Leadership Insights: Jonathan Santer – Broker Personal Lines

Mark: Jonathan Santer is Managing Director, Broker and Affinity at Aviva. He joins me now. John, first of all, tell us a little bit about your role and the team on the ground.

Jonathan:  Absolutely. So my part of the business is involved in distributing personal lines products, the types that you or I would buy through an intermediary, whether that's a local, regional, high street broker, through to a scheme or an MGA, or even a strategic partner who might be distributing their own products under their brand, but that we're putting capacity behind. So it's a very varied role and it's responsibility for the end-to-end part of our operation.

Mark: So what have been the main developments in the business so far this year?

Johnathan: So we've been focusing this year very much on understanding where brokers in the value chain bring commercial or customer benefit to us and we've been doubling down our efforts there. The big focus of that has been within our regional broking space. There we've focused, firstly, on our pricing capability and sophistication. We've rolled out IHP capability, that's insurer-hosted pricing on all bar one products now with a further one to come. And what that brings is the next level of sophistication, our best rate to market, where we've also spent a lot of time understanding the nuances of brokers, how their model actually adds value and reflecting that in our rating as well to give that most competitive rate. Secondly, alongside that, we've been rolling out product enhancements, particularly on our home products. So we've added Flood Re capability at new business and renewal. And that's in the middle of being rolled out at the moment. As part of Flood Re as well, we've invested in Build Back Better, which is a capability that puts flood resilience measures in, so our customers can get that peace of mind that they wouldn't be subjected to similar floods in the future. And finally, I'd focus on our people investment. So we've been looking at our broker service teams, making sure that they're a lot more proactive in terms of their broker contact, nipping issues in the bud and stopping them from escalating early. And then on the claims side as well, we've ring-fenced our broker teams really to understand the different nuances within broker customer journeys and how that reflects in how we handle the claim and give a much better experience for those customers going through in their moment of need.

Mark: Well, I was going to ask, you described a team that's covering everything from the high street broker through to specialties, MGAs. So how do you divide the teams up to make sure that you've got the right level of service depending on the type of broker or scheme that you're dealing with?

Jonathan: Absolutely. So we listened to our broker feedback and that's the primary way that we adapt and change our stance off the back of it. We also obviously have a number of data-led initiatives. So by looking at our service metrics, we're able to identify pinch points and channel our resources and structure ourselves more effectively around that. So that's the most important way.

Mark: And what are some of the trends in the industry, the economy, perhaps even from the regulator that you're seeing at the moment and how are you responding to try and help your client base?

Jonathan: Well, it's very complex and it is very challenging for a number in this distribution channel at the moment, whether it's inflation - we've seen a number of sustained years of high inflation, thankfully abating now, but that's obviously put pressure on claims costs and commensurately on prices, offsetting that against the backdrop of cost of living squeeze in customers' pockets and then really challenging the value of the insurance products that they're buying. And as you mentioned, the regulator, there is specifically a huge amount of regulatory focus, whether it has been pricing practices or most recently consumer duty and us being considerate of the knock-on impact that that has on the business models, particularly within the broker channel, where a number had a much greater level of focus as well.

Mark: What are some of the things that you want to deliver for brokers and their clients over the next six to 12 months?

Jonathan: So against that backdrop of a lot of uncertainty and challenging trading environments, we're looking at ways of continually trying to make it easier to trade with. So thinking about customer expectations, we're looking at ways how we can make it easier for brokers to sell our products for example. So we're looking at product enhancements, we're in the middle of rolling out our new home proposition, new home products, end-to-end as well, we're thinking across all the different customer bases that we try and access, how we can service all of those needs. So we have a bit of an in-house phrase sort of 'from maisonette's to mansions', and we're thinking about how we address customers within that spectrum. And we're linking in with our high net worth colleagues, for example, right at the top end and then also considering emerging customer needs across all of those products, and where we might need to adapt our proposition accordingly. I mentioned inflation earlier, what we're seeing is under inflation, for example, when brokers are able to really have a constructive conversation with their customers about their sums insured and whether they're effectively covered, we see increasingly actually the need to accommodate slightly higher limits. And so we've put in efforts already and we'll continue to do so to reflect that in our products and within the acceptance criteria. In particular, I'd highlight our Fast Trade capability. So this is our extranet products, where because we have a lot greater control over that product, we're able to accommodate a lot more business and we're focusing our efforts very, very much in that space to broaden that competitive footprint and really help brokers find those solutions that they need for their customers.

Mark: Given the backdrop you've described, what are a couple of the key issues that you think are going to influence how you speak with brokers and their clients and what you talk to them about?

Jonathan:So it's a challenging environment and we need to be thinking about ways to help our brokers through it. So firstly, we're looking at our product range and how we can expand the footprint and the capacity that that brings, enabling brokers to respond to different customer needs, reflecting the fact that customers typically go to them because they have something slightly unusual as well. And we're going to be continuing on that journey there to help them in that space. Thinking about the regulatory environment as well, we need to really be conscious about how we have a proportionate level of oversight and that it is both cost-effective also continuing to deliver really good customer outcomes, and we'll be working in partnership with our brokers to ensure that that happens. And then finally, I think when looking at our pricing, we need to continue investing in our capabilities to make sure that that is always delivering knockout value, but also empowering our brokers with the ability to help explain it to customers a little bit more and why it does represent good value for them.

Mark: John, we talked through a lot in the last five minutes or so. But if you had to distill it down to one key message, for brokers, what would it be?

Jonathan: We are committed to this market. We are investing in this market and we are here for the long term. So please come and speak to us because everything that we do is in response to the needs that we are trying to service for you as our brokers. So the door is open and we are open to discussions about any new opportunity.

Mark: We have to end it there, Jonathan Santer. Thank you.

Jonathan: Thank you. 

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