The CEO of newly-launched brand
The Insurance Emporium – an offshoot of long-established E&L Insurance – has said that insurers must be agile in the modern business landscape as consumer preferences continue to shift.
“There is a lot going on in insurance,” Francis Martin told Insurance Business, explaining that business trends have changed significantly during his time in the industry. “I’ve been in this game for quite a long time, working for E&L for over 25 years, and I remember a time when the business was all about display advertising and coupons, then it went to telephones with the likes of Direct Line, and now it’s all digital and online, and of course its increasingly going across to mobile and apps,” Martin said.
With a backdrop of change, and with insurtechs hot on incumbents’ tails, insurers must be able to adapt – and fast.
“I think insurers have to be nimble, and we have to be able to move quickly, and that’s something that we [The Insurance Emporium] certainly try to do, to be able to react quickly to any market moves and any technological advancements,” the CEO explained.
Despite the challenges, the fledging brand is off to a great start.
“2017 is shaping up to be a solid year,” Martin said, adding that following a soft launch in January, then the full launch this month, the ‘one stop insurance shop’ is doing “extremely well.”
While many insurers have been affected by the change to the Ogden rate, the Emporium’s focus on niche areas such as equine, weddings, and student insurance, mean it has suffered less of a hit.
“We get affected somewhat off the back of equestrian accidents and dog bites… but it’s not at the level you’d get as a motor insurer. It’s something we can factor into our calculations,” Martin commented.
While admitting that political events such as Brexit and the recent General Election have the potential to impact the wider economy, Martin said that the insurer is not “unduly concerned,” thanks to the size of its operation and its focus on UK coverage.
However, he added: “With things like artificial intelligence and so forth, there’s a lot to look out for, and a lot that could potentially impact business.”
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