Commercial
Biba 2025 Countdown: QBE’s Stacey Flannery
With only one month to go until the Biba 2025 conference, Stacey Flannery, head of trading (Manchester) at QBE, kicks off Insurance Age’s countdown series.
Brown & Brown buys SME broker
Brown & Brown (Europe) has bought Irvine Commercial Insurance Brokers in its third deal of the year.
Partners& creates nine leadership roles
Partners& has restructured its general insurance business creating nine new managing partners roles across the UK.
RSA confirms rebrand to Intact
RSA will rebrand and change its trading name to Intact Insurance by the end of 2025.
Ripe completes GJW Direct buy
Ripe has bought boat insurance specialist GJW Direct from Munich Re Specialty.
Blog: Measure twice, cut once – how suitable is online distribution for D&O risks?
Online portals are a key element of streamlining insurance distribution, but they can present challenges as well as opportunities in affording clients effective D&O cover, asserts Craig Watson, underwriter, UK regional market, Kayzen Specialty.
News analysis: To what extent have brokers bought into Flood Re’s Build Back Better scheme?
Flood specialists warn of a persistent knowledge gap among general brokers, but highlight that more providers need to make the Build Back Better scheme available. Ida Axling reports.
Aviva reports 18% increase in ghost broking frauds in 2024
Aviva detected an 18% increase in ghost-brokered policies and linked an additional 8,600 cases to open investigations into known ghost broking cases in 2024.
MGA expands appetite for contractors to include builders, plant and skip hirers
Speciality insurance managing general agent Fiducia has expanded its risk appetite for combined liabilities insurance to include a range of new broker contractor clients.
Top 100 UK Broker Bartlett posts growth in 2024
Leeds-headquartered Bartlett Group grew turnover by 7.8% in the year ending 30 September 2024, building on expansion the year before.
Ardonagh Advisory buys ALP Holdings in Liverpool
Ardonagh Advisory has bought ALP Holdings, including its wholly owned subsidiary, Letton Percival.
Two specialty MGAs set to merge
Managing general agents Nirvana and Pulse have announced plans to merge their businesses.
PwC highlights pressure on motor, home and specialty insurance from Trump’s tariffs
PwC has warned of higher claims costs, particularly in motor and home, leading to pressure on premium rates due to the US placing new tariffs on its global trading partners.
Ardonagh Advisory strikes deal with new premium finance partner
Premium finance provider PremFina has announced a partnership with Ardonagh Advisory.
News analysis: What does Aviva’s commission flex move mean for brokers and their customers?
In February, Aviva told brokers using e-trading platforms Fast Trade and Acturis E-Trade that they could set their own commission rates within set parameters of between 0% and 35%. Saxon East explores what this move means for brokers, their customers and…
MGA inks five-year capacity deal with Allianz Commercial
Managing general Agent Rokstone, part of the Aventum Group, has entered a five-year capacity arrangement with Allianz Commercial.
CFC launches cyber “game-changer” for brokers
The specialist insurance provider CFC has launched a new cyber product aimed at all businesses with revenues up to £250m.
Meet the MGA: MX Underwriting
Ian Cook, managing director at MX Underwriting, explains why he believes MGAs are not suffering a capacity crunch, and outlines plans to write in excess of £200m GWP in 2025 and add to MX’s product range and capability.
Brokerbility adds Cass-Stephens Insurances as member
Gloucester-based Cass-Stephens Insurances has joined Brokerbility, switching across from Bravo Networks.
Law firm warns brokers clock is ticking for Covid-19 BI claims
Fenchurch Law has warned brokers to make sure clients file any Covid-19 business interruption claims now, before they are time-barred.
Brunel Insurance Brokers in North Devon broker deal
Brunel Insurance Brokers has snapped up the renewal rights of John Walker Insurance.
Meet the MGA: Optio Underwriting
With an aim to be the most admired global specialty MGA, Optio Underwriting group CEO Deepak Soni outlines how it attracts top talent, plans to mix organic growth with M&A and discusses the importance of having a PE backer that understands the subtle…
Mitsui Sumitomo to buy 15% stake in W.R. Berkley
Japanese insurer Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance has signed up to buy 15% of the shares in New York Stock Exchange listed W.R. Berkley Corporation.
Iprism grows again with a 21% boost in 2024
Managing general agent Iprism Underwriting Agency grew 21% in the year to 30 June 2024, building on the 16% achieved the year before, and is eyeing up further expansion in 2025.