Citynet sponsors Springfield Football Club under 14’s girls team

It is no secret that here at Citynet Insurance Brokers, we love being engaged in the community life. This is demonstrated by supporting numerous sporting clubs that need a bit of extra help to support kids to do what they love most. Our latest sponsorship goes to Springfield Football Club in Chelmsford, Essex and more exactly to the under 14’s Girls Football team.

Springfield Football Club has a long and proud history of providing football in the community. Founded in 1935, the club moved from its previous home at Pollards Meadow to a new, purpose-built clubhouse and ground at Springfield Hall Park, in 2002.

The club continues to grow and is represented in the Essex Olympian League, The Essex Veterans League, The Chelmsford Sunday League, The Chelmsford Youth League, Blackwater & Dengie Youth League, Brentwood Community Football Alliance, and the Essex County Girls Football League.

The club provides football for ages from 6 years up to our Veterans Over 45’s and at all ages in between. We are especially proud to be an F.A. Charter Standard Club and are run entirely by volunteers.

The Girls Under 14’s team are in their 5^th season and they won their first cup last season, the Under 13’s Presidents Cup. The club now has girls teams from the ages of under 8’s to Under 14’s. They also currently run 33 junior boys teams.

“Springfield FC Under 14’s are very pleased to have teamed up with Citynet Insurance Brokers, our first Shirt Sponsors within the girls’ section of the club. Thanks to all at Citynet, let’s hope we can do you proud!” commented the club management.

Citynet Underwriting Services – Seizing opportunities the market provides

When an Insurance Broker is looking for a service or provider the overall experience will vary significantly depending on the class of Insurance and from one company to another company.

In-house Underwriting enables applications to be carefully considered/customised and will often have an improved chance of approval.  Equally important is the quick turnaround times due to the direct links between client, broker and Underwriter. Any queries can be resolved immediately.

Citynet has long been a leading provider of specialist insurance throughout the UK and Ireland. With an unparalleled level of knowledge, their understanding of their clients’ needs and in-depth knowledge of local law and regulations ensures that they can be relied upon to offer expert guidance and advice.

To add to their reputation as a leading broker, Citynet has recently announced that they have their own Underwriting Service. This means that they now have the ability to underwrite your business through Delegated Underwriting Schemes – providing a quick and efficient underwriting service to brokers and managing general agents.  Citynet will also have the ability to create bespoke insurance solutions for standard, non-standard, and the more challenging and unusual risks.

With delegated authority from Lloyd’s Insurers and the Company market, they make immediate underwriting decisions cutting down turnaround times to you and, consequently, your customers.

A recent example of this was the launch of their Small Fleet binder in Eire.  Coverage offers a solution specifically designed to help businesses reduce cost, save time, and minimise hassle. By having the flexibility to insure multiple vehicles under one policy, the Scheme allows businesses to create their own bespoke cover.

By trading across the London market, the City-based company are able to offer innovative solutions to the majority of your general insurance needs.

Years of developing close working relationships with trading partners have enabled Citynet to deliver the results required. This is no doubt the main reason that they are confident in placing most risks for any business – frustrating competitors as they consistently outperform them on cover, price and service.

Citynet’s philosophy seems to cultivate long-term contracts by bringing customers and their expertise together with strong, performance-related commitments. The combination of having extensive experience across the UK and Ireland have empowered them to establish collaborative relationships with their markets and enabling them to provide a wide range of cover for customers with minimal hassle.

Helping their brokers grow their business and provide excellent cover for their clients is their ultimate goal, and as a trading division of Citynet Insurance Broker Ltd, is able to lean on their reputation as a wholesale Lloyd’s broker and place commercial business into the London market on behalf of the UK and Irish intermediaries.

Andrew Walsh, Managing Director at Citynet adds: “By having the ability to write new business in-house means that we can continue to deliver quick and efficient solutions for our clients.”

With the launch of Citynet Underwriting, the next stage is to build on their experience and become market leading in every class of business that they write.

