Gallagher partners with Novidea; Zego teams up with QBE; Markerstudy appoints head of fraud

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Pick of the Week

Gallagher to partner with Novidea to launch digital platform to transform service for specialty client base

Date announced: 1 September

Deal value: Undisclosed

Gallagher has partnered with Novidea to implement and tailor its insurance broking platform for its specialty client base. The platform will cover every stage of the broking lifecycle, from enquiry and quotation to policy issuance, claims, and settlement.

Novidea’s insurance management platform provides a data-driven, cloud-based solution that is built on Salesforce, which standardises and automates processes to improve efficiency and deliver an enhanced user experience. The platform has a self-service portal which gives clients secure access from any device to key information including renewals, policies, claims, and analytics.

Gallagher’s investment in this platform will enable the firm to take full advantage of the Lloyd’s Blueprint Two digital strategy. It will allow Gallagher to integrate seamlessly into existing digital solutions in the marketplace, such as PPL and future developments that provide value to its customers.

Nick Williams-Walker, chief operating office of Gallagher’s Specialty division said: “The specialty insurance market needs to provide better technology tools to its clients so we are very excited to partner with Novidea to implement a platform that will make a real difference. Implementing this platform demonstrates our aim to be at the forefront of digital solutions, providing clients and insurers with market leading insight and data.”

Roi Agababa, CEO of Novidea, added: “Many brokers are looking to find a way to transform their business and we are thrilled to partner with such an industry-leading organisation. By working together and using our cloud-native data-driven insurance management platform, Gallagher will be able to easily turn data into insights to enable better informed business decisions, as well as benefit from greater efficiencies, and deliver an outstanding client experience.”

Deals/News of the Week

Zego partners with QBE to expand its insurance offering

Date announced: 30 August

Deal value: N/A

Commercial motor insurer, Zego, has partnered with QBE, strengthening Zego’s capability to innovate and deliver tech-enabled, behaviour-led fleet insurance products.

QBE will initially underwrite Zego’s behaviour-led fleet product which makes use of telematics data to provide a full picture of a fleet’s risk profile as well as sharing actions a fleet can take to improve their risk. Zego delivers its behavioural insights and risk management tools through a combination of its digital-first fleet portal & its risk management team, both of which are powered through proprietary behavioural data algorithms which are tailored to individual fleets. As fleets begin to use these insights and improve their behaviour, they can unlock up to 15% cashback on their policy, ensuring that the value gained from safer driving is shared between the insurer and the fleet.

This partnership indicates a maturing on the part of Zego, the unicorn insurtech. Insiders have hinted that the company is now looking to engage with a smaller group of more strategic partners as they sure up their innovative solution.

Sten Saar, CEO of Zego, commented: “Partnering with QBE felt like a natural decision and we are incredibly excited about the future of Zego with them on board as a partner. Zego and QBE share a passion for innovation around risk, we look forward to continuing to build on our revolutionary insurance products with QBE by our side.”

Jon Dye, director of underwriting for motor at QBE, said: “Working with an innovative and data-driven partner such as Zego will help provide fleets with more tailored solutions while providing us with greater insight into how to best meet their needs. We are excited to be joining them on our shared vision to develop forward thinking and sustainable customer solutions.”

IUA publishes fire safety clause for high rise repairs

Date announced: 1 Sept

Deal value: N/A

Projects to tackle fire safety risks on high-rise residential buildings have been boosted by the publication of a new model insurance clause covering fire safety risks. The wording has been developed by the International Underwriting Association and the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for use in work being completed under the government’s £4.5bn Building Safety Fund. It will help speed up the removal of unsafe cladding, encourage a greater safety culture within the construction industry and provide insurers with increased confidence in risk management processes employed by the construction sector.

The model clause is freely available for use by underwriters looking to provide professional indemnity insurance for building cladding remediation work. The Building Safety Fund was introduced in order to cover the cost of such refurbishment work on high rise residential blocks over 18m.

Levelling up Secretary Greg Clarke said: “Our priority is making sure people’s homes are safe and that safety standards are high.

“Alongside our tough new regulatory regime, this new clause that has been developed with my department will help us do just that.

“We welcome the work of the IUA and the underwriters who are taking a proportionate approach to fire safety cover and I thank insurers in advance for using it.”

Chris Jones, IUA director of legal and market services, said: “Our new model clause sets out a number of key risk management processes that will ensure work being carried out is conducted within recognised industry standards. This will help improve accountability for safety measures and foster an investment in quality construction.

“The market for construction professional indemnity insurance has been difficult in recent years, reflecting concerns about the potential for historic liabilities to develop into future claims following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Each new risk must continue to be assessed on a risk-by-risk basis, of course, but the clause should provide underwriters with greater confidence to offer effective insurance solutions for future work.

Beazley enters distribution partnership with Paragon for Weather Guard

Date announced: 1 September

Deal value: Undisclosed

Beazley has launched a new, efficient and effective online portal solution for its Weather Guard product.

The online portal, created in partnership with Paragon, will provide faster service, with no change to the quality of cover, limits or specific weather perils. Weather Guard will continue to be written on Beazley’s admitted paper and Weather Guard claims will still be handled by the claims team.

Andrew Duxbury, head of contingency at Beazley said: “Weather Guard is a market leading weather insurance product, leveraging Beazley’s comprehensive historical weather data and experience going back nearly 40 years and backed with outstanding underwriting expertise; it offers excellent protection against extreme weather events to businesses across the US.

“The new online portal will ensure that more brokers are able to easily access Weather Guard using high-quality, cutting-edge technology for speedy, frictionless turnaround times. I’m looking forward to working with Paragon as we continue to build Weather Guard together.”

Christian Phillips, president of contingency practices of Paragon, adds: “Weather Guard, a product I’ve underwritten for nine years, plays an important role in protecting North American businesses from weather related losses and Paragon is excited to be helping bring it to an ever-wider audience, via state-of-the-art digital distribution tools.”

CII supports launch of T Levels

Date announced: 1 September

Deal value: Undisclosed

The Chartered Insurance Institute has teamed up with Pearson to support the launch of T Levels, a new route into a career in the insurance and personal finance profession.

The 125-year-old professional body is part of the panel that validate content for the two-year Finance T Level courses, which follow-on from GCSEs and are equivalent to three A levels.

The CII has endorsed the Insurance T Level, which will be offered to college students by education company Pearson, the largest awarding organisation in the UK.

Originally launched in September 2020, T Levels have been developed in collaboration with employers and businesses so that the content meets the needs of the insurance and financial services professions and prepares students for work, further training, or study.

And finally:

• Ariel Re, a specialty reinsurance company with offices in Bermuda, London and Hong Kong, claims to have become the first non-ILS Investment Manager to become a Signatory of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments. Ariel Re operates through Lloyd’s, and once approved, the new Ariel Re Managing Agency will be a regulated entity governed by the Lloyd’s Market Oversight Framework.

• Markerstudy has welcomed Clare Lunn to the group in the role of head of fraud, cementing its commitment to tackling fraud within the industry. Lunn, who has chaired the General Insurance Fraud Committee for more than three years, will be responsible for leading and developing Markerstudy’s fraud prevention strategy, reporting to COO Gary Hueting.

• iprism has added its tradesman, contractors and professionals product to the Acturis trading platform. The move broadens the MGA’s distribution channels, allowing more brokers to access iprism’s core product, backed by ‘A’ rated insurers, via the software house platform.

• Allianz Holdings welcomed 100 students from across the UK to its virtual work experience programme this Summer. The week long programme included senior leaders from Allianz giving presentations on a range of areas across the commercial and personal businesses.