Whoever said insurance was dull? Back when I used to buy helicopters for a living maybe, if I thought about it, I might have thought that comparatively it was the duller option. But events of the last week or so have proved that not to be the case.

Firstly, I finally said au revoir to my old boss, close friend and mentor, John Kitson. Now life with John was never dull. He left the industry as he did everything in life, with style, humour and huge personality. I can honestly say I’ve never worked with anyone like John, he has the ability to make me laugh, even when I want to cry, and behind that much loved quirkiness is a business brain that most would envy.

I say au revoir and not goodbye, not because I believe he’ll be back in this industry, although if I had a fiver for every time I had answered that question over the last few months I’d be getting rich. For the record, lest you’re tempted to ask, I don’t think he will. As long as I’ve known John he’s had a pretty clear plan and I’ve no doubt that he’ll now make the most of every minute of his new life. But John and I will keep in touch, we already are, he text me on Easter Monday asking about March numbers. And maybe, when we meet up, every now and then he’ll allow me to share a few tales from the riverbank. I’ll trade it for the latest gossip, which I know he’ll be dying to hear.

John loves to gossip. On the day before he hung up his blackberry, I bumped into him at the train station. I was heading back to Norwich, he and Jennifer were heading for a farewell dinner with a broker. I shared the news about Quinn, and for a split second I could see him thinking, his brain going at 100 miles an hour, maybe contemplating that things could be getting really interesting just as he bid us farewell.

Which brings me on to the other thing that’s made life interesting over the last week…Quinn.

Maybe not a surprise……

Maybe not enough to lead us to a hard market overnight…….

And maybe not as widespread an impact in the UK as it will have in the Irish market…….

…………………That said if you’re business is insurance, your job or your livelihood is impacted and it will leave you with plenty to worry about.

Making money out of insurance is far from a sure bet. The tough years more than offset the good years, cash generation and investment returns means that new entrants are a plenty, and it’s really easy to look like you’re making lots of money in the early years and find out later that you’re not. I won’t join in the press frenzy and commentary about a competitors’ demise, and the whys and wherefores of what happened but what I will say is that even in a business where it takes years to know how profitable the business you are writing today is, if it looks like you’re defying gravity, you probably are.

 Out of this frenzy I have only 2 hopes:

- that despite the pressures our business customers still face, we do see rates harden. Insurers’ results across the industry make interesting reading, and there isn’t one of us that doesn’t want to see a harder market. The events of the last week aren’t enough alone, but they certainly can’t hurt.

-  that those of us that have been around for hundreds of years, and will be for hundreds more, can be there for the brokers and clients that need us now, tomorrow, next year and in many years to come. That maybe we see a bit more value associated with the long term players, the bigger brands, and the peace of mind and certainty that this brings for our customers and brokers

So an eventful week, setting up an even more eventful year. Saying a regretful au revoir to an old and trusted friend and a welcome goodbye to a competitor in the market. How can insurance ever be DULL?!

Janice

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