Resilience and strong partnerships with brokers key to navigating Covid recovery

Welcome back, BIBA!

After a year off due to the pandemic, it’s a welcome return for the largest insurance broker event in the calendar.

We at Allianz are looking forward to greeting brokers to our stand over the course of the event. While we would love to be chatting with you face to face in Manchester, as we have done in recent years, we’re excited to be part of this new format, where calls and social events are still happening over video-conference, adhering to social distancing protocols.

We hope next year brings us closer together, closer to the fantastic event we are used to. But in the meantime, we’re determined to make the best of the great digital solutions we have available, to try some different things.

At Allianz, we have a lot to talk about this week, from our enhanced broker proposition ‘Strong partners for what’s ahead', to what we expect life in the industry will be like on the other side of the pandemic.

The past 15 months have been a huge challenge for everyone involved in insurance. The market has been very dynamic for years now, with external factors pulling it in all different directions. And now with the pandemic and the uncertain effects of Brexit acting as a catalyst for those dynamic changes, the industry’s effort to preserve itself and adapt to the short term while simultaneously preparing for the long-term has been nothing short of admirable.

However, there are signs of the industry turning a corner. All lines are starting to see some rates strengthening and prices are starting to increase again, except for the motor business where Covid impacts on frequency have temporarily funded the continued inflation in car parts and bodily injury claims. At Allianz, we have seen the largest effect of this hardening market on property, but really, this was overdue and likely to continue for some time in order to re-establish a sustainable base which will provide consistency for customers.

Allianz is always looking for opportunities for growth, even in the most difficult of times, and we believe this in turn opens up opportunities for our broker partners as the economy recovers, changes and reshapes.

One concern with the current economic dynamic which we think brokers must be proactive and prepared for is underinsurance. Adjustments made for Covid19 may need reversing in order to reflect a return to normal or a change to customers business models This may be hard when customers are under financial pressure and we have a rising market but we must ensure customers are adequately covered, even if this means that their premium increases as would be a false economy for our customers. Itis therefore essential that we effectively sell the value that brokers and insurers in combination create both before, during and after any claim. If we can help you on this please speak to our teams.

We have an important role as an industry as the UK navigates its recovery from the last 18 months of change. I Allianz will be looking to work with our brokers over the coming months to make sure that we are there for the end customer, with an advice-led approach, giving the best value we possibly can. I know that brokers will be anxious to play their role and they can be assured that we are ready to partner with them and support them as they take the opportunities available.