Zurich Assures UK Customers That Brexit Will Actually Change Very Little

Zurich are upbeat about the UK insurance landscape after Brexit, and have posted a statement on their website, to reassure customers that in the short term at least, there will be very little change in the way that UK policies are sold, regulated and underwritten via international financial markets. Here is the latest from Zurich;

Some of our customers have asked about the impact of Brexit on their policies and what this means for their relationship with us. Throughout the negotiations, we have worked closely with governments and our regulators to ensure we best serve our customers and meet their needs and have robust plans in place.

Zurich’s business in the UK falls into two main categories: General Insurance and Life.

Our General Insurance policies are written by Zurich Insurance Plc, which is a company incorporated in Ireland. Zurich currently relies on EU “passporting” to service its UK and EU General Insurance customers. Once the United Kingdom leaves the EU, we may no longer be able to rely on “passporting”.  Zurich fully expects to continue to be able to service its UK customers through a new UK licensing scheme.

There were two welcome developments at the end of March 2018, which reinforce Zurich’s existing plans.

1. The EU and UK negotiating teams have agreed a ‘Transition Deal’ which means the UK will retain the benefits of the single market, including passporting until December 2020.
2. The Bank of England has provided additional certainty to insurers and customers that they stand ready to take necessary measures to ensure business continuity for financial services, including insurance. Read the report here.

Zurich is very confident that its UK branch can continue to write and service UK general insurance business well into the future following Brexit. We will also remain able to write and service insurance policies throughout the EU/EEA, whether via our UK or other EU/EEA branches and companies.

We will continue to maintain and develop contingency plans to ensure that we can meet our customers’ needs.

Our Life businesses are UK-registered entities, so there is no direct impact relating to Brexit on policies for Life, Protection, Pension and Investment customers.

We’re here to support you

We see an exciting future for Zurich in the UK. We are committed to serving you, our customers and distributors, and if you have questions on Brexit or other matters please contact us via your usual route, or email our Brexit team at UK.Brexit.Project@uk.zurich.com