do what we want.”

Then on Axa, a broker said: “Despite the best efforts of the broker development manager, we get passed around and no one comes back to you. You never know who or when something will be dealt with.”

Hiscox was described as being slow and “they are clearly understaffed and unable to cope with the workload”.

One broker pointed that RSA had improved recently and so “will be higher up next year” but another said this insurer “was inconsistent in underwriting, slow to respond and had no appetite for new business. Zurich, meanwhile, was said “not to respond to new business enquiries”.

Brokers will always be forthright and ensure insurers are kept on their toes – and there will always be some rough with the smooth. The good news for commercial lines insurers is brokers are expressing satisfaction where they feel it is merited and that is a case for celebration.

The 2021 survey results are available here.