Marcus is the Head of Financial Crime Prevention with First Central Insurance and Technology Group.He joined First Central in February 2021, to protect the Company against the challenges of colleagues working from home. Marcus also leads a team of external investigators and works closely with the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) and other law enforcement agencies relating to criminal referrals. Marcus served for 30 years as a career detective with the City of London Police. From 2013, with IFED team, an industry funded unit of 39 detectives, he led a team investigating all types of insurance fraud throughout England and Wales. In 2017, Marcus was seconded to investigate several high profile and politically sensitive internal fraud cases. During his final role he investigated serious and organised crime groups deploying the most advanced covert techniques. The crimes investigated include drug and human trafficking, supplying firearms, blackmail and solicitation to murder
Vivek is the Managing Director of Polaris UK Ltd, an insurance industry owned organisation that underpins digital trading within the industry. More than 125 organisations use Polaris’ products – ProductWriter which is the industry’s most widely used digital rating engine, Standards for digital trading, the imarket gateway that connects broker systems to Commercial Lines insurer systems and a Live-Chat service allowing insurers and brokers to have secure risk related conversations while trading digitally. Vivek has over twenty years’ experience in the industry. Prior to joining Polaris, he was the Chief Digital Officer at Gallagher UK, leading the development of a multi-product, multi-country digital platform and mobile apps. Previously, he worked for Brit Insurance and NIG, leading the development of their online distribution propositions. He has also chaired BIBA’s cross-industry Innovation Working Group and was a member of TechNation’s Insurtech Board for three years.
Huw is a Partner in Alpha FMC's General & Specialty Insurance Consulting practice, supporting his clients with their growth, risk and efficiency programmes. Prior to consulting, held various Claims operations and transformation roles, and is a reviewing editor for the CII.
Branko is an accomplished educator and a prolific and respected industry commentator, calling out the good and bad and a regular speaker for the UK’s largest social mobility charity, Speakers for Schools. Many say he has an infectious presentation style and is the only person in the world who makes compliance sound remotely interesting… Awards include the Thomson Reuters Compliance Personality of the Year, London Market Outstanding Contribution to Legal and Compliance, Highly Commended by the CII in their Public Trust Awards and is still the youngest holder of the CII’s Bridgewater Award for Exceptional Service. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and holds Chartered status. He has been Vice-President of the CII and is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Insurers.
Pat leads global distribution and broker relationship management at CFC; a specialist commercial insurance provider, pioneer in emerging risk, and market leader in cyber. He has more than 25 years’ experience leading sales and underwriting teams across the UK and international insurance markets.
Mark Broadhurst is managing director of DXC’s Insurance Software and BPS business in Europe. He is responsible for all aspects of DXC’s Insurance business across UK & Europe including financial performance, sales, marketing, customer experience, delivery and partners. Mark is passionate about delivering excellence, and empowering teams to ensure that DXC delivers on its commitments to our customers across the Insurance sector, helping them transform how they deliver the experience that today’s buyers expect, using DXC’s insurance software and services to deliver business growth. Mark joined DXC in November 2021, with a proven track record of success in Insurance with leadership roles in both customer and vendor organisations. Prior to joining DXC he was the Group Director for Insurance at Eurobase International and, in a career spanning more than 30 years, he has also held leadership roles in companies that include Aviva, Intellect Design Arena and Equifax.
Sonya has recently joined RSA as Managing Director, Commercial Lines following the acquisition of Direct Line Group’s intermediated division. She has 30 years of experience in the insurance industry and a history with DLG that dates back to 2011 since joining as Director of FarmWeb after roles at Arista, Aviva and Ageas. Appointed as MD of NIG in 2018 and then Managing Director for all DLG Commercial Brands in 2023, Sonya has overseen significant top and bottom-line growth whilst instilling a strong company culture with high employee loyalty. Outside of work, Sonya is a keen runner and cyclist alongside her responsibilities as a governor of the Royal National College for the Blind.
Lucian started his career as an advertising copywriter and then creative director, writing ads for cars, drinks and confectionery. After a few years he discovered an unexpected interest in financial services, and has specialised in this area ever since. He has founded, built and eventually sold two creative agencies, and launched his one-man brand and marketing consultancy business about 12 years ago. He has co-written a book on financial services marketing, No Small Change, and writes, speaks and podcasts extensively on the subject.
James is the news editor at Insurance Times and joined the publication after several years working as a reporter.
His career began in 2019, when he joined a local north London newspaper after graduating from the University of Sheffield with a first-class honours degree in journalism. He took up the position of deputy news editor at Insurance Times in March 2023, before being promoted to his current role in May 2024.
James has a particular focus on motor, M&A activity and financial reporting.
Outside of work, James supports Arsenal, enjoys watching Formula 1, talks about the key news going on in the motorsport for his video blog and unsurprisingly is a keen go-karter.
Nicola has worked in the insurance industry for over 20 years. She was appointed as Chief Client Officer in 2021 and has been a member of the UK executive team since then. In addition to her client relationship management expertise, Nicola is also passionate about technology and innovation with a focus on delivering impactful results for Sedgwick’s clients and customers. Nicola engages regularly with the industry’s press and has been profiled in WeAreTheCity and Insurance Business UK’s Elite Women report on the back of her work in the diversity, equity and inclusion space. Her key skills include business development, delivering financial plans and bid management.
