Berkley Insurance Australia says it’s rebranded its Facilities department to become Partner Solutions, in a clearer reflection of its role in working with underwriting agencies and brokers. 

“We wanted to be clear on who we want to be for our coverholders,” National Partner Solutions Manager Paul Bleakley said. “The term ‘facilities’ often made it difficult for potential partners to find us and understand our services.” 

Berkley says the insurance landscape has transformed significantly, with brokers and underwriters seeking more specialised and responsive support. 

“Setting up a dedicated team of specialist underwriters and support staff was a pivotal move to ensure our partners receive priority service,” he said. 

Partner Solutions supports underwriting agencies and broker binders, covering a variety of risks ranging from financial lines and general liability to niche offerings such as hole in one insurance and event cancellation coverage.  

“We encourage our partners to innovate in their product offerings, and our role is to support their business development,” Mr Bleakley said. 

Underwriting agencies have become a growth area in the wider market, with feedback from brokers indicating that they often feel large insurers have fallen short on service levels in some areas.  

“The underwriting agencies have filled that gap with people who are interested in writing the business, who will respond to telephone calls,” Mr Bleakley tells insuranceNEWS.com.au. 

“We have been supporting underwriting agencies here since at least 2010, and we set up a team in 2012 to specifically look after these relationships.” 

A lot of the Partner Solutions portfolios are micro SME, which fall below the size of the SME business turnover that is generally the focus for Berkley, or they may operate in different areas. 

Mr Bleakley says in the area of broker binders, a number of security providers are looking at the viability of small-size portfolios given costs, and Berkley is receiving approaches as a result. 

The Partner Solutions team, which includes four underwriters and a financial accountant, seeks to partner with coverholders, whether they are broker binders, underwriting agencies or potentially other types of arrangements. 

“The industry is still evolving,” Mr Bleakley says.