Gallagher has appointed Simon Collins (pictured) as chief broking officer. He will report to Michael Rea, chief executive officer of Gallagher in the UK and join his executive team. He was previously managing director of Gallagher’s national broking and placement team within its UK and Ireland retail division. The appointment is subject to regulatory approval.

Digital risk processing platform Cytora has teamed up with PriceHubble, which develops data solutions for the property and finance sectors. The partnership will give underwriters access to data such as valuations, market analyses, value forecasts, building simulations and energy performance insights.

Northern Irish broker Hughes Insurance has teamed up with Percayso Inform to implement its data enrichment solutions and enhance its digital pricing capabilities. The technology is designed to reduce fraud and improve conversion rates. Hughes Insurance was established almost 50 years ago and serves over 85,000 customers across the motor, home, van, travel and commercial insurance sectors.

Independent broker Prosura has purchased Yorkshire-based Donald Schofield (Pontefract) Limited. The deal is Prosura’s second in the past 12 months and puts it on course to hit £6m of gross written premium by the end of the year. Prosura was founded by Jon Newall, following his sale and exit from Lockyer Insurance.

The Insurance Institute of London has announced that Lucy Clarke has been elected as its president for 2024/25. She is president, risk and broking at WTW and has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance sector. Previous roles include being chief executive officer of JLT Global Specialty. She becomes the first woman president of the IIL in its 117-year history.

Essex-based insurtech Surewise has acquired Lockton Mobility’s book of business. The acquisition brings over 161 retailers and brokers into the Surewise network, with direct access to mobility scooter insurance, powerchair insurance, wheelchair insurance, stand-alone 2, 3 and 4-year extended warranty insurance products, breakdown cover and a repair network and business insurance for retailers under Surewise’s retail trading brand, Just Mobility.

Open GI has teamed up with artificial intelligence specialist OpenDialog to enable its broker customers to implement generative AI chatbot solutions for their customers. Under the deal, Open GI will offer its brokers access to OpenDialog’s generative AI chatbots via its policy administration platforms.

PIB Group Ltd has acquired Nottingham-based RS Insurance Brokers Ltd, which has a particular specialism in fleet and professional indemnity risks and was formed 45 years ago. As part of the deal, eight employees will move across from RS Insurance Brokers to PIB.

Managing general agent NBS Underwriting has secured additional AM Best A-rated
(Excellent) capacity from Hadron UK Insurance Company Limited. The capacity, introduced via Accelerant’s Risk Exchange platform, will be available across all SME, professional indemnity, property owners, and commercial products.

Figures released by the Association of British Insurers show the market detected £1.1bn worth of fraudulent claims in 2023, up by 4% on the previous year. In total, insurers detected 84,400 fraudulent claims with an average value of £13,000. Exaggerated loss was the most common type of fraud detected.

Insurance provider Berkeley Alexander has teamed up with speciality re/insurer Canopius to launch SafeGuard Protect, which is a modular product providing personal accident, income protection or mortgage or rent protection in the case of an accident, sickness or job loss. The move returns Berkeley Alexander to the ASU market for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ratings and analytics technology specialist Hyperexponential has found an overwhelming 96% of the market see room for improvement in the pricing technology they currently use. The consultancy’s “2024 State of Pricing” report also found that almost half of respondents (47%) had bought pricing platforms that hadn’t delivered what they promised.

PwC has forecast a 10% drop in motor insurance premiums for drivers in Scotland and a 15% drop for those in Northern Ireland. This follows the change in the personal injury discount rate in these two countries. Following statutory reviews, the rate will change from -0.75% to +0.5% in Scotland, and from -1.5% to +0.5% in Northern Ireland.

A new report from the Lloyd’s Market Association and Aon makes a strong case for investing in Lloyd’s but highlights opportunities to make the process easier and ways in which terminology could be simplified to improve the predictability of set-up and running costs.

Prestige Underwriting has launched a short-term unoccupied property product to protect properties left empty following the death of the owner. The provider said that more than three-quarters of its brokers had seen an increase in the number of families seeking unoccupied property cover. It said probate-related delays were an increasing driver of properties being unoccupied for extended periods.

London-based Verve Risk Services has launched a new captive insurance product and its broker portal, Verve Aura. The micro-captive defender product was developed in collaboration with Michael Maglares & Company. Verve is supported by managing general agent services platform OneAdvent and recently recured investment from BP Marsh.