Ecclesiastical claims no need for broker concern over results

Steve Wood, UK managing director, described the insurer’s half year performance, which saw a group underwriting loss of £14.4m and a 6% deterioration in UK combined operating ratio (COR), as “reasonable results in difficult market conditions”.

He added: “There’s no need for brokers to be concerned about [the COR] at all, we’re still strongly capitalised, our solvency is very secure. We’re better capitalised than most insurers in the UK market.”

He stated that the UK COR of 100.2% (H1 2011: 94.4%