In conversation with Tim Rolph, Contingency Underwriter, we speak about how the Contingency team are providing simple and fast access to complex events insurance for both London Market and regional brokers through digital underwriting solutions.
Your role is focused on managing and developing Arch’s digital Contingency underwriting solutions. Can you tell us more about what this entails?
I oversee the Contingency team’s digital underwriting strategy to improve our service capabilities and deliver speed and efficiency of online trading, supported by dedicated underwriting expertise. A large part of this is managing our Arch IQ® quote-and-bind digital platform and the contingency insurance products sold through it. This involves managing broker relationships, collaborating with them and taking their feedback to our developers, who are constantly building in platform improvements to ensure we can provide the most effective solutions for both our brokers and clients.
In May, Arch announced a new regional events solution for event cancellation and the launch of Arch IQ. Can you talk us through the product offering and how it’s unique?
Yes, of course. The product provides cancellation cover for UK and European regional events, including conferences and exhibitions, fairs, concerts and sports events, with a range of extension options that enable coverage to be tailored to insureds’ specific needs.
A market-leading difference is that through Arch IQ, we’re effectively bringing a product predominantly written in the London Market to the doorstep of regional brokers, enabling them to offer their clients the full suite of event covers.
What’s also unique is that we offer cancellation coverage on an agreed-value basis, in addition to traditional indemnity cover. For example, if your event is insured to a value of £500,000 and a covered loss occurs, the policy is automatically triggered and the claim is paid immediately, without further questions. For insureds who are heavily dependent on cash flow to keep their business turning over, this payout speed is extremely valuable.
More recently you added an events liability product to the platform. What is standout about this?
By adding public and employers’ liability options for event organisers, we’re ensuring comprehensive solutions are provided to our brokers and mutual clients and aim to plug gaps in traditional coverage. Typically, markets price liability for a whole period rather than just around the event date, however we offer short-period policies specific to the time of an event, covering negligence, bodily injury and property damage, as well as contingent liability for their subcontractors.
These event cancellation and liability products were launched on Arch’s instant quote and bind platform, Arch IQ®. Why is this important?
We understand speed of service is critical and Arch IQ has been designed to give our brokers easy and fast access to specialist products without any unnecessary questions. We’re laser focused on keeping the questions down to a minimum, while accurately rating the risk, and brokers can get a quote in as little as 60 seconds. We built the platform with our brokers in mind, giving them considerable functionality, allowing them to manage all submissions, quotes and bound risks through their own dedicated dashboard.
How does Arch set itself apart from its peers when it comes to its digital contingency solutions?
A critical point is that Arch IQ is underwriter owned and managed. This was important for us when building the platform as we wanted to ensure brokers continue to experience high levels of responsive service and have access to technical expertise as and when they need it. Our willingness to design bespoke solutions is something Arch is known for and we wanted to ensure consistency of this approach with our digital solutions too. So even though we’re talking about an online platform, we have senior underwriters behind it who are always happy to chat on the phone or travel to meet face-to-face with our brokers. Effectively it’s a hybrid between online and traditional underwriting.
Where are you seeing the most opportunities for growth?
I see great opportunities with regional brokers, who may not have offered events coverage before to their commercial clients, but now can because of the expertise and easy access we provide. Also, our ability to offer bespoke coverage — for example, adverse-weather coverage as standard for outdoor events like mountain-biking competitions – is creating opportunities to insure a wider range of events.
Finally, what would your dream job outside of insurance be?
A musician! I’ve been playing drums since I was three years old and it’s a real passion. I still perform with bands on an ad hoc basis at various functions and lay out drum tracks for professional musician friends of mine. If I’d taken a different path, maybe my team could have been insuring my tour, rather than me insuring somebody else’s!