Swiss Re, XL Catlin partner with new Lloyd's MGA Ensurance UK

Ensurance said July 10 that its newly-created managing general agency has entered into a partnership agreement with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions and XL Catlin, and received Lloyd's coverholder status for its UK operations.

Ensurance UK has been formed to initially specialise in construction and engineering insurance.

The company has partnered with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, the commercial insurance arm of the Swiss Re Group, to offer a range of construction and engineering insurance products across the UK and parts of the EU, targeting to insure contracts up to £100 million.

The partnership provides security backing to Ensurance UK to provide the insurance broker market with bespoke general insurance products. It also allows Ensurance UK to write insurance business up to triple the sum insured amount that most insurance companies can accept, according to the statement.

Ensurance managing director Stefan Hicks believes this agreement is a "game changer" for the company. He said: "Not only has the company successfully expanded from the Australian market into the UK market in a short period, but by partnering with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions we will now receive significant exposure globally."

"Swiss Re Corporate Solutions have very few partnerships of this nature globally, and this exclusive agreement has been achieved due to the experienced Ensurance UK team, headed by CEO Tim James, a former director at one of the world’s largest insurers specialising in construction and engineering," Hicks added. "We look forward to working with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions in expanding the Ensurance product offering and brand globally."

As part of its partnership with XL Catlin, Ensurance UK will initially provide a bespoke construction insurance product to high net worth UK domestic clients. Australian Ensurance Underwriting already partners with XL Catlin for a range of domestic home insurance products, including landlord insurance products, in Australia.

"For a domestic dwelling to undertake large construction renovations, it requires alternative insurance, often to cover the dwelling itself in addition to the renovation," Hicks commented. "The Ensurance UK product caters for this niche segment."

"This product, whilst niche, provides Ensurance UK with the ability to expand its clientele from the broker market to the insurer market, essentially attracting insurers as clients. It's a significant opportunity to sell Ensurance products through existing and established large books of business operated by some of the largest insurers in the UK."

Meanwhile, Ensurance has gained the Lloyd's coverholder status allowing it to issue insurance documents on behalf of Lloyd’s syndicates. It now has two Lloyd's coverholder companies, in the UK and Australia.

"This allows the company flexibility to use different Ensurance centres to expand our footprint wider, using our Lloyds bespoke products, into global regions," Hicks stated.

Ensurance is the holding company that owns three distinct businesses in the insurance industry, it operates a brokerage, an underwriting agency and an IT company.

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