The insurance industry is often described as a relationship business. At BIBA 2026, three conversations suggested that growing risk complexity, rising client expectations and mounting compliance demands are making those relationships even more valuable.
As catastrophe losses become more frequent, claims expectations continue to rise and regulation absorbs growing amounts of broker time, insurers and intermediaries face a common challenge: maintaining meaningful client relationships in an increasingly complex environment.
The pressures are arriving from different directions, but they point to the same question. Do brokers and insurers still have enough time to deliver the service that modern clients increasingly expect?
Daphne Naudy, senior loss adjuster and director of development P&C for UK/Europe at Charles Taylor, believes natural catastrophe losses remain the defining challenge for property insurers across Europe.
"It's not only the size, but also the frequency. The intensity is increasing and it will not stop because of global warming," she said.
Flooding, wildfires and other natural catastrophe events are becoming more common across Europe and, in Naudy's view, increasingly difficult to ignore. Political violence is also emerging as a growing concern, particularly because its severity can be difficult to anticipate before events unfold.
But for Naudy, the challenge extends beyond funding losses. As catastrophes become more frequent, insurers are increasingly expected to help clients navigate recovery itself.
"It's not only about money. It's also about communication, making sure people feel safe, helping businesses continue operating and finding solutions to support them," she said.
That expectation is changing how insurers approach claims. Rather than simply restoring damaged properties to their previous condition, some are increasingly focused on rebuilding resilience.
"It's not just about paying a claim and that's it," Naudy said. "It's about being part of the process to make sure that when a property is rebuilt, it is resilient and fit for the future."
Some insurers, she added, would rather pay more for a better building than simply reinstate what was there before.
The same shift is visible in claims. Debbie Hayward, who joined Brit in 2020 to establish its private client claims proposition, said customer expectations have been transformed by technology and instant communication.
"We have very much seen expectations being shaped by on-demand experiences in other sectors,” she said.
The ability to bring together clients, brokers and loss adjusters through virtual meetings has accelerated communication throughout the claims process. Yet Hayward argues that faster communication has not reduced the importance of human relationships and trust.
For Hayward, the industry's challenge is ensuring technology improves the customer experience rather than simply accelerating processes.
"I think sometimes in the industry's enthusiasm to come up with new tech, new ideas, are we giving the customer what they actually want?" she said. "It's always remembering it's about the customer, not about what we can do for them, but how we can help them."
That distinction matters because claims is increasingly where insurers demonstrate their value.
"Years ago, claims was always seen as a back-office function," Hayward said. "Now it's appreciated and understood as a customer-facing key function." Or, as she puts it, a "chance to shine".
If relationships are becoming more important, Simon Bailey, associate VP of business development at Xceedance believes brokers face a growing obstacle to delivering them.
"The insurance industry in a broking context is so, so driven by compliance and regulation," he said.
The issue is not whether regulation is necessary. Bailey is clear that much of the activity is required. The challenge is the amount of time it consumes.
"Brokers probably need the extra time to actually have contact with their clients," he said.
His concern is that brokers increasingly find themselves speaking to clients at renewal, at claims or when arranging new business, but not consistently throughout the year. The administrative burden of compliance, sanctions checks and policy reviews can leave less time for the conversations that identify emerging risks, close coverage gaps and strengthen client relationships.
These pressures are not independent of one another. The more complex risks become, the more valuable advice becomes. The higher claims expectations rise, the more important communication and trust become. Yet operational and regulatory demands continue to compete for the time needed to deliver both.
The encouraging sign is that insurers appear increasingly willing to play a broader role in helping clients recover from loss and build greater resilience. But that evolution depends on relationships, and relationships depend on time.
The challenge facing the industry is not whether risk is becoming more complex or whether customer expectations are increasing. It is whether brokers and insurers are being given enough time to respond.
