Placing business in today’s UK general insurance market is becoming increasingly complex.
Brokers are navigating shifting underwriting appetites, growing regulatory scrutiny under Consumer Duty, and rising expectations around customer outcomes. In this environment, selecting the right insurer is no longer just about price or capacity – it requires clear, objective evidence.
To support this, Insurance DataLab has developed the Insurer Performance Index, developed to help brokers make better business placement decisions.
A more complete view of insurer performance
The Insurer Performance Index brings together four core pillars of performance – claims, complaints, solvency and underwriting – into a single, consistent framework.
By combining these elements, it provides a more rounded view of how insurers perform in practice, rather than relying on individual metrics in isolation.
Scores are presented via an at-a-glance scorecard, providing a quick and easy guide to insurer performance by way of a RAG rating system for each pillar.
This is important because no single measure tells the full story.
An insurer may demonstrate strong underwriting performance, but weaker outcomes in claims or complaints. Equally, a strong solvency position may not always translate into consistent delivery for customers.
The Index enables brokers to assess insurer performance more holistically – and identify those firms delivering consistent results across the full lifecycle of a policy.
A data-led approach to decision-making
The role of data in placement decisions is changing.
Under Consumer Duty, brokers are increasingly expected to demonstrate that insurer selection delivers fair value and good customer outcomes. This means moving beyond fragmented data towards a more structured and defensible approach to decision-making.
The Insurer Performance Index supports this shift.
It provides a clear, comparable benchmark of insurer performance, helping brokers understand not just how insurers perform in headline terms, but how consistently they deliver in practice.
This makes it easier to support and justify insurer selection, document decision-making, and demonstrate alignment with regulatory expectations.
Claims performance at the centre
One of the key differentiators highlighted by the Index is claims performance.
Insights from Insurance DataLab’s Commercial Lines Claims Pulse, created in partnership with Research in Finance and based on more than 800 commercial lines claims experiences, show a clear link between claims outcomes, broker trust and future placement decisions.
Positive claims experiences reinforce insurer relationships and drive repeat business, while poor outcomes can quickly erode trust and reduce the likelihood of future placements.
Indeed, brokers who reported a positive claims experience were almost ten times more likely to place business with the same insurer again.
This means that claims performance is not just an operational consideration – it is a critical factor in insurer selection.
Supporting more confident placement decisions
By providing a consistent, data-led view of insurer performance, the Insurer Performance Index helps brokers make more informed and confident placement decisions.
It highlights those insurers delivering strong and consistent outcomes, while also identifying areas where performance may be more variable.
These insights are also embedded within Insurance DataLab’s Security Committee-in-a-Box tool, enabling brokers to incorporate performance data directly into their placement processes.
Available at BIBA 2026
Further detail on the Insurer Performance Index, including full insurer rankings and methodology, will be available in the Insurer Performance & Conduct Report, launching at the 2026 BIBA Conference.
The report, created in partnership with BIBA and sponsored by SSP, will be available from the Insurance DataLab stand (G65), where Matt Scott and Dan King will be on hand to discuss the findings and what they mean for broker placement decisions.
As the market continues to evolve, the ability to turn complex data into clear, comparable insight will be critical – helping brokers move from fragmented information to more confident, evidence-based decisions.
Click here to arrange a time to meet Matt or Dan at BIBA or to find out more.