The Great Lakes Large Single Risk Team acts as facilitator for the direct insurance business opportunities a reinsurer is not allowed to accept. We handle all non-life types of business for large industrial accounts in this area.
The team comprises five professionals who have many years’ experience in the industry. We attend to all licensing and tax issues, while signing and checking all documentation. We have a strong service ethic and consistently achieve a 24-hour turnaround. We have far-reaching licensing capabilities and are continually looking to expand these, depending on the business case presented. We maintain a strong London Market presence and disseminate the information we gather amongst our colleagues at Munich Re.
Great Lakes provides delegated underwriting authority to a number of underwriting agencies. The arrangement of agency agreements needs to fit in and comply with the UK’s regulatory environment. Great Lakes’ Agency team is responsible for ensuring that the necessary level of control is exercised over the operation of the Agency Agreement. This is done in close cooperation with the Risk & Compliance, Technical Services and Business Support & Control teams.
The team comprises three professionals managing the relationship with the agent and one being the specialist for the contract wordings. We undertake the quality assurance process, including the assessment of the agent’s financial stability, systems and controls, operational practices and good reputation of the prospective agent. We draft the agency agreement wording, which details all terms and conditions that govern the operation of the agency agreement. Once the agency agreement has been set up, we manage the relationship with the agent by way of regular meetings and contacts with regard to management information reports and possible contract amendments during the year. We also handle the procedures in conjunction with renewal and termination of the agreement and manage the run-off of an account.
Whenever insurance companies seek reinsurance to transfer parts of the risk exposure to a third party, they have to hold capital for the underlying default risk of the counterparty. In order to optimise their capital and to reduce the relevant costs, insurance companies increasingly tend to seek coinsurance solutions instead. Such coinsurance agreements are also handled within Great Lakes’ Agency team.
We support our business partners in setting up an appropriate coinsurance structure, taking into account the interests of all involved parties. The processes and procedures of coinsurance agreements are very similar to those of setting up an agency agreement. We undertake the quality assurance process in close collaboration with the coinsurer and draft the coinsurance wording together with the coinsurer. We manage the relationship with the coinsurer during the year and handle the renewal and termination, including run-off of the agreement.
Great Lakes will consider acting as facilitator for direct insurance business that is reinsured outside Munich Re, providing that the third-party reinsurer is regarded as a strategic partner for Munich Re and minimum security and other standard requirements are met.
Third-party companies are neither consolidated subsidiaries, nor interests in joint ventures nor associated companies of any Munich Re company, i.e. these companies are not directly or indirectly controlled, jointly controlled or significantly influenced by Munich Re.
When insurance companies in the European Economic Area (EEA) transfer insurance business between separate companies, they are governed by EEA Insurance Directives which impose certain responsibilities on the companies making the transfer. In the UK, the legislation which manages these transfers is the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), which acts in concert with the relevant EEA Insurance Directives. Insurance companies can transfer the whole insurance business of companies, books of business or certain blocks of policies.
The transfer of insurance business is tightly controlled, through the FSMA, by the High Court of Justice in England and Wales (High Court) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA). This tight control is imposed in part because the interests of policyholders are deemed to be paramount.
All relevant policyholder information can be found in the attached link:
» http://www.greatlakes.co.uk/Gluk/InsuranceBusinessTransfer/
Based on our London Market presence and worldwide insurance activities, we can add value to the Business Units of Munich Re by providing business support and advice on all aspects of direct business, in particular facilitating new business, special insurance solutions, London Market knowledge and expertise, worldwide knowledge regarding insurance law, regulation, taxes and terror pools, obtaining new licences and setting up local establishments.