For more information about Citynet Underwriting Services and how they can make a difference to your business, please use the following contact details: 020 7488 7950 / [email protected] or talk directly to Clare O’Neill – Irish Underwriting Manager [email protected]

Citynet exhibits at #BIBAScotland for the second year!

Citynet Insurance Brokers have exhibited at the #BibaScotland on 23rd October 2018, in Falkirk at Inchyra Hotel & Spa.

The #BIBAScotland conference and exhibition is the only event dedicated to brokers in Scotland. With more than 200 industry representatives in attendance, it’s the perfect opportunity to keep up to date with the latest developments, meet new contacts and do business.

Acting purely as a wholesale insurance broker, Citynet has established itself as a London Market Specialist in the placement of Liability, Property, Professional Indemnity, Terrorism, Cyber, Motor and various associated classes.  We also specialise in the placement of binding authorities for other insurance intermediaries.

So, if you are looking for a wholesale broker that has great insight and knowledge of its markets and is willing to share that with you and deliver on their promises,  look no further! Citynet will be proud to be Your Trusted Partner!

For further information about our services or schemes please call 020 7488 7950 or contact directly any of our team members below.

Gary Williamson – UK Business Development Manager

[email protected]; 07971 464 029

Matt Carlick – Broking Director

[email protected]; 07890 545 417

Graeme Flynn – Head of Motor – UK & Ireland

[email protected]; 07977 011 433

Matt Wadhams – Account Executive

[email protected]; 07773 470 813

The winner of this impressive M&S Hamper is Mr. Gregg Ross from Laurie Ross Insurance Brokers. Thank you all for participating and see you at #BibaScotland 2019!

Citynet continue supporting the community by sponsoring East Grinstead Rugby Club

Getting involved in community life has always been very important to Citynet. We are proud to mention our latest sponsorship for the East Grinstead Rugby Club and we wish them the very best of luck in their future games.

East Grinstead Rugby Club was established in 1929 and are one of the largest Rugby Clubs in Sussex.

Operating from superb facilities at Saint Hill East Grinstead in West Sussex, the club is proud of its heritage and Community Rugby ethos.

With 1,600 members, 90 Senior players and over 150 Minis and Juniors, the club consistently field 3 Senior Teams, Ladies Team, girls Team, a mixed touch team and under 6’s all the way through to Colts.

“We are particularly pleased to have teamed up with Citynet Insurance Brokers who are our 1^st team Shirt Sponsors. Our first Team currently play in Sussex Division 1 and like Citynet, we aim to grow and be as successful as we can.

From all at EGRFC, thank you Citynet.”

Andy Poole – President

How working with a Lloyd’s wholesale broker could help boost your business

Regional brokers could boost their business by tapping into the “collective muscle” and buying power that a wholesale broker can offer, says Citynet.

Retail brokers can benefit from using wholesalers’ knowledge of and access to the London market and new capacity providers, which could give them an edge over their competitors.

“We act almost as a broking department for [our brokers] in London to access dozens of different syndicates and insurers. They likely couldn’t have the relationships with those insurers themselves because they probably wouldn’t be able to build up a big enough book of business with them,” said Lawrence Shortland, head of property & casualty in the UK for the Lloyd’s wholesaler.

The London market remains a very “face to face, transactional environment,” which for brokers who are spread across the regions can make building relationships very difficult.

“If you are working against another broker and you need that edge, you can come into London and we’d be able to find you a market that the other broker may not necessarily have access to,” Shortland told Insurance Business. 

Using a wholesaler can also prove beneficial for retail brokers seeking to place challenging or unusual risks. That relationship can make even a small volume of business outside of a broker’s usual lines more feasible to place, said Andy Walsh, managing director at Citynet.

“The beauty of having a wholesaler is that the broker can simply pass on a small piece of business to us and say – you guys know what you’re doing, sort it and come back and tell us how much it is,” he said.

Navigating the dozens of Lloyd’s syndicates and London market insurers – many of whom may not deal directly with regional brokers – can also be a challenge for retail brokers.

