Insurance Covered

Welcome to Insurance Covered! The podcast that looks at the inner workings of the insurance industry with the help of expert guests. This episode we are joined by Dania Rifaat, Speciality Claims Manager at Hiscox, and we will be looking at cyber insurance.Dania starts by explaining what cyber insurance is intended to cover. She explains it is used to cover businesses and individuals from their exposure to cyber incidents and data incidents, like data or ransomware attacks. Dania goes on to give the following example: "you come into work and find that all of your systems have been encrypted by cybercriminals and you can't access any of your data and, and you've received a ransom demand saying that unless you pay X you're going to lose all that data permanently". This is the kind of attack businesses ae seeing more frequently so are therefore keen to have an insurance policy covering the loss of crucial data.Other things that cyber policies are there to cover are sophisticated scams like phishing attempts, were hackers will send an email purporting to be from kind of a trusted organisation and they are basically phishing for credentials because they want you to give them your username and password that they will use to steal valuable data.Dania goes on to explain speed is essential when you have suffered a cyber breach. "Cyber insurance comes into its own because, you have regulatory obligations that kick in, you've got 72 hours to notify the ICO when you become aware of the breach, so if you picture the scenario where you realise something has gone wrong, you know, where do you start if you don't have access to experts." A key part of cyber policies is having access to experts to help quickly regain control and limit the damage of cyber breaches. Dania explains that with Hiscox we have a 24/7 hotline that you can call in the event of an incident, that will take you through to our cyber forensics experts and we will very quickly pull a team together which will be there to help guide the insured.We finish off by looking at the impact lockdown and the pandemic has had on cyber claims. Dania explains that they saw claims volumes in cyber go up by about 40% during the first six months of lockdown and more claims with a Covid focus. Criminals have been fast to think about ways that they can exploit things like HMRC emails about furlough, trying to get information from people phishing in that way. Criminals are finding ways to exploit vulnerabilities that arise from the majority of people working from home.We hope you enjoy the podcast! If you did, please subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Insurance Covered! The podcast that looks at the inner workings of the insurance industry with the help of expert guests. Our guest this week is Paul Miller, Senior Consultant at HFG Insurance Recruitment, and our topic for discussion will be recruitment in the insurance industry.We start by discussing Paul's career and how he became involved with HFG, a specialist recruitment agency for the insurance industry. Paul explains that the appeal of the insurance industry was the people and culture. "The openness of the insurance industry was a perfect fit". Paul goes on to explain what HFG do. He explains that they specialise solely within the insurance industry, covering general insurance, life insurance, Lloyd's market, and also up and coming technology companies and consultancy firms as well.Paul goes on to say that the insurance industry has something for everyone, it's so broad and far reaching, it plays a part in almost every industry across the world. "If you are interested in animals then you can do livestock or equine, if you're interested in art then obviously you can go down that route, if you're interested in technology then there's lots of options in cyber". We then discuss how new graduates can find opportunities in the insurance industry. Paul mentions the traditional route of graduate schemes, that often recruit a year in advance. He offers the alternative option of looking at individual trainee intakes and how you can go about identifying the right opportunities for you. We end our recruitment segment of the podcast discussing how COVID-19 has impacted the recruitment industry. Paul was optimistic that despite the difficult environment there are still opportunities coming up, however he is seeing much bigger competition for jobs.We finish with a discussion on insurance history.  Paul's dedicates his LinkedIn feed to highlighting fun and interesting facts about the insurance market, giving a whole new insight to people outside the industry. He gives the example of how a group of Lloyd's underwriters created the stunt double industry by offering insurance that allowed for risky action sequences to be filmed that may otherwise have been removed from films. We hope you enjoy the podcast! If you did, please subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Insurance Covered! The podcast that looks at the inner workings of the insurance industry with the help of expert guests. For this episode we are doing something a bit different. We are joined by novelist and film director William Boyd and we will be discussing insurance in popular culture, more specifically through Armadillo, a novel William published in 1998 where the main protagonist is none other than an insurance loss adjustor. We start by looking at William's career as a writer and how he got into novel writing. What started out as a hobby