Regional review: Scotland

Ms Dillett says: "Business is really hard at the moment, it's a constant challenge." She explains that the dangerous practice of 'desk top reviews' has increased lately. This involves brokers quoting for new business 'blind' where they don't request a reporting mandate so as not to alert the holding broker that their business is being attacked, and provide a quote without looking at the claims experience of the client.

"We are definitely seeing more of this as new business is hard to find and everyone is looking," she adds. She also says that instances of brokers 'net rating', removing their commission to gain competitive advantage, are also increasing.

This all paints a rather frantic, desperate picture but Ms Dillett is comfortable that business can still be secured on service rather than price but she is concerned that the Scottish market doesn't appear to have bottomed out yet.

"There is no sign of the market hardening," she says. "We can still get insurers to reduce their premiums but it would be good if the market could finally bottom out. As a profession, brokers undervalue themselves as we always seem to sell on price - we are our own worst enemy."

In terms of insurers, she says that the big operators don't seem to understand that their model doesn't work everywhere: "Insurers think that if it works in England it will work in Scotland and vice versa." And as far as she is concerned, some of the smaller operators are making great inroads in the local market where some of the established players, which have cut back their presence in Scotland, are losing out.

But the new entrants shouldn't get too smug.

"For Glasgow, it's the people that matter - there is not much difference between the insurers."