Markel eyes digital innovation in London Market

Digital innovation can offer significant opportunities to the London insurance market, particularly for large, complex commercial insurance buyers, Dan Martin, managing director of distribution strategies and business development at Markel, has told AIRMIC Today.

Martin was discussing how increasing digital and efficient placement models could reshape the market. He pointed out that the London market’s prevailing expense ratio, traditionally around 37-38%, presents room for improvement. 

“We think there's a great opportunity to leverage the power of the sort of facilitation that sits in the market, but with these new structured data, placing models, quote, bind and post-bind models that are kind of coming to the fore,” Martin said.

He also explained Markel’s approach to underwriting, which integrates digital as a foundational layer rather than a separate channel. 

“Our focus at Markel is, wherever we can, to use digital as a layer through which we underwrite business,” he said. This method reduces duplication of data entry and enhances connectivity with brokers through APIs, thereby cutting costs and driving efficiencies. The ultimate benefit? “Clients have greater certainty of outcome derived more quickly, more efficiently, possibly at cheaper premiums with broader coverage.”

“We use digital as a layer through which we underwrite business. Clients have greater certainty of outcome, more quickly, possibly cheaper with broader coverage.” 

Markel has also been innovating with brokers on quota shares and divisional-specific cross-class facilities that enable automatic follow capacity once a lead is triggered. “This gives the broker the ability to trigger a lead and straight in, they can start to drive some follow capacity,” Martin explained. This structure has been met with “super positive” reactions from brokers, who are under pressure to improve operational efficiency, particularly given their high staffing costs.

Addressing London’s historical reluctance towards technology, Martin observed that market conditions have shifted. “In a rising market, technology as a solution remains effective, but it just isn’t necessarily needed to make the economics work. But in a market that is challenged for relevance, versus global markets, the Lloyd’s market needs to deploy its ecosystem of talent and innovation more cleverly.”

He further highlighted inefficiencies in the current system, with numerous market participants rekeying the same data repeatedly, leading to errors and wasted resources. “Digital is just a layer through which everything should pass,” he stated.

Martin also described how Markel’s data-driven approach provides brokers with detailed insights on portfolio composition, enabling sustainable facility management. For example, in marine insurance, different classes such as hull, cargo and liability all have varying performance ratios. “We play it back to you every week... If we think it’s getting the wrong shape, we can ask you to think about that, because it’s your benefit, for your clients’ benefit to build this sustainably over the next couple of years.”

With this practical, data-centric strategy, Markel aims to reduce costs, increase certainty and enhance coverage — ultimately reinforcing London’s relevance in a competitive global insurance landscape.

For more news from AIRMIC Today, click here.

Did you get value from this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.