Independent Insurance, a UK-based publicly quoted company, wants regulatory approval to set up in Dublin. The general insurance firm, already licensed to operate in the Irish market from its London headquarters, has applied for a licence to establish a full branch operation in Dublin.
Subject to regulatory approval, Independent plans to have this branch working by the end of the year or in early January. Initially, it will recruit 25 to 30 people and will concentrate on commercial property and liability business in the middle to upper end of the market, personal lines for high net worth individuals and insurance for schemes and affinity groups.
Manager designate of the Irish operation, Mr Michael Vaughan, said Independent decided on Dublin because of the potential for profitable expansion in the Irish market and so that it could develop closer ties to the brokers through whom it sells its products.
Independent already has premium income of about £12 million sterling from products sold into the Irish market from London.
Mr Vaughan said Independent was not interested in the Irish motor insurance market. In the personal lines area it will concentrate on property insurance for high net worth clients. In the commercial market, it will target property and liability business where annual premiums are in the £10,000-plus range.
"We will not sell on price. We will offer a full package including risk management," he said.
Independent is unusual in the general insurance market in that it makes underwriting profits - the excess of premium income over claims paid out and expenses. Mr Vaughan said it ensured underwriting profits by "picking the brokers we work with carefully, picking the risks we accept carefully and surveying everything".
About five of the 25-30 Dublin recruits would be surveyors, he said. Independent would have a higher expense ratio than other insurers but a lower underwriting ratio. Last week the company reported underwriting profits of £17.3 million sterling for the six months to end June on premium income of £257 million, up from a profit of £10.8 million on premium income of £221 million. Trading profits for the six months were £29.3 million up from £26.2 million.
Independent sells through insurance brokers. In the UK it gets 80 per cent of its business from just 300 brokers. The company specialises in commercial and personal insurances - motor and home, property, liability, accident and health, professional indemnity and marine open cargo schemes.
Mr Mike Bright, Independent's chairman and managing director, won this year's British Insurance Achievement Award. In a recent interview with Post, an industry magazine, Mr Bright said the company's success was based on "adding value and building up quality relationships with brokers". The insurance company effectively started in 1986 when Mr Bright and a management team from Lombard Continental took over the Allstate operation, backed by New Scotland Insurance.
Independent was floated on the Stock Market in November 1993, becoming the first general insurer since the second World War to float on the London Stock Exchange. It has expanded rapidly. In September 1994 it acquired some of the assets of Aegon Insurance and in 1995 bought out the French company Palatine Assurances and the specialist French underwriter SAFOM.
