SSP has appointed Paul Cassidy as Director of its e-Trading Division, as it seeks to strengthen and develop its core insurance quotation and distribution services.
Reporting directly to SSP Chief Executive Laurence Walker, Cassidy will be responsible for the future development of SSP’s core e-trading and distribution solutions across both personal and commercial lines sectors, including SSP Quote Hub, its real-time rating hub for personal lines.
Cassidy comes to the job with a wealth of experience from his previous position as Head of Information Systems at Swinton, where he was responsible for defining and delivering its systems strategy.
His experience has given him an excellent understanding of the issues facing insurers and intermediaries, across both personal and commercial lines, as well as a clear vision of the seamless experience that consumers now demand across multiple channels.
This will help SSP develop its propositions and make sure its clients keep pace with consumers’ demands, allowing them to expertly manage all channels including: face-to-face, contact centres, online and price comparison sites.
Walker said: “With investment returns set to remain low, and unrivalled levels of price transparency, the personal lines market will remain intensely competitive. Against this backdrop, it is essential that we continue to invest in SSP Quote Hub and other platforms that will enable our customers to improve their responsiveness and reduce their costs. Similarly, in commercial lines, we must continue to move our capabilities forward, particularly in the low value micro-SME segment.”
He added: “Paul’s track record speaks for itself and I know he will make a similarly valuable contribution to SSP as we evolve our strategy for the future.”
Cassidy said: “This is a very exciting time to be joining SSP. The industry is going through a period of transformation as digitalisation is changing consumer behaviour and forcing firms to adapt. With around 40% of all intermediated business flowing through it already, SSP Quote Hub is a huge step forward for the industry, and SSP is well positioned to help firms in this sector make real progress through its innovation and capability.
“During my time at Swinton, SSP was one of our most important strategic partners, and by collaborating closely we achieved significant progress through the use of technology. I want to help develop this sort of relationship with more and more companies across the insurance landscape, as the closer we can work with our customers, the more mutual benefit we will be able to create.”