turned into more with William finding early success with his writing. At the age of 28 he had his first novel published 'A Good Man in Africa'. It was in 1998 that Armadillo was published, a book where the main character Lorimer Black was an insurance adjustor. William goes on to explain the plot (without spoilers)."It's the story of a young man who because of events in his past has changed his name who kind of disguises himself and he is a brilliant loss adjuster. Whatever job he is doing he changes his accent, his identity, his clothing, in order to make himself more amenable to the person he is adjusting and he is incredibly successful and he works for this small firm with a tyrannical boss and they are very successful but Lorimer's life is in a way a kind of lie, he's created this carapace around himself and slowly but surely in the course of the novel it begins to fall apart and reveal the man beneath."William explains prior to writing the novel he spent time talking to people at Lloyd's and meeting people from the insurance world, listening to their stories and experiences. He also drew inspiration from the experiences of his friends and family who had interactions with the insurance world.  It was these experiences that allowed his imagination to run and create Armadillo. He goes on to say that to his knowledge this is the only novel that takes insurance as its core theme, which is interesting because insurance has so many stories to tell, every claim is a mini story. William explains the meaning behind the title of the book. The Spanish word armadillo means 'little armed man' they saw these strange creatures running around and they look like they are wearing armour, so the name stuck. On the cover of the book there is a picture of a man with a cardboard box over his head as if he is somehow wearing a helmet and is protected but that way it’s a visual analogue of what the book is trying to say and the idea that insurance is a form of armour. We hope you enjoyed this special edition of insurance Covered. Massive thanks to William for taking the time to talk to us. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Insurance Covered! The podcast that looks at the inner workings of the insurance industry with the help of expert guests. This episode we are joined by Julian Enoizi, CEO of Pool Re, and we will be looking at terrorism insurance.Julian starts by explaining how and why Pool Re was set up. In 1993 following a number of terrorist attacks the insurance industry was no longer in a position to offer reinsurance due to the increased frequency of attacks and lack of capital to pay out claims, as a result terrorism insurance policies were largely withdrawn from the market, which then caused knock on effects with regards to bank loans and construction projects. Without the added layer of protection insurance provided, large projects were put off and the economy suffered. As a result, the government intervened in a joint public and private sector scheme to provide loan facilities to cover terrorist attacks, known as 'Pool Re'. The idea is that following a terrorist attack if there was not enough money made from the premiums taken to pay out all the claims, the government would provide a loan to cover the additional costs, ensuring claims were paid and the insurance market was protected. He goes on to explain how Pool Re works commercially. Pool Re is a mutual insurer, a commercial business will buy terrorism insurance from its property insurer. They will then reinsure the terrorism part of the policy into Pool Re and pay a premium for that terrorism reinsurance, which is collected by Pool Re.  Annually they collect £320 million in premiums from 150 different insurers across the United Kingdom. That pot builds up so that when an attack occurs the funds are there to pay out on the policy. In the 27 years they have been operating they have c. £6.5 billion, after paying out on 17 different events. If that pot was exhausted the government would step in and loan the money to pay out on claims. Julian goes on to discuss some of the incidents that have occurred and how terrorism threats are changing, noting cyber attacks as a new form of terrorism.  We then go on to discuss Pool Re solutions, a way for Pool Re to engage with academics and the market to develop a consensus of what is or isn't a terrorist act and therefore what can and cannot be covered. He goes on to explain that Pool Re solutions is like a consulting arm of the company that on a global scale helps model and manage these risks. We finish by looking at the current COVID-19 pandemic and whether a similar government backed insurance model could work to protect against losses that have arisen from the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. We hope you enjoy the podcast! If you did, please subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Insurance Covered! The podcast that looks at the inner workings of the insurance industry with the help of expert guests. This episode we are joined by Antton Peña, Founder of Flock, and we will be looking at the insurance of drones.Antton starts by explaining what Flock do and how they became involved with the insurance of drones. When Amazon first started exploring the idea of drone deliveries Antton identified that potential risks involved with this would require a very bespoke type of insurance cover, something which at that time was not readily available. By tapping into third party data such as Google Maps