9th July 2018

Covéa Insurance has announced changes to its Commercial & HNW business designed to optimise its operating model to ensure continued long term growth and success.

The new regional structure will focus on developing and expanding the company’s mid-market portfolio from specialist mid-market offices in Chelmsford, Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester, working with a targeted panel of brokers.

A new National Service Centre, based in West Malling, will support and drive growth of non e-trade bespoke SME business.

Further investment into the company’s SME business in Reading and West Malling will see the expansion of its e-trade proposition, starting with the launch of an e-trade Commercial Combined product with a pilot planned for Q4.

Speaking about the changes, Covéa Insurance Commercial & HNW Director, Simon Cooter said:

“These changes are about ensuring we continue to grow and expand the proposition that we can offer brokers and their customers. It is important for us to respond to changing broker needs and target our resources where we see the greatest opportunities for profitable growth.

“Increasing broker demand for e-trade solutions for more complex SME business is behind the planned expansion of our e-trade team and the new national service centre will give us the capacity to underwrite and service greater volumes of business.

“We’re also looking to grow our mid-market business, targeting larger and more complex risks, which is why we are focusing our regional teams on supporting brokers in winning and retaining clients typically spending £5k to £100k on their commercial insurance.

“Most brokers will see very little change to their day to day trading relationships with us – they will continue dealing with the same people and we will continue to offer all the same products supported by first class service. We will be working closely with those brokers who are affected directly to ensure that they can continue to trade with us successfully.

“Changes to our internal structure will also strengthen our capability for pricing, analytics and underwriting, and improve our overall operational efficiency and governance in the medium to longer term.

“While the new structure includes a significant number of newly created roles, regrettably, there remains a small number of people who have been impacted by this process. We are very grateful for their contribution and professionalism and for everyone’s ongoing commitment as we transition to our new operating model, ensuring we continue to provide the very best service to our partners and customers.”

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About Covéa Insurance

Covéa Insurance Plc is the UK underwriting business of leading French mutual insurance group Covéa (which includes the global reinsurer PartnerRe since July 2022). 

Covéa Insurance looks after the insurance needs of UK customers, across a range of product lines; delivering financial reassurance through its Standard & Poor’s ‘AA- stable’ rating, as a guaranteed subsidiary of Covéa.  

Covéa Insurance has a strong people and service ethos and holds ServiceMark accreditation with Distinction for its Personal Lines operation and its Commercial & HNW Claims teams, as well as Chartered Insurer status for its Commercial business. Covéa Insurance is signatory to the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter and the insurance Inclusivity Pledge and has been named one of the top 75 employers in West Yorkshire & the Humber. In 2022 Covéa Insurance was named Insurer of the Year at the British Claims Awards and Personal Lines Insurer of the Year at the Insurance Times Awards.