What’s your background in the travel insurance sector; how have you progressed to your current role?

In the last 20-plus years I have had the opportunity to work primarily within the underwriting disciplines. This has been focused on risk management, growth, pricing, and product, where I have had the privilege of working with, and gaining knowledge and experience from, many of the well-known insurers and individuals in the travel industry.

Congratulations on your recent appointment as Associate Director of Travel for Hood Group. Could you explain what the role involves, and what your key aims and challenges are for 2025?

We have had an incredible end to 2024, having completed our MBO with the assistance of Connection Capital LLP and the strengthening of some of our key partnerships.

My focus will be to drive the travel strategy at Hood Group to ensure we are ahead of industry trends. With the investors’ support, there will be focus on ensuring the foundations are strengthened to support growth. This will be in many areas of the business, such as a well-governed business model but also an ‘eyes-on’ approach to tracking the numbers and delivering business insights. Not only do we want to expand on our technical capabilities around pricing and execution for existing relationships, but we also want to explore the potential of our artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, which are already driving efficiencies on both the operational and insurance aspects of our business. We primarily want to bring technological solutions to improve penetration, and drive customer engagement as well as upskill our teams, empowering them for the changes ahead in a fun and supportive environment.

With profit margins tight in the UK travel insurance sector, what do you see as the main areas of improvement and growth for the industry?

With the wave of insurtechs across the insurance industry, there is growing emphasis on adopting new technologies. Especially important is not only to simplify the sales process but also, at point of claim, to ultimately support customer engagement, which will lead to better penetration and retention.

With costs increasing there is likely to be further consolidation in the market. The strong shift towards Consumer Duty principles means greater focus and cost implications for the insurance sector. Though this may see fewer capacity options in the short term, we expect to see the main capacity providers undertake growth strategies with larger appetites for new business to drive sales and claims cost efficiencies.

How are technology and insurtech partnerships playing a part in transforming the UK travel insurance landscape?

Insurtechs are having a positive impact and, as more and more develop, we are now seeing increasingly cost-effective options emerging. Competition is driving this and there is still enormous potential for positive change within the travel market. We are seeing more emphasis on oversight tools to monitor and manage product suites, as well as adoption of more sophisticated pricing tools to keep pace with the market leaders. With capacity shifting to larger composite insurers, there are also a lot of overflows of technology being adopted for travel as a business line as the insurers move away from legacy systems to data- and client-driven systems.

How is the regulatory burden imposed on insurers restricting growth in the industry? And what can insurers do to meet their requirements and also make sure they are hitting their targets and protecting their bottom line?

It of course takes time to adapt to the new requirements and therefore some entities are currently less focused on their competitiveness as they look to focus on internal development to meet the requirements. This is both technological but also investing in their employees’ technical adequacy, to navigate the new landscape.

With the wave of insurtechs across the insurance industry, there is growing emphasis on adopting new technologies

This means some businesses have less competition in the short term and could look to acquire other businesses during this opportune moment. I don’t think this restricts growth; it is just shifting emphasis on who is capable now of taking advantage and who is progressing on their capability to compete.

You’ve been in the travel insurance sector for some time, in different roles. What have your previous experiences taught you that is going to enable you to take Hood Group’s travel proposition to the next level?

As I am sure you can appreciate it is so important we maintain strong relationships with our partners. Navigating inevitable business challenges should always be based on a collaborative basis to ensure all parties are engaged.

You must develop a mindset to be prepared to learn without fear of failure. We need to challenge ourselves constantly, particularly in the pricing arena with a market that is constantly moving.

Investing in the people around us, empowering them and creating an environment of collaboration, goes hand in hand with the drive to learn.

Investing in technology now will put us in the best position to move forward to support our partners, by supporting ourselves. Product and pricing oversight, governance, and creating an environment for experimentation are essential, but must be within a review cycle framework that remains constant, as the funnel of information and data may not be. Technology helps us create a constant, like a laboratory with the right tool sets.

What makes the UK’s travel insurance market unique compared with others you’ve worked in and developed?

Its ability to adapt has been apparent many times over the years. Market-shifting events such as Covid-19 have shown that resilience is also key in this market.

It is also a hungry adopter of innovation, despite running on premiums that are only a fraction of our motor and home cousins’. Having lower budgets has meant the market has had to be more creative in its solutions at times. This has inevitably resulted in more tailored approaches, but this has often been the most rewarding aspect as there are varying successful business models and approaches within travel.

Late in 2024, the management team at Hood Group completed a buyout of the Group’s silent shareholders. What does this mean for the company, and its clients?

Connection Capital LLP has identified an incredible opportunity in Hood Group. They are here to support, nurture and propagate a business model that has successfully developed over the last 40 years, and accelerate its potential. The replacing of the silent shareholders with a proactive partner will enable the business to move forward at a far faster pace.

Navigating inevitable business challenges should always be based on a collaborative basis to ensure all parties are engage

Providing investment in people, technology and resources will help Hood Group realise its goals to enhance the accessibility and efficiency of insurance products as well as bring tailored long-term solutions to its partners.

What are your hopes for the future of Hood Group, and for the UK’s travel insurance market?

Very much an evolution of what is already here. Hood Group’s foundations are being strengthened to future-proof itself; the investment in people and technologies is already starting to show positive results. It is now time to harness and accelerate from that positive position.

There is a strong travel community and so I hope, with investment in people and technology, we can keep the market interested and engaged and hopefully attract new entrants into a business line that is very much preparing for the future now, and will be a better marketplace for it.

Ultimately, we want new and existing partners to be approaching us with the confidence that we are the leading affinity enabler in our marketplace.