Sophie Locke-Cooper reviews the news
This week we spoke to Sophie Locke-Cooper, reporter at Insurance Age, to get her take on the past week’s insurance news.
1. What has been the stand-out story for you in the insurance market this week and why?
It has got to be RSA leaving the UK personal lines motor market. Not only did this stand out because it is a big insurer, but it also highlights how tough the motor market has been these past few months. Many factors have contributed to this such as cost of claims soaring with inflation and a rise in motor fraud as people tackle with cost-of-living challenges.
2. Who is your insurance personality of the week and why?
An empowering young broker called Katie Baker. She is the Chief Operating officer at My First and she is only in her 20s. When interviewing her not only did she empower me, but I knew she would empower others. Unfortunately, it is rare to see women in c-suite roles and it is unheard of for young women. Her dedication to what she wants to achieve and her belief in herself was extremely influential. She is not set back by the facts and figures of gender diversity within the insurance industry and continues to strive towards being the best.
I hope I talk to more women like Katie Baker.
3. Which news this week do you think will have the most long-term impact on the insurance profession?
In the financial world there will always be obstacles and when one disappears another arises. Currently, I think the talent recruitment challenges will stick around because insurance does not have the spotlight in the finance sector like banking does. Many brokers and insurers I have spoken to have all said that at one point in the past couple years recruitment has been tough. Companies are starting to introduce apprenticeship schemes to attract people from colleges or universities and businesses are trying to build talent from within their workforce.
4. If you could interview anyone from the world of insurance and they had to answer your question 100% truthfully, who would it be and what would you ask them?
I would like to talk to Aviva’s CEO Amanda Blanc. I want to know her absolute honest opinion on her experience in the industry. As I’m sure we can all remember what happened at Aviva’s AGM last year and her response. This revealed that she has experienced sexism throughout her career and has still made it to the top. I want to know how she has dealt with her experiences and how she pushed past it to make it into the c-suite.
5. If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about our industry, what would it be?
I think this goes without saying but I would love to see more women in the industry! Insurance is a legacy sector, which isn’t an issue, I just think something needs to disrupt this. There needs to be more innovation and better diversity & inclusion. The industry falls behind other financial sectors and I would like to see it accelerating to the top.
6. Finally, would you survive a zombie apocalypse?
Funny you ask this, me and my housemates have recently just finished watching the Last of Us series (if you don’t know get to know), and we were discussing what we would do in a zombie apocalypse. This may be a bleak answer, but I would purposely not survive it. Why would you want to spend your life fighting for survival and living in horrible conditions? I’m going to protect my peace and happiness and say see ya!