GIM1220 - The UK insurance market: the domestic market
The UK market for general insurance can be split into two areas,
the domestic insurance market and the London market.
The domestic market is a direct insurance market split
between a mass market, dealing for example with the needs of
individual house-holders and motorists, and a specialist market
catering for the complex needs of the business community and
offering cover for all manner of commercial and financial risks.
Companies may operate through brokers or agents, through a
direct sales force, or direct with the policyholder through the
mail, telephone or Internet. A private policyholder, then, may
obtain cover in a variety of ways, directly from insurance
companies operating through a network of branches or agents, or
indirectly through a broker from either a corporate insurer or a
Lloyd's syndicate. Lloyd's business must be placed through
authorised Lloyd's brokers. Prospective policyholders cannot
approach a Lloyd’s syndicate directly.
Small commercial risks may be handled in much the same way as
private risks. A large commercial concern with complicated needs is
likely to have its own insurance department and/or risk manager who
will assess the concern's insurance needs, including the extent to
which risk should be retained.
Apart from compulsory motor insurance, UK residents are free
to obtain insurance from insurers outside the UK, and since 1 July
1994 there has been a single market in insurance throughout the EEA
with no national boundaries.
