But there isn’t an R in the month

“If the wind changes your face will stay like that” is something we often say to young children if they pull a silly face, although of course children quickly realise that this isn’t the case. But sometimes your understanding of the world can come from a deep-rooted and long-held opinion or belief. I am not talking about an opinion which could be offensive to another person who holds a different view, but rather one which might inform our individual behaviours and choices.

I’ll share a personal example. I recently went to the Highlands, and whilst I was there I thought it was a shame the month of June lacks the letter R. The reason for this is that I had the belief that one should not eat molluscs (mussels) unless the name of the month contained this letter. I had held this belief for a long time, even to the extent that I would view a fishmonger looking to sell them between May to August with a weary eye thinking they were not following the ‘R’ rule.

But I was surprised to see bags upon bags of fresh mussels on the fish counter in the local supermarket, even to the extent of being advertised as “in season”. I enquired as to why this was, to be told by the fishmonger that my belief was misaligned - it’s oysters that the old saying is referring to, not mussels. Mussels are in season all year round! 

My mind then flashed back to my summer holidays spent as a child eating mussels in France during the summer holidays, so somewhere between the ages of 3 and 37 the fear of the missing ‘R’ had crept in and taken root. It wasn’t until I spoke to an expert in the field that I was able to shake this misheld belief.

It's easier than you think to draw a connection between my story and insurance broking. So often, when I work with a new client and ask them questions on the make up of their insurance panel, I am told:

“Our current broker says ABC Insurance is the only insurer willing to offer terms to us.”
Or 
“That product is no longer available to our industry as the market has hardened.”

Occasionally the above might be true, but it cannot be a belief that takes root for thirty years as the insurance market is constantly evolving and changing. For example, the first cyber policy was written in 1997 but the internet was invented in 1983 therefore companies were unable to purchase insurance for several years, although the risk may not have been great as we were still some years from the dot.com boom. Then if you compare the 1997 policy (which was essentially a third-party-only policy) to today's proactive always-watching first and third-party cyber products, you are really comparing night and day. 

Another example of this is, as brokers, we are often taught that war as a risk is uninsurable  whereas this is not a hard rule akin to the sun always rising in the east, as was proven by our Marine insurance colleagues at Howden with their Red Sea Cargo War Risk facility.

The question you should be asking yourself about your relationship with your broker is, are they always looking to improve what they can source for you or just renewing each year because they are unaware that the market has changed. If you simply renew your policy each year, you potentially leave your business unable to benefit from the best coverage available or the most competitive terms. If you're not sure, ask Howden to undertake a complimentary due diligence review of your current insurance portfolio. You can call us on 0330 008 1334 or email us via the buttons below.