Assetinsure has stopped providing heavy motor fleet cover to Specialist Underwriting Agencies (SUA).

The companies’ commercial strategies differed, Assetinsure CEO Gregor Pfitzer told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

He says it has been an amicable parting in a market that has seen “quite a bit of reshuffling” of business between underwriting agencies and security.

The decision means the insurer has also stopped providing SME specialty cover to support the motor book.

SUA Director John Iles says the heavy motor class is uneconomical for small players. “We’ve decided not to continue with it. We didn't have a big portfolio of business in the first place.

“A lot of insurers we go to want a certain-sized portfolio,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “The losses we would have sustained to get to that level, because the market is still fairly soft, would not have been worthwhile.

“It’s rare for a heavy motor portfolio to run at anything less than a 70-75% loss ratio, which is incredibly high. So it’s very difficult to make sufficient money out of it unless you are a large player.”

The Assetinsure move follows the transfer earlier this year of its professional indemnity portfolio to Catlin, which was also due to changing market conditions.

Mr Pfitzer says the moves occurred over several months to allow a smooth transition, and are unrelated to Assetinsure’s proposed merger with Ironshore, which was called off last month.