Groupama have increased their UK presence with the expansion of its commercial team. In the move, a team of three new underwriters will service different parts of the country.
Barry Gibbons will serve brokers in the North West, where he has been based for some years now. Steve Scrimgeour, an expert SME underwriter has moved from his role as new business underwriter in London to cover the whole of the South East. And Peter Bignell (pictured) has joined from Allianz to cover East Anglia and the East Midlands.
The move is aimed to give brokers better access to underwriting decisions.
Dawn Dillaway, Head of Commercial Underwriting at Groupama Insurances, said, “This is a tough market and in order to compete, brokers need swift decisions. That is precisely what our Development Underwriting Team has been created to deliver.
“By dedicating a highly skilled development underwriter to key regions of the UK, brokers know they will get a consistent level of focus on their needs that will help them win and retain business across our whole commercial range including online, open market and our specialist ‘Exclusively’ products.”
The new team will also be critical to the wider adoption of e-trading for Groupama’s commercial combined cover, Optima Business Plus. The company has already seen an uplift in brokers placing commercial policies using the system as a result of its Optima Rewards incentive programme launched at the start of the year.
Dawn Dillaway continued “Our team has the skills and authority to really help our supporting brokers take maximum advantage of valuable new SME business opportunities by providing a more local underwriting presence.
“This is all part of our on-going commitment to provide enhanced trading capabilities combined with agility and speed to market.”