“It’s not just the specialist knowledge of the class of business, it’s about having the relationship with those insurers and knowing who’s most competitive at writing the different classes and different trades,” said Shortland.

As more capacity increasingly comes into the market, providers often head straight for a wholesale broker who can quickly supply them with business.

“If you think of the level of resourcing that would need to go into going out and visiting regional brokers themselves, that would be physically impossible for them to grow an account,” commented Walsh.

“It’s an ever-changing, fast-evolving market,” Shortland added. “It still seems to be almost every week there is new capacity coming in to back one form of MGA or underwriting vehicle or another. That’s obviously part of our job as a wholesale broker, to be on top of that and find out what’s going on, and to access those markets appropriately.”

Ultimately, retail brokers of any size could stand to grow their business by building stronger relationships with wholesalers.

“Even if as a broker you don’t have a huge amount of business, what you get when you come to a wholesaler is you’re buying into that collective muscle and buying power that we’re putting into the market,” Walsh said.

“Even if you’re a small fish, you can actually benefit from what other brokers are placing with us.”

Source: Insurance Business UK

Citynet’s unparalleled growth and success in Ireland

Andy Reason, Head of Property and Casualty Ireland talks to Irish Broker Magazine about Citynet’s unparalleled growth in Ireland over the last five years.

Citynet Insurance Brokers have enjoyed amazing growth in Ireland over the last five years. At the end of our last financial year, the annual Gross Written Premium for Property and Casualty business placed into London represented a 400% increase on the same period in 2013. Andy Reason (Head of Property & Liability Ireland) gives us an insight into the secrets behind the success.

What has been the key to the growth in the last 5 years?

Going back to basics and keeping things simple with the focus on providing the best possible service for our brokers. We made some changes to the way we worked internally and started developing a range of products that could help our brokers satisfy the needs of their clients.  We have assembled a young enthusiastic team of Account Executives who are encouraged to grow the accounts they have with all of our brokers. The best way to do that is to provide the best service in London and that’s what we strive to do each day.

Talk us through some of the changes you made and what sets you apart from other Lloyds Brokers?

The biggest change for us was allocating each of our brokers their own dedicated Account Executive. One of the most common complaints towards Lloyds Brokers is the service levels and turnaround times. By allocating each broker their own dedicated Account Executive they have a consistent point of contact 24/7 and someone they can turn to when they need a response. We also invested in an Irish Country Manager who was centre to these changes and brought us closer to our brokers.

Tell us more about your presence in Ireland?

Declan Reilly is our Irish Country Manager/Associate Director. In my opinion, Declan is the single largest factor behind our growth in Ireland. He’s incredibly popular with our brokers and having someone on the ground in Ireland has been a huge positive for Citynet. Declan works very closely with the account executives in the placement of business into London and has been very successful in identifying and developing a number of bespoke facilities and schemes for some of our Irish Brokers. Having Declan based in Ireland gives each broker a platform to tell us exactly what they need from Citynet and this has allowed us to tailor our products and services to fit their needs.

Why do Irish Brokers choose Citynet?

Other than the products and services we have already discussed one of the biggest factors is the relationships we have with our underwriters. We have many years of London market experience within the team and all of our Account Executives have very strong and longstanding relationships with the markets we use. As a result, our brokers know when they send us an enquiry they will be getting the best possible solution for their client. All of this is backed up by one of the best claims departments in London who work closely with our brokers and Insured’s on claim prevention and are always on hand to assist when a claim occurs.

What does the future hold for Citynet in Ireland?

In the short term, we have a big challenge in navigating our way through the uncertainty of Brexit. Citynet has plans in place (deal or no deal), to make sure we provide a seamless transition for our brokers and clients and continue to provide the same levels of service post Brexit. If any of our Brokers have any particular concerns I would encourage them to contact us and we can discuss their needs in detail. Away from Brexit, we continue to grow our underwriting department with new insurers and products coming on stream so watch this space for exciting news to come on that front. Certain brokers have had huge success recently in setting up niche schemes via Citynet and we are in the process of rolling out more of these in the coming months. The schemes allow us to provide a truly bespoke solution for a particular trade sector maximising both premium saving and coverage for the Insured. Again, if any of our brokers would like to discuss a potential scheme please get in touch with either myself, Declan or your Account Executive. Finally and most importantly we will continue to do what has been successful for us over the last 5 years and that is making sure we are providing the best possible products and services for all our brokers.

