May 3, 2019

An Interview with Jon Hipkin, Key Account Director, Arch UK Regional

Insights UK Regional Division
Risk Management

Arch is growing – how will brokers still get a personal service?

Arch UK Regional has over 200 staff in 13 key regional locations around the country, and they’re focussed solely on the UK broker market. That means we’re able to deliver a game-changing level of service, day-in and day-out.

Trust is key to having a strong, long-term successful trading relationship. More than anything, we see the talent and expertise of our staff as crucial to our success. We know that brokers need to be able to interact with bright, passionate people that know their products inside-out, so we will always invest in our people.

Our regional staff are highly trained, empowered and focussed. They can give brokers in their local market confidence when buying from our wide range of products. We have strong financial strength ratings, which again means brokers can have total peace of mind.

Alongside this regional, face-to-face approach, we have highly specialised underwriters working in London who are just a phone call away. Arch is known for its London market expertise, so we’re making sure brokers across the UK have access to that bank of knowledge and experience.

So, we’re taking that very niche, specialist expertise across the country, making sure that both new and existing customers have everything they need to buy insurance with absolute confidence.

How does Arch stand out from the crowd?

Our business is all about people. We’re expanding regionally at a time when others are pulling back, making it easier for brokers to talk to us. Business is at it’s best when two parties know they can pick up the phone or meet in person and discuss their objectives.

It’s so important that our brokers know that they can talk to an underwriter who listens, who has the authority to act. We may be living in a modern world, but this element of business will always be essential.

Quality of service is crucial to stand out from competitors: speed of response, ease of contact, competitive quotes, quality products are important. We combine those with a friendly, personable service that puts the broker’s needs at the heart of what we do.

A lot of insurers are taking their business online – is Arch doing the same?

The insurance industry is no different to the rest of the world, of course we’re seeing an increasing amount of business traded electronically.

However, we don’t want customers to feel they are being forced down a ‘machine-only, no-option road’. We know that the need for risks to be discussed is crucial to understanding the risk, so having the opportunity for human intervention is an important element in our offering. Our Broker Account Managers complement our underwriters, so that we’re able to deliver a hybrid response: e-trade with a real person to talk things through with.