ILC ARTICLE

ILC Breakfast News – Wednesday 26 Jan 2022

25th January 2022

Motor

Register now… webinARC January 2022: Sustainability

Today – 13.30   

In this webinARC we explore the key themes of sustainability across the industry to discover just what it means to different operations at this current time.

– Charlotte Burnige, company secretary, Coachwork Renovations Ltd  
 – Joe March, head of commercial & network management, The Green Parts Specialists  
 – Chris Payne, head of networks & engineering – home & motor, LV=  
 – Stuart Sandell, assistant vice president – sales, UK & Ireland, Enterprise Holdings

Car insurance continues downward trajectory

Comprehensive car insurance has fallen six per cent in the last year to an average annual premium of £539.

According to data from the Confused.com Car Insurance Price Index, produced in association with Willis Towers Watson and based on data from more than six million policies, the average price of car insurance rose five per cent in the final quarter of 2021 but an overall annual fall was recorded after four consecutive quarters of decreasing prices.

Copart introduces new driver training programme

Copart UK has launched a new Driver Academy Programme to recruit and train its next generation of HGV drivers. The programme aims to deliver 100 new fully trained drivers in the first year and also includes supporting modules for qualified drivers to help them maintain their CPC training.

The £1m-plus programme has been launched in partnership with HGVC, a leading provider of commercial licence acquisition training courses in the UK.

Qashqai named UK’s safest car

Thatcham Research has declared the Nissan’s Qashqai as the UK’s safest car in 2022, after completing its judging for the What Car? Safety Award. The all-electric Polestar 2 was second, closely followed by the Skoda Enyaq.

The What Car? Safety Awards were judged by experts at Thatcham Research, Euro NCAP and What Car? journalists.

AkzoNobel receives Top Employer accolade

AkzoNobel has been rated as a European Top Employer in eight countries by the Top Employers Institute. It was recognised as a top employer in the Netherlands, the UK, France Germany and Sweden. Further, the company was also recognised as a top employer by the Institute in Brazil, China and the US.

Meanwhile, AkzoNobel also supported AW Repair Group host an apprenticeship event that attracted more than 200 young people and led to 17 new apprentices joining the repair group.

Exclusive interview: Copart

Copart has revealed key insights into what has helped to make it a global leader in sustainability.

Speaking exclusively to ILC in a wide-ranging interview, UK & Ireland Managing Director Jane Pocock discusses Copart’s ambitious Plan-Net-Zero, the specialist training programmes that have been initiated to support greener practices, and the company’s commitment to ensuring its entire workforce is engaged and working towards the same targets. 

Home & Property

House prices keep rising

Figures from the Office of National Statistics have revealed that house prices across the UK rose 10% between November 2020 and November 2021, pushing up the average value to £271,000. This represents a £25,000 increase over the year.

Average prices in England rose 9.8% to £288,000, the average increase in Wales was 12.1% to £200,000, while average house prices rose 11.4% in Scotland (£183,000) and 10.7% in Northern Ireland (£159,000).

Luko expands European footprint

French start-up Luko has acquired German start-up Coya to secure a foothold in the German market and expand its European footprint. Coya provides insurance products in the home content, private liability, dog liability and bike insurance sectors.

Terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed although Luko has confirmed it’s a 100% share deal, which means Coya investors Valar Ventures, Headline and Roland Berger’s family office are now Luko investors.

Smithers Purslow goes carbon neutral

Smithers Purslow has pledged to become carbon neutral in 2022. One of the UK’s leading engineering, surveying and architectural practices has carried out a carbon footprint analysis and identified a number of initiatives to achieve its target.

This includes all senior management moving to alternative fuel vehicles as well as modernising its 10 sites to become more energy-efficient and reliant on sustainable power sources.

CoreLogic secures digital acquisition

CoreLogic has acquired Prospects Software, which provides mobile MLS and CRM tools for real estate professionals. 

