Mactavish introduces Zurich veteran Tom White as Head of Corporate Customer Solutions

By 17th February 2021 Insights, News
Tom White

We are delighted to welcome Tom White to the Mactavish team. Tom will be taking a leading role in designing and arranging insurance programmes for our clients in his role as Head of Corporate Customer Solutions.

After beginning his career in the pharmaceutical industry, Tom moved into insurance in 1986 when he joined the Royal. After a stint at Royal Global he then joined Zurich where he undertook a number of leadership roles including UK Head of Property and Casualty, European Head of Corporate Customer Solutions and Global Head of Distribution, a role that saw him oversee Zurich’s relationship with one of its biggest global broker partners.

With thirty-five years of experience, Tom brings an unrivalled wealth of expertise covering all aspects of the insurance value chain. Aside from a thorough understanding of insurer operations, his insight into broker relationships is invaluable in a hard market.

Tom’s role at Mactavish includes supporting clients through what promises to be the most challenging set of renewals since the early years of the millennium. His focus will be on helping design and arrange complex programmes, so that our clients get the best available deal from the market. He joins a veteran team that has unparalleled expertise in risk analysis, policy wordings, claims resolution and broker/tender management.

As Tom explains: “Customer visibility within insurers plays a significant part in the way underwriters perceive and engage with them.

In a hard market, insurers take a much more disciplined (some might say aggressive) approach to underwriting, as they work their way through a sea of broker submissions.  They don’t always articulate what they are seeking from the submissions, nor do they offer considered insights as to the key influences on terms and conditions offered.

Times like these can be hugely stressful, and for many insurance buyers. The net outcome is so often a cause of great dissatisfaction, with the end result being reduced coverage, higher deductibles and higher premiums – with little understanding or coherent explanation as to why.

I’ll be working with the team to help design our clients’ insurance programmes, so that the products and services bought are centred on and relevant to their needs.”

Tom will be sharing some of his insights with us on an upcoming podcast – follow us on LinkedIn to find out more.

An update on Mactavish:

Mactavish is experiencing considerable growth as a result of increased client demand spurred by both the hard market and industry’s response to the pandemic. In recent months, the company has brought in senior hires such as Heidi Carslaw and Ben Sanders as well as continuing its programme of graduate recruitment and in-house training.

Clients typically come to Mactavish when they have experienced poor service from their brokers, gone through a disappointing renewal, or have lost patience with the complex web of commissions that create so much potential for conflict of interest in the industry. In contrast, Mactavish’s emphasis on client knowledge, deep technical expertise and complete financial independence are acting as a powerful draw for businesses of all types and sizes.

Since the launch of our outsourced insurance buying service in 2016, we now manage insurance purchasing and maintenance on behalf of dozens of clients from FTSE 250 firms through to large SMEs. On behalf of these clients we have been able to save up to 50% against incumbent brokers’ estimates, while also improving the quality of cover provided by the policy wordings.