Senior insurance bod at your service

[Lazykitten]

I'm on leave today following a 2 hour dentist appointment so need a distraction!!
Appreciate this may be the mistake boring AMA to ever happen, but I'm always surprised at the questions folks seem to have about my job and insurance in general 😆

I've been a senior underwriter and now a broker working in corporate (so arranging various covers for national companies). Gave also previously worked in public sector (Local authorities, police, fire, education).

Started out in personal lines do a bit rusty but if you have any questions there I can give them a stab!

Also happy if this falls on its arse as most uninspired AMA 😄

Which area of insurance makes the most money?

Who insures ships or planes that make risky journeys e.g. through the Black Sea or making airdrops into Gaza?

I am trying to make your thread more exciting 😁

PFAS chemicals they are:

https://www.brownejacobson.com/insights/the-word-november-2023/pfas-exclusions-updated

Ha bless you!!!

On a cost basis it's the little ones. Home emergency, the £10 quid policy you bought with your fridge, that kind of thing. They're written for pennies. Although there have been a few scandals so that's being tightened up.

Anything big will nearly always go though LLoyds. Globally. Britain should be quite proud of how big and influential a deal Lloyd's really is as a marketplace.

Is it true that insurers will find any excuse they can not to pay out on a policy?

When do you think the public will start to notice the impact of climate change on insurance?

I’m thinking of there being pockets already eg in Aus housing but at some point we might see insurance changes impact holidays etc

God no, the exact opposite. There have been many times I've known a claim was fraudulent but the burden of proof to turn it down is immense. And companies are hyper aware of reputational damage.

There are some fraudulent claims I've heard about which are almost quite funny as the person was so inept to be caught out!!

If critical illness insurance asks for weight, what happens if you lose or gain weight after you take out the policy? So many people fluctuate in weight.

I do work in this area but you are asking a very generalised question and it is important to look at the bigger picture because you may not need to insure each other.

It's already impacting and has been for quite some time, but mainly through reinsurance so people don't make the connection. Eg a massive hurricane causing damage in the USA will impact your home insurance policy in Norfolk. Remember insurance is global.

In terms of the policy, rather than the cost, I think we'll start seeing more clauses in the next decade or so. How they will present I don't know. But in my mind the industry will have to respond

Again I work in this area. IF you have a high BMI at application, lose weight and then keep it off for a period of time most insurers will allow you to do what's called a 'lifestyle change' which means you could potentially reduce the premium you are paying for the same cover BUT you are under no obligation to keep them informed of changes in health after the policy has commenced, so if you gained it would have no impact.

Sorry never worked in critical illness either! I should have specified this in my OP!! I deal with:
Property and business interruption
Motor fleet
Terrorism
All kinds of liability
Financial lines
Construction and engineering
Cyber
Exhibition and events

What is the difference between insurance and reinsurance? How interlinked is the various insurance companies, is it everyone is working with everyone else type market or more competitive?

Insurance companies will purchase reinsurance to transfer some of the risk.
So insurance Company A will be the one on your documents. They will payout say for example all claims up to £50M. Then they purchase reinsurance from company B to pay out anything from £50M to £100M. For personal lines it tends to be catastrophe cover eg storm where they can see sudden large losses. There's different kinds though, but it works in the same way to limit Company As exposure.
I'm also not very good at explaining things 😆

On a cost basis it's the little ones. Home emergency, the £10 quid policy you bought with your fridge, that kind of thing. They're written for pennies. Although there have been a few scandals so that's being tightened up.

Is this why Homer goes "woohoo, extended warranty. How can I lose?"

I came across this thread as I was searching for something else. I must @Lazykitten you have explained really well.

I'm in insurance regulatory space so it was exciting to read this thread on MN. 😅