Post magazine – 22/29 May 2014

In this issue, competitors are preparing to take advantage of “instability” at Broker Network by poaching members amid internal upheaval and plummeting financial performance at the Towergate-owned business.

While outgoing Broker Network chief executive Gary Duggan and Towergate group CEO Mark Hodges have been quick to attribute the sliding financial results – a 42% reduction in operating earnings and a 22% drop in income to £14.5m – to changes in partner‑insurer relationships and a lag effect associated with the restructure of the division last September, rival network bosses are hoping to capitalise on potential membership unrest.

LV Broker's managing director Phil Bunker is in the C-Suite, claiming that the broker channel is coping comparatively well in the tricky personal lines marketplace; the British Insurance Law Association's David Hertzell talks about the Law Commission's second project to reform insurance law, which will deal with the obligations on business policyholders to provide information to insurers before buying insurance; and Jennifer Thomson, associate at Simpson and Marwick, reports from North of the Border about who was to blame when a man was hit by a bus.

Rachael Adams meets Ageas retail and distribution chief executive Mark Cliff. He tells her how he plans to use growth, simplification and people power to propel the firm into the top three UK personal lines intermediaries. He also talks about his unusual route into insurance, and why at the outset a career in HR beckoned.

The countdown to the 20th British Insurance Awards continues with a Q&A with marketing moguls from some of the industry big hitters, who reflect on 20 years of the BIAs.

Finally we delve into the world of fidelity insurance, asking why despite theft and fraud by employees being the second-biggest reason for store loss in the UK, many firms prefer to sweep such incidents under the rug. We look into how can companies protect themselves better.

Enjoy the read!