8 BROKERS’ MONTHLY
Phoenix Orchestra
subsidence and
leased to confirm I emerged unscathed from my
terrorism risks
P
ashamedly flippant April reference in these
appears to pass
pages to the Phoenix Orchestra (run by the
the flood test and
Insurance Orchestral Society) and its president, Reg
I spoke with head of underwriting and technical
Brown as “Reg Brown and his Band of Renown”.
development Steve Wilcox. “It is vital not only to
(Sometimes you have to breach protocol in the search
underwrite at individual address level, but to look at
for a headline).
local elevation. And that doesn’t just involve the
The concert on 5 May at St John’s, Smith Square,
topography of the land. For instance, the flood risk in
Westminster was dedicated to the life of James
a third floor flat is totally different to that of the
Haswell, the very first Insurance Ombudsman and a
properties below. While no system can guarantee to be
former chairman of the orchestra. And very enjoyable
100%, what we have now is a lot more accurate than
it was too.
before.”
The tool has been purpose built to AXA’s
Getting together
specifications by Mapflow and allows underwriters to
he press release announcing the joint welcome
accurately assess flood, subsidence and terrorism
T
by BIBA, LIIBA, IIB and the ABI of the April
risks for individual buildings – and thus pricing and
FSA confirmation of ‘Industry Guidance’
risk selection capability.
status arrived just too late for our last issue, but the
“Customers benefit from reduced quotation
occasion cannot be passed without comment. It’s
times and fewer referrals,” adds Mr Wilcox. “The
probably not the first time such a consensus among
current assessment of flood and subsidence by
the associations has taken place in this physical form,
postcode areas often leads to properties being
but it certainly contrasts with some of the ‘headless
declined incorrectly or risks being assessed wrongly
chicken’ occasions of the past.
as postcode areas can be very large. This technology
As Barbara Bradshaw, IIB chief executive summed
provides our underwriters with the geographical
up. “The trade bodies have shown that they are
intelligence needed to understand flood, subsidence
willing and able to co-operate on important issues
and terrorism risks and obtain better value from our
such as this.”
reinsurance purchases. The tool is available now to
all our underwriters and we are developing a version
AXA launch new flood tool
that will be available to brokers. Later we can easily
here’s a plea (or is it a rant?) in this month’s
develop the tool to assess a wider pool of risks, such
T
leader editorial (page 1) asking certain
as theft.”
insurers to replace the antiquated flood rating
systems they seem content to carry on using long after
No name games at Fortis
the technology has moved on. (They know who they
he costs of the ‘soon-to-be’ change of name
are!). Having paid good money for these apparently
accurate systems some years T
taking place as we speak at one of our larger
insurers apparently sparked a recent spat at
ago, there is a marked
their shareholders’ meeting. I’m told there were no
reluctance in a few quarters
such shenanigans when recent global events placed
to replace these digitised
the inheritors of Bishopsgate Insurance and Northern
tools that can’t even get
Star in the headlines thanks to the banking upheaval
down to individual postcode
affecting the Fortis Group.
level - let alone discriminate Fortis (Insurance UK) were saddled with that
among individual properties. cross to bear, but the position has been resolved with
It is, of course, the Fortis Holding Company, which is now purely an
tempting to name and shame, insurance company, separating its insurance activities
but that wouldn’t be fair. from its banking operations. Not that it appears to
The known culprits have at have affected the UK much; their strong service
Steve Wilcox
least been open about this reputation was further underlined by the recent
failing in their underwriting process. Behind them Institute of Insurance Brokers’ survey.
lurk others who prefer to remain silent on the issue. Barry Smith, CEO Fortis UK assures me that this
So if we can’t name names, we can at least help change is not going to cost £80m, but wouldn’t be
promote the good guys in this saga. AXA’s new geo- drawn as to whether the revival of the Bishopsgate
coding underwriting tool for the assessment of flood, name featured in any of the options! IBM
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