Broker deals activity has fired up again this week, crash-for-cash continues and there could be a solution to the conflict between landlord and tenant on pet ownership. Let’s get into it.
ICYMI: DEALS
Aston Lark signed off on two deals this week, one to acquire a policy book from The Health Insurance Company down in Bournemouth and Abbey Murphy in Ireland. It’s interesting that Aston Lark has made about six acquisitions in Ireland this year when the conventional wisdom in the insurance sector is that Ireland is a challenging marketplace. Maybe some regulatory changes are on the horizon there.
START: CRASH-FOR-CASH CONTINUES
You might think that the rapid spread of dashcams and people mounting their phones on the dashboard would deter your organised crash-happy criminal gangs. But the IFB press release this week highlighted that this is still a small industry from some. This incident took place on a motorway and could have resulted in serious injuries.
The sentences for this £50K fraud attempt? From just 9 months to 20 months each. Ah, now we can see why crash-for-cash will continue to be a problem.
RUN: GREAT IDEAS ARE BORN FROM EXPERIENCE
PetsScore is one of those insurance solutions that was born of its founder’s experience. Natasha Homer-Earley wanted to rent somewhere and keep her pet, but guess what? Many landlords stuck to that `Sorry no pets’ rule.
So PetsScore aims to resolve the issue by getting both tenant and landlord together on pet ownership. Plus, the timing is right as lockdowns are likely to return this winter and working from home is definitely here to stay. The fact is, so many insurtech ideas are really just solving an age-old market problem and there are still lots of opportunities for brokers and MGAs if you look closely enough.
GROW: COMMERCIAL SECTOR IS RIPE FOR TECH DISRUPTION
As the exodus from London continues (just look at the house prices rocketing in agreeable rural locations) and many Retail units look set to be converted to social housing, or simply demolished, the time is right to re-think Commercial cover. When you think about it, people are a far bigger risk than localised flooding every ten years or so.
One solution is to monitor air quality in buildings. You know roughly how many people are in the building, you can detect smokers hanging around the rear access point, and you can back that up with heat, noise, or motion sensors, to understand more about how a building is being used 24/7. This week IE received news from Actility, who have air quality sensors available as a kit. It can even help public sector buildings guard against Covid by tracking the CO2 emissions in different rooms.
All this tech is about managing risk and it gives insurers and brokers a reason to communicate with the policyholder in a positive way, be much more `on their side.’ Good thinking, we say.
Until next week, stay sharp.
