Post magazine – 6 November 2014

In this issue, our State of the Broking Nation series continues with a look at networks and consolidation.

As the latest wave of mergers and acquisitions strips out several big names from the middle tranche of broking firms, we asked 20 brokers for their views on how this is affecting the wider market and whether there is much more consolidation to come. Also, the value and the role of networks and the question of who benefits most from their involvement in the distribution chain are among the themes discussed this week.

In the news, fraud experts have uncovered “significant” links between insurance fraudsters and terrorist groups, but wider publicity of the issue by the industry is being prevented amid police concerns; industry players have backed the Road Safety Foundation’s proposal to waive insurance premium tax for young drivers with telematics policies – but have cast doubt on the political appetite for such a move; the Prudential Regulation Authority’s “broad” questionnaire seeking insurer responses on exposure to climate change risk has been welcomed by the industry; and the Association of British Insurers claims its motor rate tracker is “the right one” for calculating average payments after reporting a significantly cheaper average quarter-three policy than Towers Watson and The AA.

Aviva’s Ian Foy is in the C-Suite, arguing that the industry must stress to firms the importance of business interruption cover.

Francesca Nyman meets Axa managing director for commercial intermediary Jon Walker. He reveals that a change programme and an e-trading review have ensured his first few months in the job have been ‘incredibly busy’.

Our In Series features make a comeback, looking at personal injury. Although recent reforms have made a difference to problems plaguing the PI sector, insurers say they have not gone far enough. We look at what more can be done.

Fraught with danger, the mining industry has seen many safety improvements following high-profile disasters in recent years. We investigate how this has impacted those insuring the sector. And finally, the long-awaited report by Professor Chris Elliott into the “integrity and assurance of food supply networks” was published on 4 September. We ask what the ‘eight pillars of food integrity’ could mean for the insurance industry.

Enjoy the read!