Airmic calls for new relationship between insurance buyers and sellers

Airmic, the UK-based association of risk management professionals, has called for insurers and brokers to rethink the way they interact with their customers.

Specifically, insurers and brokers should move away from the “tripartite relationship” that exists between them and insurance buyers, to improve satisfaction levels for buyers, said Julia Graham, deputy chief executive and technical director at Airmic.

Insurers and brokers need to build a stronger culture of rapport with their customers, and create a “roundtable relationship” that draws in a broader range of perspectives, said Graham.

In particular, renewal teams should have greater diversity in terms of background and skills, rather than just being the team that strikes the deal with the client, according to a report based on the latest  Airmic Pulse Survey, titled The Harsh Market – With a Focus on Claims.

The report found that risk professionals are increasing their use of captive insurance solutions in response to declining satisfaction when buying insurance, particularly because of increasing rates and declining capacity and coverage in the market.

The survey found that 23.4 percent of respondents that did not already have a captive are now considering forming one. In Airmic’s previous Pulse Survey in Q3 2020 the figure was 20.3 percent.

An increased number of respondents indicated they had seen reduced capacity (88 percent), increases in cover exclusions (84 percent), and poor and late communication (72 percent) from insurance partners, compared to Q3 2020 (85 percent, 67 percent and 67 percent, respectively). Some insurers have withdrawn from certain lines of insurance altogether, respondents noted.

The survey also revealed that 84 percent of respondents were satisfied with their insurer’s performance, up from 81.7 percent in Q3 2020. For brokers the figure was 98 percent, up from 90 percent in Q3 2020.

Graham said: “We urge underwriters and brokers to include colleagues from their claims teams and loss adjusters more actively in the renewal and account management processes.”

The survey was conducted in January 2021 and canvassed members of the Airmic Leadership Group of risk professionals and insurance buyers. It ran over two weeks between January 7-22, asking 17 questions.