Software solutions such as MLS-Touch and Prospects CRM, which help agents remain connected to listings, leads and contacts on any device, will integrate seamlessly with the CoreLogic Matrix multiple listing platform and provide added value to real estate professionals.

ILC Rising Star Interview: Chris McKeague, Head of Property Transformation, Innovation Group

“the area I get greatest satisfaction from, is working with others to conceptualise a change and then seeing that change released into our day-to-day operation. It’s rewarding to be able to see the business and our people becoming more efficient, knowing that I have been instrumental in that change. Every change feels like a step forward, however big, or small.”

ClaimsTech 

Mastercard launches next-generation payment solution

Mastercard has launched what it says is the next generation in virtual card solutions. Its Mastercard Track Instant Pay uses machine learning to analyse invoices to identify those likely to be rejected and authorise immediate payment to the rest.

Claimed to be an industry first, the solution is fully integrated with the Mastercard Track Business Payment Service, the company’s open-loop B2B network.

Innovators flock to insurance sector

The Zurich Innovation Championship 2022 received a record number of submissions, with 2,672 start-ups from around the world competing for the opportunity to collaborate with the insurer in one of three areas: prevention and mitigation; sustainability; and simplicity.

There is also an open category for reimagining insurance.

The number of applications, up from 1,350, confirms the appeal of the insurance sector to emerging tech companies and underlines its position as an industry on the brink of change.

Accelerant secures industry backing

Accelerant has announced that it has raised more than $190m at a $2bn valuation in its latest round of funding. It will use the capital to continue to develop technologies that enable underwriters to share risk to improve outcomes for programme managers.

Investment was led by Eldridge with participation also from existing majority investor Altamont Capital Partners, as well as Deer Park, Marshall Wace, and MS&AD Ventures. 

Unicorn still flying with further expansion

London-based start-up Zego is building on the success of becoming the UK’s first insurtech unicorn by expanding its operations in Europe. Having seen its valuation exceed £1bn last year, it has now ramped up operations in France and also entered the Dutch market.  

Zego, which uses data from drivers to understand risk better and offer more accurate pricing, says it wants to capitalise on the consolidation of the European insurance market and has plans to enter six more markets later this year.

Market News

WTW names new digital lead

Willis Towers Watson has appointed Lou Smith as head of Commercial Lines in the company’s Insurance Consulting and Technology business. She will be responsible for leading the company’s data strategy and accelerating its digital trading capabilities.

Smith joins from Lloyd’s on London, where she was Chief Digital Officer responsible for shaping the organisation’s digital future.

ILC partners among UK’s most trusted brands

A number of ILC partners have been named among the country’s 10 most trusted insurance brands. The list has been compiled by Consumer Intelligence based on its Insurance Behaviour Tracker (IBT), which surveyed over 48,000 home and motor insurance customers.

According to the IBT, the 10 brands most trusted by drivers are AA, Admiral, Aviva, Churchill, Direct Line, Lloyds Bank, LV=, NFU Mutual and Saga, while the 10 most trusted brands by households are Barclays, Co-op Insurance, HSBC Insurance, John Lewis Finance, Lloyds Bank, M&S Bank, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest, NFU Mutual and Saga.

Ageas celebrates Top Employer status

Ageas has been recognised by The Top Employers Institute. The Institute certifies organisations based on the participation and results of their HR Best Practices Survey. The survey covers six HR areas consisting of 20 topics including People Strategy, Work Environment, Talent Acquisition, Learning, Wellbeing and Diversity & Inclusion and more.

Innovation shortlist announced

Toyota Motor Europe has announced the five winners of its Toyota Start-up Accelerator competition. The five companies – Revolve Wheel, HySiLabs, PurCity; CargaTuCoche, and Microwave Solutions GmbH – were selected from 142 applications.

They now enter the final six-month acceleration phase, during which they will receive financial and expert backing to develop their projects before a final pitch later this year, with the winners going on to receive continued backing from Toyota Motor Europe.