Insurance law

Over the last decade we have built what is undeniably the market-leading policy wordings team, appointed by a large number of insurers including Hiscox, Beazley, CNA Hardy, Accredited, NFU Mutual, the Lloyd's Market Association, Corvelia, IGI, Travelers, MS Amlin, iprism, Simply Business, Sompo, Omnyy and AmTrust.

We are particularly well known for our focus on clear policy drafting, having developed unique services including wide-scale customer testing, readability analysis by linguistics professors, and the application of the Plain Numbers approach (the only law firm to be an accredited Plain Numbers partner). For NFU Mutual, independent linguistic analysis showed a reduction in reading age of over eight years. We were also trusted by the Lloyd's Market Association to draft its Consumer Wordings Guidance document, the authoritative market-facing document on policy wordings. The scale of that work speaks for itself: in the last year alone the team drafted over 1,250 bespoke policy endorsements and advised on over 100 scheme wordings for Hiscox.

In the insurance intermediary M&A space we are a clear 'go-to', acting for some of the most active consolidators in the market, including Howden, Clear, Jensten, Arthur J Gallagher and Bespoke, as well as advising private equity and other funders (including Apiary and R Capital) on their investments into insurance intermediaries. Having become particularly well known for our ability to combine a top 20 dealmaking M&A practice with in-depth insurance sector knowledge, we acted on over 40 such acquisitions in the last 12 months alone.

Alongside M&A, we advise on the full range of complex commercial arrangements including TOBAs, delegated authority agreements, risk transfer agreements, TPA agreements and the creation of new MGAs from inception.

We provide specialist insurance regulatory advice across the full lifecycle of insurance business: from FCA and PRA authorisations and governance, to solvency and capital, product development and distribution, and regulatory enforcement. Our regulatory expertise is particularly valued in the context of intermediary acquisitions, where we advise clients such as Howden and Jensten on compliance risks and smooth integration.

Our London Market team handles disputes across a wide range of classes of business including US products liability, political risk and political violence, international property disputes, fine art and specie, FI and D&O, COVID-19 business interruption claims, construction and engineering, UK commercial property damage, high net worth, coverholder issues, and reinsurance. The team has run significant London Commercial Court cases and international arbitrations in London, Bermuda, the US and Europe.

Our team provides market-leading claims handling services to insurer clients from offices in Birmingham, Exeter, London, Manchester and Nottingham, with claims across several lines of business handled on a delegated authority basis by an expert UK-wide team of insurance specialists. The team acts across several lines of business, including US products liability, political risk and political violence, international property disputes, fine art and specie, FI and D&O, COVID-19 business interruption claims, construction and engineering, UK commercial property damage, high net worth, cover holder issues, and reinsurance.

As the sole English member firm of the Harmonie Group (a network of 103 independent specialist insurance law firms covering every US State, every province in Canada, and worldwide) our London Market team has genuine international reach to support clients wherever disputes arise. Colin Peck serves as the current President of the Board of Harmonie Worldwide, reflecting our standing within the network and our ability to coordinate cross-border claims work seamlessly for the Lloyd's and London Company markets.