ILC ARTICLE

MGA Claims Conference makes instant impact

4th October 2022

The inaugural MGA Claims Conference has been hailed a resounding success.

Held in association with the Managing General Agent Association (MGAA) at 155 Bishopsgate, London on 28 September, the event attracted some 300 visitors making it one of the largest claims events of the year.

Supported by gold sponsors Claims Consortium Group, Clearspeed, Davies Group, DWF360 and EDAM Group, along with silver sponsors Robertson & Co, Vitesse PSP and Wiser Academy, ILC’s debut MGA Claims Conference turned the spotlight on an area of the industry often overlooked.

Stuart Ballantyne, MGA Lead, ILC and Chief Claims Officer, Kudo, who hosted the event alongside Sue Whyte, MGA Lead, ILC and Founder of Clayms Ltd, said, “A light needs to be shone on MGA claims. It’s an area that’s been undercooked in terms of focus from a conference perspective, but the marketshare and importance to customer and product is huge.

“The purpose of this event is to create a forum for MGA claims best practice discussion and debate. We want to build a community and network for MGA claims – and to establish ourselves as the hub for this community – and we want to showcase the latest technology and suppliers.

“Those are the three high level ambitions that we have, and hopefully that’s a value chain that will be worthwhile because it is hugely exciting for us to get into this space and we definitely intend to hold many more MGA events.”

The day began with an MGA State of the Nation address delivered by Credit Suisse, before Simon Gallimore, Chairman of EDAM Group and Peter Edgar, Head of Motor Claims Operations at RSA, held a lively presidential style debate surrounding the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing or insourcing the claim.

Tom Helm, Director, Claims Practice Leader, Insurance Consulting and Technology at WTW, Anna Collier, Head of Fraud at Marshmallow, and Ian Carman, Director, Head of Investigation Services, Sedgwick International, then addressed the changing face of insurance fraud in 2022 and beyond, before the afternoon sessions, delivered by Davies Group and Padda Consulting, examined the role of data in claims and the growing issue of risk and compliancy.

Alongside these sessions, attendees also benefitted from an insightful keynote interview with Jeremy Trott, Claims Director at Ecclesiastical, while some of the latest innovations were unveiled in a series of technology showcases delivered by Claims Consortium Group, Clearspeed, and DFW360.

The day concluded with Mike Keating, CEO, MGAA, which represents 190 MGAs in the UK and Irish market, joining Stuart on stage to consider the key takeaways.

He revealed the results of a recent survey of insurers, third-party administrators and MGAs, which found all three wanted the same thing – faster payments – although none of them realised it.

He said, “We all wake up wanting to give our customer a good experience and as an industry we need to work together to deliver that. Communication between the three key stakeholders isn’t good enough, but events like the MGA Claims Conference will enable us to get the conversation going. It’s been and great day and we look forward to working with ILC to deliver more events in the future.”