and real time weather data the level of risk could be adapted, along with the premium. Antton goes on to explain the uses of drones are far bigger than most people realise. They insure anything from small personal drones to 300 pound 4 metre long drones that are flying objects to oil rigs and construction projects or are rescuing people in the sea. Currently there are over 5,500 companies with licenses to fly drones commercially. He then explains why drones can't just be insured as part of a business or home insurance policy, the short answer is the risk is vastly different and more volatile so the insurance solution needs to be flexible and tailored depending on the particular circumstances, for example location of travel, length and distance travelled, time of travel and weather conditions. Flock have 30-40 data points that get collected in real time and all these data points give an understanding of what's going on in relation to the factors mentioned above. Antton goes on to explain that Flock have multiple packages insureds can choose, from pay as you fly hourly coverage, to more regular monthly and annual packages for the more commercially used drones. Finally, Antton looks ahead to the future of the drone industry and what he expects to be the next big changes and developments.We hope you enjoy the podcast! If you did, please  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Insurance Covered! The podcast that looks at the inner workings of the insurance industry with the help of expert guests. This episode we are joined by Brendan McGurk, who is a barrister at Monckton Chambers, and we will be looking at the big data and data profiling in relation to the insurance industry.Brendan has recently released an award winning book 'Data profiling and insurance law' and we begin by discussing an overview of what the book covers. One aspect of this is looking at the way in which insurers will use big data and predictive analytics for the purpose of underwriting. Brendan explains that as insurers get more access and involvement in big data, they will be able to more accurately access and price risk. He goes on to explain that competitive advantage will be with the insurers that develop the best algorithms for assessing risks. When looking at where insurers might get this kind of data Brendan explains the 'Internet of Things' (IoT) which is the vast web of devices connected to the internet. Brendan identifies three devices that contribute useful data for insurers; black boxes in cars, wearable technology (smart watches) and smart devices in your home like Google Nest, Amazon Alexa and the devices they can connect to (fire alarms, leak detectors, cctv cameras). The information provided by these devices enable insurers to more accurately assess a situation and determine the risk levels and price accordingly.Away from underwriting Brendan explains how big data can enable big changes in the way claims are handled. If claims handlers have access to the data and can use it in a meaningful way, they are able to paint a much clearer picture and investigate more accurately. Drawing back on the example of the black box in cars, insurers can see when the accident occurred, where, what speed the insured was moving therefore giving them a much clearer indication on the validity of the claim.Finally, we look at the transparency and privacy concerns of big data and using people's data potentially without them knowing or consenting. We look at the duty of good faith, GDPR issues, potential use of protected characteristics and the risk of data breaches from holding this data.We hope you enjoy the podcast! If you did, please subscribe to be notified of future episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Insurance Covered! The podcast that looks at the inner workings of the insurance industry with the help of expert guests.This episode we are joined by industry legend Reg Brown and we will be looking at the Insurance Museum initiative as well as exploring Reg's distinguished career in insurance.We start by talking about how Reg came to work in insurance and the roles he has held, including his time as President of the Chartered Insurance Institute and Underwriter of Syndicate 702. We also discuss the vast change he has seen in the industry throughout his career.We then move on to the main topic, namely the Insurance Museum. Reg explains his role as Chairman, a position he has held since 2019 and why he has given his backing to the campaign. He explains his desire to be a part of establishing an Insurance Museum in London comes from a feeling of wanting to give back to the industry. He calls on his time mentoring young people entering the industry as a driving force behind wanting to create the museum and have somewhere for people to learn about the rich history of the insurance market.  "Insurance is such a key part of London and there is a nowhere for the history to be on display and the stories to be told".Reg explains that the first fundraising campaign for the establishment of the Insurance Museum started on the 7th September and will run until 7th December with the aim of raising £3 million, which will cover the property and running costs for 4 years.  