Ami Underwriting Managers (Pty) Ltd (Ami) has announced that it will act as an independent underwriting manager for Lombard Insurance. At the outset, Ami will write general and high net worth personal lines policies.
The Ami team is already established, with Zaida Mia on board has Head of Operations and Kurt Solomon as Executive: Broker Distribution. This is in addition to the two founding partners, Christelle Colman and Carel Nolte.
“We have a smart, committed executive team ready to take Ami live,” says Colman.
Over the course of the next five years, Ami aims to become a leading personal lines underwriter in the South African domestic insurance market, with a clear focus on the high net worth and aspirational millennial market, acquiring business through a trusted broker network and strong affinity partners.
Core to the future success of Ami is building a community of clients in a high retention model, which will be underwritten individually throughout the policy life cycle.
“Ami is intent on turning insurance on its head,” says Colman. “We are a 21st century company with a 21st century vision: to remain at the cutting edge of technology while remaining committed and connected to a people-first mindset.”
Antoinette Shand, Head of Lombard Partnerships, says, “Our partnerships approach has always been to back experts in their field. We feel that Ami (and the people behind it) will bring a fresh dynamic to our established UMA partnerships portfolio and we’re excited by the art of possibility in this space.”
A great deal of focus will be placed on disrupting the way in which communication has traditionally taken place between underwriters, brokers and clients.
“Poor stakeholder communication has been repeatedly flagged as a major pain point in the broker distribution channels in the SA insurance market,” says Colman. “It causes immense frustration to our distribution partners and has resulted in a breakdown of many partnerships between brokers and insurers. We see this as an opportunity.
“It is the vision of Ami to become a trusted insurance partner (friend) where every broker, client and other stakeholders in the value chain, are treated as individuals, no matter the size of the organisation.”
The initial personal insurance product will encompass an easy-to-understand policy wording, offering comprehensive cover supported by a simplified excess structure. This core product will be amplified over time with a wide array of value-added products and services for the client to choose from.
With this exciting new partnership in place, Ami is ready for business!
Content retrieved from: https://www.fanews.co.za/article/company-news-results/1/general/1056/ami-and-lombard-announce-uma-partnership/36328.