We understand that even a small oversight in a policy wording can result in substantial losses for insurers, poor client service and regulatory intervention.
Our experienced team drafts policy wordings in all categories of insurance business. In recent years, we have drafted or redrafted over 1,000 wordings across all lines of business and over 15,000 bespoke policy endorsements. We have also drafted a large number of bespoke wordings for a wide range of schemes including battle re-enactment societies, motor racing organisations, beekeepers and music studios. Our unrivalled experience means we are always up to speed with the latest underwriting considerations and policy wording developments.
We understand the need for policies to be written in plain English and in keeping with your brand and house style. In conjunction with leading linguists at the University of Nottingham we’ve developed specific drafting techniques that have been independently proven to significantly reduce the reading age of policy wordings, in some cases by more than 10 years, to increase comprehension. To view details of the full study, please click here. Our cutting-edge research in this area, which benefits all our policy wordings clients and their customers, resulted in our partner who led the project, Tim Johnson, being named in the Legal Hot 100 for 2022 by The Lawyer magazine.
We also advise insurers and intermediaries on legal and regulatory issues relating to policy distribution, to ensure products are distributed in accordance with all requirements and that their interests are preserved. We advise on compliance with ICOBS, the Insurance Act 2015, the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 and the Insurance Distribution Directive. We also advise on commercial documentation relating to the distribution of insurance, including reinsurance agreements, TOBAs, binders, TPA agreements, software agreements and other contractual documents.
We recently advised a leading insurer on the redraft of over 1,000 policy wordings and associated documentation to ensure compliance with silent cyber requirements.
Drafting a new suite of personal lines wordings for a leading HNW insurer, with a specific focus on readability.
Advising various new market entrant MGAs on their policy wordings, TOBAs, binders and other contractual agreements to ensure they were up and running as quickly as possible.
Undertaking PROD reviews for a number of insurers and MGAs.
"Thank you so much for your work on the project. You really have gone the extra mile and made a significant financial impact on the business. We could not have completed the work without you."
On 19 November 2019, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published “Finalised guidance” (FG19/5) for “insurance product manufacturers and distributors”.
On 23 January, the Future Professional Indemnity Forum of the IUA invited three industry experts to discuss the practicalities of operating in a hard market.
The purpose of this note is to highlight the difficulties with vendor due diligence in the context of W&I insurance.