16 March 2020 • 3 min read

MD’s Note: Pitching to win in a hard insurance market

I am pleased to welcome you to the First Edition of our Quarterly Newsletter – iNews. We hope this newsletter will bring you value, as we keep you informed on all that is happening at iTOO and up to date with the market trends. The year 2019 was notably a volatile and...

iTOO

iTOO

I am pleased to welcome you to the First Edition of our Quarterly Newsletter – iNews.

We hope this newsletter will bring you value, as we keep you informed on all that is happening at iTOO and up to date with the market trends.

The year 2019 was notably a volatile and dynamic year across many aspects of the insurance industry, but that was nothing compared to the start of 2020. Despite these times of uncertainty, we continue to adapt and innovate our expert offering to ensure solutions that are relevant to our brokers and policy holders.

The first quarter of the year saw us research the impact of a hard insurance market with brokers and reinsurers and I’m excited to share with you some of my views on iTOO’s approach to a harder insurance market.

Many brokers feel that the current market is a bit of a gamble – “You just don’t know what to expect at the renewal of every large account” said several brokers. Some insurers are reacting with strong premium or deductible increases, reduced capacity, exclusions or even coming off risk and often at the last-minute leaving brokers scrambling for alternatives.

Global insurers and reinsurers have been feeling the pressure of social inflation in casualty markets around the world – this means that there is a combination of increased complexity in global risks, broader casualty wordings and social pressure on increasingly plaintiff friendly legal systems all acting in a perfect storm that is drastically increasing casualty losses.

Founder of Catlin Group, Stephen Catlin, says that global casualty reserves are deficient by as much as $200 billion. This is a frightening statistic that will have a major impact on casualty markets around the world particularly considering the views that global casualty premiums are on average 50% of what they were 10 years ago and compounded by the long tail nature of casualty claims.

In the middle of this tension between brokers finding the best deal for their clients and the forces of global underwriting cycles, brokers and underwriters alike seem to have forgotten some of the fundamentals of working together in strong relationship that leads to sustainable solutions for both and most of all the client.

This thinking has resulted in iTOO adopting a strategic theme of Expert Growth.

iTOO Chief Underwriting Officer, Warwick Goldie explains the term EXPERT best: “If there is one thing that iTOO wants to be famous for in the minds of our brokers, it is that we have deep underwriting expertise in all our lines of business,” he says. “We work on this every day and try to understand the changing needs of our clients and their industries. Using our expertise, we understand when we need to increase premiums or reduce capacity. We see this as a solution orientated approach where we apply our minds to find solutions rather than a “take it or leave it” approach and if we absolutely have to say no, we will do it in a way that the broker understands.”

Although the commercial crime market is currently hard and we are seeing the hardening of the professional indemnity, financial Lines and general liability markets in South Africa, this is not all doom and gloom. iTOO is not slowing down, thanks to the support of our brokers and we will continue to work closely with brokers to respond to the changes in the market.

To explore more on the fundamentals of pitching and winning business where price is not the only determining factor, iTOO recently hosted team members and brokers for a “Pitch to Win” Masterclass with a world expert on sales and negotiating, Justin Cohen.

Read our latest blog for a summary of the 6 steps to deliver a winning pitch.

 

Managing Director,
Justin Naylor