BIBA Launches New Facility to Help Its Members Review Financial Position of Unrated Insurers

LONDON, Dec. 21 -- The British Insurance Brokers' Association issued the following news release:

This week the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) launched a new free-to-use online facility for its members that will help with their due diligence when considering whether to use unrated non-life insurers.

The facility, the BIBA Litmus Test Report, was designed with the analytical support of Litmus Analysis and uses data from A.M. Best to present a number of key financial ratios for a number of unrated insurers most often used by BIBA members. The report benchmarks the ratios of a company against a representative UK insurer cohort to illustrate - in terms relative to other relevant companies - its financial strength at the point in time of the available public financial data.

Steve White, BIBA Chief Executive said: "At present there is no legal or regulatory requirement for an insurer to have a rating, nor is there a legal or regulatory requirement for an insurance broker to use only rated carriers and this online tool will give valuable support for our members when deciding whether the financial standing of an insurer they are considering placing business with is sufficiently robust or not."

The BIBA Litmus Test Report will not give a rating to insurers in the same way as the well-known credit rating organisations. It provides financial ratios including underwriting, investment and reserve leverage percentages as well as underwriting profitability and liquidity. The data is backed up by a number of detailed guides written by Litmus to help brokers interpret the numbers and make a decision about whether or not to choose that insurer.

In the online tool an initial coverage of 30 insurers can be checked using a simple search facility. The insurer coverage will evolve as BIBA responds to the needs of its members and will be updated regularly as market practice changes and capacity shifts.

Peter Hughes, Litmus Analysis Managing Director said "This tool will help brokers in their decision making process. It takes financial data provided by A.M. Best and condenses it into a number of key financial pointers that can be interpreted using the guides. This is a giant leap forward for brokers who previously may have had no support when wading through insurer report and accounts to ascertain the financial strength of a company."

Steve White concluded: "This facility has been created in response to overwhelming interest from our members because up until now there has been no recognised due diligence method to ascertain the strength of unrated insurers other than pouring over the insurer's report and accounts. This new tool will allow our members to more easily make a judgment about whether they are comfortable to use an insurer or not."

1. About Litmus Analysis

LITMUS ANALYSIS is a team of analysts offering a broad range of products and services designed to create increased transparency, clarity and knowledge in the insurance and reinsurance markets.

It bring the skills and experience of a team of top analysts to the insurance world and offers ratings advice, a full range of analytical services, and training across the insurance and financial markets.

2. About the British Insurance Brokers' Association

The British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) is the UK's leading general insurance intermediary organisation representing the interests of insurance brokers, intermediaries and their customers.

BIBA membership includes just under 2,000 regulated firms.

General insurance brokers contribute 1per ecnt of GDP to the UK economy and BIBA brokers employ more than 100,000 staff.

54per ecnt of all general insurance is sold by an insurance broker and they arrange 78per ecnt of all commercial insurance business.

Insurance brokers put the client's interests first, providing advice, access to suitable insurance protection and risk management.

BIBA helps more than 250,000 people a year to access insurance protection through its Find a Broker service, both online and via the telephone.

BIBA is the voice of the sector advising members, the regulators, consumer bodies and other stakeholders on key insurance issues.

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