Feel free to contact Citynet Insurance Brokers  on 020 7488 7950 / [email protected] if you wish to discuss any of the above further or talk directly to Andy Reason ([email protected]) or Declan Reilly ([email protected]/ 07501 010 284).

Citynet Insurance Brokers appoints Head of Property and Casualty for their UK business.

Established almost two decades ago, wholesaler Citynet Insurance Brokers have appointed industry specialist, Lawrence Shortland as their new UK Head of Property and Casualty.

With over 30 years’ experience within the insurance industry, Lawrence joins from the Wrightsure Group where he has been the Wholesale Director for the last 5 years. He has also previously been a Director at Miles Smith and prior to that worked for RL Davison Lloyd’s Brokers for 18 years where he was the Chief Executive and Managing Director.

In his new role, Lawrence will lead his new team through a new phase of development and growth. The main focus will be expanding the UK account further by nurturing Citynet’s relationships with new and existing intermediaries around the UK as well as helping to develop their facilities with new and existing markets.

Andrew Walsh, Managing Director at Citynet commented: “We are delighted to have an individual of this calibre on board. Lawrence’s experience and track record speak for itself and I am tremendously excited to be working alongside him once again.”

Lawrence Shortland added: “I am thrilled to be joining Citynet, one of the fastest growing and market leading wholesale brokers, and to become part of the exceptional team of people they have there.”

Citynet handle insurance claims differently

When talking about insurance claims, the customer satisfaction is at the heart of any business!

The Consumer Protection Code has at its heart fair outcomes for the client. At the core of this is providing the right advice and the right cover should a claim occur. The Citynet claims team assist their clients with advice on how to reduce the risk of claims and when one does occur they deal with it in the right manner in order that they do get the right outcome.
Having been a major player in the Irish Insurance Market for over 15 years Citynet knows how important it is for their clients to have a fully effective claims service as part of the insurance product that they are purchasing.

To have a fully functioning claims department, the company must be in a position to deliver a positive effect for the insured. “For most of our clients their insurance spend forms a large part of their expenditure for the year and for that to be justified they need to know exactly what product they are purchasing. There is absolutely no point in the placing departments working to achieve a decent result when it is not supported at the time when a claim is reported.

“For those clients who need it, we ensure that the right team is in place to deliver the right result. We consider the company’s insurance history, have they had a poor claims record and if so what contributed to that? What kind of assistance did they receive from their previous insurers? For us to obtain these answers we need to meet with the insured, their retail broker and our nominated loss adjuster. Once we understand their requirements we put in place a bespoke product for the client. What has been surprising is the lack of engagement our clients have received from their previous insurers.

“Insurers do sometimes suffer from poor reputations simply because they do not fully communicate with the insured during the claims process and for Citynet to be an effective intermediary, we needed to put that right” commented Richard Seeley, Claims Director at Citynet Insurance Brokers.

From having the claims process in place for a number of years now, Citynet believes that this type of service not only greatly assists with the handling of a claim but improves the claims record of their clients.

“Without a doubt, we have seen an improvement of clients’ claims records. There are very simple things that they can do to reduce the risk of a claim, but also when that claim does occur we can be in a better position to defend it just by putting in place simple processes. Therefore, we are not only seeing a reduction in the number of incidents that a client may have, but the chances of defending claims have greatly improved. This has a direct financial impact on the insured; The reduction in the number of claims reported not only means fewer payments to cover the cost of their policy excess – they could also see a positive effect on the cost of their renewal premiums.” This is not a complicated idea and it can be done for any type of business no matter how big or small,” adds Richard Seeley.

