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Times of political uncertainty can impact any industry, but especially the financial markets including insurance.
Currently, the UK is waiting to see if the next Prime Minister will be Jeremy Hunt or Boris Johnson, and then the new leader will need to try and negotiate an increasingly difficult Brexit.
This comes after former Brexit chief Philip Rycroft told the BBC that a no deal Brexit was “fraught with risk.”
All this may seem concerning, but Tom Leonard (pictured), Allianz’s new London regional manager for the broker markets, believes that it’s an incredible opportunity for brokers.
“I think you’ve got an enormous amount of change both politically with things like Brexit, then you’ve got things like macroeconomic change, and you’ve got challenges in the UK from a whole number of different factors like changes to regulation and social changes,” Leonard said.
“However, I think the main thing is that now more than ever customers and businesses need insurance brokers. This is a fantastic time for brokers to really bring the best of themselves into the insurance market.”
Because of the uncertainty, Leonard explained, businesses are in need of help when looking at their insurance needs. This is where brokers can really show their worth.
“I think businesses are uncertain now more than ever and I think the role the broker plays there is to guide their customers through that journey,” Leonard said.
“For us as insurer partners, the thing that we talk about is ensuring that the value is there - really using the knowledge that we have as an insurance industry and bringing that to bear with customers.”
The other key factor, he believes, is for both insurers and brokers to make sure that what they are offering to the client is suitable for their individual needs.
“Ultimately ensuring that you’ve got a proposition for customers that delivers what they need from their insurance is important,” he said. “I think sometimes that value piece can be lost, and there’s a danger of almost forgetting the customer. For us, the customer is at the heart of everything we do.
“I think if brokers remember that… that enables very strong working relationships. Bring everything back to your customers.”
Leonard admits that there have been challenges in the market for a couple of years, but that it’s the relationships between brokers and insurers that keeps everything going.
“Now more than ever those relationships we have between brokers and insurers are important,” he said.
“Those relationships enable two things - they enable the longstanding security of the industry and ensure we deliver great outcomes for our customers.”
Despite the uncertainty in the wider political context, Leonard is positive about the outlook for brokers in the UK now and into the future.
“From my perspective the broker market in the UK is as strong as ever,” he said.
