At Bravo Networks, we’re proud to work with brokers and insurer partners who align with our values of helping to grow, protect and support our members and their clients. Find out how Travelers worked together with Bravo Networks Member, Knightsure, to source the right policy for a large technology firm, where many others had failed to help.

Struggling to hold the market

Having already enjoyed a relationship with the technology firm for a number of years, upon renewal, they asked Tony Knight, Managing Director Knightsure, for options to include a higher level of cover, particularly for their Directors and Officers and Cyber policy.

When Tony approached the holding insurer, they asked for a significant amount of information and were insistent on a Teams meeting with Knightsure’s client before providing terms. This created roadblocks to getting the information across in the required timescales. At this point, Tony was worried he might lose this client to a competitor.

The search for the right insurer

Tony was working with several insurers to establish who could provide the level of coverage the client needed. Having previously been introduced to Travelers through Bravo Networks Business Development Manager, David Mumford, Tony spoke to Matthew Holt, Insurance Underwriter at Travelers, who knew immediately this risk was for them.

Matt was clear from the beginning about what Travelers could do and followed this through early on. Due to Tony’s complete transparency and Matt’s knowledge of the tech market, the two worked well together throughout. Travelers kept to the agreed timelines and offered what was agreed at every step of the way. This provided Tony with the reassurance that he wasn’t getting from the holding market. Even when Matt suffered from illness at a pivotal point in the case, Travelers Account Manager, Ryan Claydon, made sure everything continued to move forward in his absence.

Navigating the tech market

Due to Matt’s knowledge of the cyber and tech market, he was able to carefully go over the intrinsic details and areas where cover where may be worded differently. Tony said of Matt:

“He knew the granular details off the top of his head, helping us to avoid delays. He touched base multiple times during the process; communication was key. He was very clear in terms of maximum coverage and was honest from the beginning – we started our conversation from the right foot and built everything up off the back of this. Travelers was the only insurer who would take the cover to £5m for cyber and D&O cover.”

The power of relationship building

After some time, the holding insurer came back with a £5k saving and several different options for the client, but after detailed client discussions, Tony recommended Travelers. The differences between the coverage offered weren’t clear-cut, neither ticked all the boxes in terms of having the best cover – but Travelers stood out with higher limits, wider limit bases and much better service levels. They stuck to timelines, there were no anonymous underwriters and Tony had a dedicated point of contact throughout. Before speaking to Travelers, Tony was starting to lose confidence in his insurer interactions, but Travelers helped to restore this.

What Travelers offered

Due to their dedicated tech teams and market insight, Travelers were able to offer some excellent terms. Beyond the coverage itself, they offer a signing-on bonus; money off the overall premium to be spent on risk improvements, with client self-selection. With flexible payment options available, they offered the client interest-free direct debit payments, and long-term fixed rate agreements on non-PI and Cyber covers to give comfort in the current economy. Ryan told us:

“With lots of different limits and price points available, we do not offer one size fits all cover. This flexibility made the client feel like they had plenty of options to pick from based on their requirements. No business is the same, so these limits need to be flexible.”

A very happy client

With the help of Travelers, not only did Tony manage to keep his client, but he also exceeded expectations in a hard market, during an economy in recession. That’s the power of making the right connections.

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The challenges of sourcing the right cyber and D&O policies

We spoke to Matt and Ryan, who told us what the challenges were when it comes to providing this type and level of cover.

Establishing exactly what the client wants – In this instance, Tony was very clear about the D&O and Cyber with the high limits and was transparent from the start – making the whole process much easier.

Level of cover – Tony’s client needed a £5m cover for both cyber and D&O, meaning he was having issues with the holding market. This was when Travelers needed to consider, can they provide this in the current market? If they can’t, they need to start having these conversations early.

Being aware of the market – Going to the right market for the right risk can be the most difficult part. Fortunately, with their experience in technology, Travelers were the right market for this risk. Upon approaching another insurer, Tony was quoted £200k for the cyber alone, as they were simply the wrong market for this risk.

Hard D&O market – Even though the D&O market has softened slightly, it is still quite difficult to navigate. To get a Management Liability Policy (MLP) with the holding market, Knightsure’s client would have needed to provide two years of management accounts – this can make life very difficult for brokers. Travelers has been a strong and stable MLP market during these tough times.

Specialisms – Without the right experience, it’s impossible to underwrite all the different aspects of a tech policy. You need to have someone with experience underwriting it.