The Insurance Institute of Leeds donates over £800 to local charity
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19-Mar-15
Council members of The Insurance Institute of Leeds visited Ripon Community Link, the President’s nominated charity, to provide them with a cheque for £815. Amongst the attendees was Aston Charles’ MD, James Heald. James explained “Ripon Community Link do a fantastic job of providing support to people with learning difficulties. We were made to feel very welcome and it was great to see such a diverse range of activities available. We know that the money that the Institute has raised will go a long way to enriching people’s lives”. He continues “These funds were raised from the recent Insurance Institute of Leeds Annual Golf Day, together with a donation from the President’s annual discretionary fund. This is a great opportunity for the industry to give something back”. Pictured – Insurance Institute of Leeds President, Julia Wilding, council member, Daniel Storr from Brit Insurance, and staff and members of Ripon Community Link.
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- 01/07/2024
- Insurance Specific Employee Health & Wellbeing Opportunity
Our exciting new collaboration – Insurance Specific Employee Health & Wellbeing OpportunityEmployee health and wellbeing is a massively important subject, and it’s great to see so many of our insurance clients taking this so seriously.To us, it’s a bit of a no-brainer; a happier, healthier team will lead to – Increased productivity Minimal lost hours to sickness Talent acquisition & staff retention A work force of high energy, company ambassadors that are engaged with your goals But where do you start? Not all firms have the time or budget to roll out their own inhouse programme, and let's face it - employee surveys may not be as honest if you know the person who is responsible for your pay review is going to be reading it!So, we’ve teamed up with the lovely Lisa Kempster, who may many of you know – she enjoyed a successful career as an insurance recruiter prior to setting up her own Health & Well being practice. Lisa’s got over 15 years’ experience of partnering with insurance businesses so understands the challenges of the job, the industry, along with the importance of return on your investment. To top that off, Lisa is partnering as a Consultant with West Yorkshire Business Boost, so you may be able to claim back 50% of the cost of your programme, regardless of where you are based (broker clients – you’ll be glad to know she won’t be adding VAT to your invoice either)!...- 01/07/2024
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- The Insurance Industry: Reacting to a Disrupted Market
The Insurance Industry: Reacting to a Disrupted MarketAs the insurance sector surveys the landscape for 2024 and beyond, there are a number of changes in sight. New technology, extreme events and changing cultures are all shifting the way Property and Casualty insurance needs to operate. Some of these new factors create opportunities, while others create risks; many offer both.Responding to market disruption is nothing new for P&C insurance. While the specific factors may be unprecedented, the insurance sector has always been at the forefront of predicting and responding to new risks.In this article we will look at some of the key elements that are changing (or are set to change) the industry within the next few years.Artificial IntelligenceIt is impossible to discuss disruptive markets without talking about AI. Artificial Intelligence has been on the scene for a few years now, but as it continues to develop, it brings about innovation and opportunity, while also creating risk, uncertainty, and potential problems. Almost all industries need to adapt to a world where AI is commonplace.AI offers massive opportunity to the insurance industry. It can reduce risk, increase speed and refine processes across the board. AI can interact with clients in a more supportive way than ever, meeting their requirements and even anticipating their needs in a way that has not been possible before. At the same time, lots of clients struggle with the impersonal nature of AI – although this is improving all the time, as it becomes more adept at mimicking human emotional responses. Of course, there are dangers that come with computer learned behaviours. One recognised risk is that AI is vulnerable to using data to inadvertently create an illegal or unethical bias – for example, a bias against a protected group. This could result in fines and legal sanctioning, as well as a significant loss of trust in the methods being used by the industry. As this is already a recognised risk, ...- 16/04/2024
- Insurance Costs Rising with Flood Risks: How Can Brokers Help?
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- The MGA Model: Reliable or Redundant?
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- The Risks and Rewards of Investing in Insurance
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- The High Price of Synthetic ID Fraud during a Cost-of-Living Crisis
Fraud is on the rise worldwide. In the UK the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau recorded 17% more fraud related crimes in the year ending March 2022 than the same period the previous year. [i] Fraud can affect most industries, with the insurance sector being no exception. The rise in insurance fraud is costing insurance companies huge amounts of money and time. With the current cost of living crisis and many clients already struggling to make ends meet, this is the worst time to be passing the cost of fraud on to customers.Some statistics suggest that in a massive 85% of insurance fraud cases, the cause can be traced back to synthetic ID fraud. [ii] If synthetic ID fraud can be dealt with effectively, it will vastly reduce the cost of fraudulent activity to insurance groups and the clients they serve.Types of ID fraudID fraud has long been an issue for businesses and individuals to contend with. In the past, ID was simply stolen and then used directly to open accounts or steal money. In this type of identity theft, there is a clearly identifiable “victim” who is likely, once aware of the issue, to log the crime and alert companies to the fraudulent activity taking place. In the case of insurance companies, they could then refuse pay outs and cancel policies.However, the advance of technology has led to identity fraud becoming more and more complex, with the birth of synthetic ID fraud. Unlike with stolen IDs, these synthetic identities may have no single “victim” meaning that there might never be a crime recorded, so it can be very difficult to identify that a crime has taken place. Synthetic ID can come in different formats. In manipulated synthetics, a genuine ID may be modified in the favour of an individual person. In the case of insurance applications, they may moderate their own identity details in an effort to make themselves look lower risk and therefore be given a lower policy price.Manufactured synthetics involves criminals building entirely ...- 11/09/2023
- Can a Career in Insurance Appeal to the Next Generation of Our Workforce?
Can a Career in Insurance Appeal to the Next Generation of Our Workforce?Sadly, the insurance industry appears to have developed a reputation for being old fashioned, or boring. We asked a Generation Z child their opinion about working in the insurance industry. She said “it sounds like one of those jobs that I just associate with boredom. I picture falling asleep at a desk.” Where has this perspective come from? How can the insurance industry make themselves appealing and relevant to the workforce of the next generation?Do young people want to work in insurance?Our interviewee is not alone in her opinions as a young person. It appears that this attitude may persist through childhood into being a young adult, judging by the unfortunately low number of people in their 20s and 30s currently looking at insurance as a career. A study by ACORD showed that only 4% of millennials (born between 1981 – 1997) would think about working in the insurance sector. This is concerning, given that millennials are likely to be 75% of the UK workforce by 2025. [i]Of course, in 2023, as we look towards the future of insurance, we are not only talking about recruiting millennials, who are now aged 25 plus and may be already on a chosen career path. Now is the time to start appealing to Generation Z (born approx. 1997 – 2012) and then Generation Alpha (born 2013 onwards). A new generationRecruiting young people into careers in insurance is vital to the general insurance sector. Not only are they needed for future numbers, as previous generations look to retirement, but their ideas and skills are needed now. Generation Z are the first generation that grew up from childhood with social media as a normal way of communicating. They have seen huge growth of technology and a lot of political and economic upheaval. They lived formative years through the Covid epidemic, with all the complexities that brought. All this makes generation Z an adaptable, technologically-adept generation, with ...