This Week in Post: BST, the baby and Brexit

On Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Theresa May invoked Article 50, triggering the breakup negotiations with the European Union. Fearing its passporting members will lose business, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association is calling for a free trade agreement. Meanwhile, Lloyd’s has confirmed it will be setting up a new European hub in Brussels; it intends to be ready to write business from the Belgian capital for the 1 January 2019 renewal season.

Ireland’s trade body for insurance said lessons needed to be learned from Lloyd’s decision to pass up on Dublin as its European subsidiary. Lloyd’s also announced its underwriting profits had slipped on the back of major claims of £2.1bn last year, mostly from Hurricane Matthew and the Fort McMurray wildfire in Canada.

The other big news is that Justice Secretary Liz Truss launched the much anticipated consultation on the way the discount rate is set. And the Association of British Insurers has welcomed it as an important step forward.

At Post this week, we also published some sparkling analysis on fire claims – the Enterprise Act, coming into force in May, may expose inefficiencies in the way claims are handled – and on climate change, as weather-related claims are becoming more frequent and more costly.

In the blog section, you will find pieces about claims handlers, ransomware attacks, claims farming and customer engagement, and a must-read about the unsavoury sexist remarks still being made at insurance events. In this regard, the industry might want to move its clock forward a century or two.

This weekend, as insurers start implementing the compulsory disclosure of the previous year’s premium alongside a renewal quote, I will try to wear my little one out, perhaps the Moomins at Kew Gardens or the jellyfish at the London Aquarium will help to reset that internal clock.

Enjoy the read and have a good time!

Cecile Brisson, features editor
@PostCecile