You can pledge to donate here.We hope you enjoy the podcast! If you did, please subscribe to be notified of future episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Insurance Covered! The podcast that looks at the inner workings of the insurance industry with the help of expert guests. This week we are joined by Anastasia Dokuchaeva, Head of Partnerships at ClauseMatch and we will be discussing their Lloyd's Lab journey. We start by looking at what ClauseMatch is, what they do, and how they came to work with the insurance industry. Anastasia explains initially the focus was entirely on financial services but experiences looking at Solvency II showed that the insurance industry also had a real need for regulatory technology, the opportunity to then be involved with the Lloyd's lab programme was too good to turn down. She then explains what it was like to be part of the cohort, the opportunity to work with mentor firms, including AXA, QBE and Argo, having unrestricted access to talk to and learn about the industry was invaluable when it came to develop ClauseMatch to be the perfect tool for the insurance industry.Anastasia goes on to explain since their graduation from the Lloyd's Lab in June 2019 they have had the opportunity to work with a number of big insurers and deploy their technology further in the market.  We hope you enjoy this episode, and if you did, subscribe to be notified of future episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Insurance Covered! The podcast that looks at the inner workings of the insurance industry with the help of expert guests.For this episode we are joined by Simon Burtwell, Head of Insurance at EY and we will be exploring the recently released EY report 'The future of Insurance'.Simon explains that the findings of the report show that the insurance industry is on the precipice of critical transformation and the time has come for one of the oldest industries on earth to reinvent itself. He explains one reason for this the huge shift that has taken place in the asset bases of large commercial businesses, moving from around 30% intangible assets to around 80%. As a result, the insurance industry needs to adapt giving less weight to physical assets and more on the intangibles.He also explains the insurance industry needs to adapt to meet the changing needs of clients. In the current insurance market, the focus is almost entirely on the claims proposition rather than building bespoke relationships with clients. Simon goes on to explain with the vast amount of data now available insurers could begin to look at ways to reduce their client's loss exposures on an individual level. A shift towards a service based industry and away from a claims focused industry, using data analytics to drive reduced risk and better day to day outcomes for businesses.Simon explains using the mass data available to micro-adjust policies could be a way to revolutionise the industry giving the example of the marine industry. With the implementation on blockchain technology ships can be monitored constantly, frequency of use, performance and GPS information on route and destinations is all readily available in real time. With this kind of information available insurers can look to provide insurance on a 'per ship, per voyage' basis with dynamic pricing depending on the expected risk of the specific ship and specific journey.Simon concludes that the key to the insurance revolution is the increased connectivity between insurer and end client. Moving away from a static offering to one that can make use of the big data that is available and create strategic partnerships with clients, working with them to reduce risk of loss.We hope you enjoy the podcast! If you did, please subscribe to be notified of future episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Insurance Covered! The podcast that looks at the inner workings of the insurance industry with the help of expert guests.For this episode we are joined by Chris Moore, Head of ibott, Deputy Active Underwriter 1971 at Apollo Syndicate Management Limited and our topic is insuring the sharing economy.Chris explains what is meant by the sharing economy, giving examples of ride sharing platforms and platforms that allow for accommodation to be rented as alternatives to standard hotels. These companies are technology focused and provide innovative and convenient solutions to their customers. He then goes on to give insight into how these apps are 'disruptors' that are changing the way some of the biggest companies do business.He goes on to explain that a key driver in the rise of the sharing economy can be attributed to the cultural differences between generation X and millennials. "Generation X is fascinated by assets, owning your first house and getting a car as quickly as possible. Contrast this to the millennial approach where experiences are valued over assets".Chris then gives insight into how insurance of the sharing economy works explaining insurance within the sharing economy can be more flexible and adjustable depending on the current usage and level of exposure. Access to GPS data, telematics, information on average speeds allows for more detailed and accurate measure of exposures at any given time allowing for adjustable rates of insurance.He explains that a key part of what they are doing at Apollo is looking at the innovative companies taking over the sharing economy and trying to create equally innovative insurance solutions for them in an almost bespoke fashion.Finally, Chris gives us his thoughts on what innovative insurance products we are likely to see in the next 2-5 years.We hope you enjoy the podcast! If you did, please subscribe to be notified of future episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.