Property claims represent a fair share in the day to day activity of our team. These claims can really have a direct impact on the insured and their ability to trade. When a company suffers a sizeable property loss, we need to be able to get that company back into a position to trade as soon as possible. Each loss presents its own challenges and we have to deal with them as they appear.

Yes, there is business interruption insurance to cover for the loss of trade for one or two years, but if you lose one customer to a competitor there is no guarantee they will ever return, that threat has to be minimised. As in every business aspect, communication is key particularly when a major loss is experienced. When the insured has the correct information to pass onto their customers, they are in the position where they can minimise any long-term negative effects on their business.

At Citynet, we go the extra mile to achieve the best results for our clients. Our Claims Department has over 75 years’ experience within the claims business and it is this capability and expertise that puts Citynet in the position to deliver a greatly enhanced product to their clients.

Citynet release 2018 half-year results

Citynet Insurance Brokers Limited (“Citynet”), a leading Lloyd’s Broker offering property, casualty, Motor Fleet, PI and various other classes of insurance has issued its interim half-year results for 2018.

Highlights:

• Strong underlying growth across all departments
• Irish Property Casualty 14% increase in turnover
• UK Property Casualty 12% increase in turnover
• Motor Fleet 27% increase in Turnover
• Profit Growth

Summary:

Comment and Outlook:

The half-year results are now out and Citynet are delighted to have posted its record income figures for the six months to 30^th June 2018.

The above results represent a 15% growth in revenue compared to the first six months of 2017. This is an outstanding achievement in a testing marketplace.

Supporting this growth was an outstanding performance by the Motor department. Andy Walsh, former head of Motor and now Managing Director, said: “I am really proud of the whole Citynet team. It shows what hard work can achieve and I look forward to a similar result if not better for the second half of 2018”

Profit for the period, increased by 9% which was a good performance noting that during the first half of 2018, Citynet invested in strengthening its Underwriting department and a proportion of the costs have been recognised in these results. The anticipated increase in revenue from the expanded underwriting team will start flowing in the second half of 2018 onwards.

David Walland, the CFO of Citynet added: “these are a great set of results of which we are very proud, but we are not sitting around patting each other on the back and already have exciting new opportunities in the pipeline for the second half of 2018.”

Cyber breach and how to protect your business

We’ve all heard about the Dixons Carphone cyber breach involving a hacking attempt on 5.9 million payment cards and 1.2 million personal data records.

Whilst Dixons stated that there was no evidence that the cards have been used fraudulently, it has come as a major blow to the business which faces a potential fine under GDPR, especially after the company was already fined £400,000 by the ICO for a data breach as result of a cyberattack in 2015.

One lesson to be learned here is that cyberattacks could have devastating effects, not on just big organisations but the SMEs are equally at risk, so protecting and monitoring your business must be treated as a priority.

To protect your business from Cyber breach, there are few simple steps you need to consider.

• • Understanding the risks – is often seen as just an IT issue and more often than not, might not be filed in the ‘urgent matters’ category. As a business, you need to understand that hackers do not just use IT infrastructure to infiltrate databases, telephone systems and even printers might offer a window into your system. This is why understanding your requirements and the risks are so important.
  • Complex, regularly updated passwords are harder to crack
  • Good anti-virus software and spam filters
  • Data encryption and security access measures
  • Monitoring software should also be considered for reporting any breaches within the time frame set out by GDPR.
  • Educating your staff – this is perhaps one of the most important steps that can be taken to prevent cyber breaches. The majority of hacking attempts do come through email. A good staff education on how to deal with these situations is imperative and could prevent a disaster from happening.
  • Backing up systems regularly

Reportedly, 46% of UK Businesses identified a cybersecurity breach in the last year, no-one is exempt from cyber threats. Make your network secure by developing and implementing some simple policies and responses. See here the FCA new infographic on how to achieve this.

Cybersecurity doesn’t have to be expensive but one question remains:

Can you really put a price on protection, given the multiple ways hackers can infiltrate your business and the effect a data breach can have? Citynet’s Cyber insurance services might just be your answer.

Find out how we can help protect your and your clients’ businesses against data breach, by simply getting in touch with us.