Helena recently took over the helm as Managing Director at Criterion Loss Adjusters, part of the Charles Taylor Group who are market leading loss adjusting specialists in the HNW, Fine Art and HNW Real Estate markets.
Helena’s insurance career began when she joined Sun Alliance Insurance company (now RSA) in 1989 as a junior claims handler. She entered Loss Adjusting in 1991 with Brocklehursts (now Crawfords) and in 1994 spent some time working in Antigua following a hurricane. Helena took a career break in 1998 to raise a family.
Having returned to Loss Adjusting in 2010, Helena spent several years handling property claims arising from the full range of causes throughout southeast England. She became Head of Private Clients at the Davies Group in 2017 and prior to joining Criterion as Head of Specialist Services, Helena was Director – Head of Major Loss and Private clients, with a responsibility for a UK team of 20 Loss Adjusters. Helena is an Associate of The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters ( CILA ) and in 2018 became the chair of The CILA High Net Worth Special Interest Group.
Helena was elected President of The CILA in 2021/2022 and throughout her term in office continued to promote the importance of the human side of the role of an adjuster which is key to excellent customer service. She now sits on the Executive Committee as Vice President and is the CILA representative for FUEDI.
In addition to this Helena also is a member of the Executive Board of the CII Society of Claims Professionals.
Throughout her career, Helena has built a reputation for handling even the most challenging cases with supreme technical expertise, empathy, and authenticity. As a mentor and active member of the Women in CILA committee, Helena has also been a champion of education, diversity, and inclusion in the industry.
Huw Evans is UK Head of Insurance and a partner at KPMG UK. He works with clients on understanding the impacts of economic, political and regulatory change on Insurers and their customers as well as leading several major accounts. Huw led the Association of British Insurers (ABI) for seven years as its Director General including its response to Brexit and the Covid pandemic. He helped set up Flood Re and served as the SID of its board from 2016-21. He was also a board member of TheCityUK prior to joining KPMG and an ExCo member of Insurance Europe. Previously Huw worked in banking and as a special advisor in 10 Downing Street and the Home Office in Sir Tony Blair’s government, having begun his career as a journalist.
Simon has extensive commercial, marketing and design experience across multiple sectors including insurance, pharma, telecoms, motor and broadcast.
Simon co-founded Pancentric Digital in 2003 and leads their digital consulting team alongside the commercial development of their SaaS portfolio which includes award-winning policy admin platform Go-Insur.
Faye is a Partner within DAC Beachcroft's Claims Solutions Group. She has over 20 years' experience of dealing with motor, employer's liability, public liability and catastrophic claims. She has a market-leading reputation and specialises in the defence of chronic pain and fatal claims. More recently, she has been leading operational excellence, change and transition projects to include onboarding new clients. She also manages strategic projects and various client relationships to ensure a first class service is delivered to all of our customers. She has written various articles, been a speaker and panel member at industry events and is an ambassador for Veterans into Logistics.
With a career of over 25 years in insurance, Sue has a breadth of insurance knowledge, predominately focused within operational and personal lines claims. She is passionate about optimising both the customer and user experience. Sue’s key responsibilities are client relationship & engagement, together with marketing, brand & culture. Sue worked in the information technology and services industry for 12 years and is skilled in service delivery and implementation, along with customer and employee engagement. Her hobbies are, walking the dog, swimming and spending time as a family
Ed Gaze leads Innovative Risk Labs (IRL), a broker and incubator for Insurtech startups. He spent four years at Lloyd's Lab, where he spearheaded the integration of insurtech into the Lloyd's of London market and fostered a culture of innovation. Ed also recently launched JustParent, the UK's first parental leave insurance policy for businesses, in partnership with Apollo's innovation consortium at Lloyd's. Ed's career has spanned engineering, finance, and management consulting, including time spent advising royalty and high-net-worth individuals at KPMG and consulting for major corporations. Ed is also a Trustee and Treasurer of Stepney City Farm, a charity that is a world away from insurance, but a stone’s throw from the City.
Nick leads the account management and customer relationships for all broker and MGA customers across UK and Ireland for Open GI. Nick has more than 25 years insurance experience and has held a number of senior positions including PowerPlace CEO when it operated as a separate Company, Head of Countrywide and Broker Division Head at Screentrade.
With over 25 years of experience in the sector leading and transforming relationship teams for the future, Claire is a dedicated relationship expert, passionate about developing people and fostering thriving teams. Her expertise in relationship management and fostering collaboration, along with her motivation by people and teams, drive her to create environments where everyone feels a strong sense of belonging and teamwork. Claire is recognised for her ability to transform difficult relationships into ones of collaboration and shared goals, leading to mutual success. She is known for her commercial acumen which has enabled her to align team goals with business objectives, driving substantial growth and profitability. She is committed to leveraging these skills to create thriving, inclusive environments that not only boost team morale but also contribute to the overall success of the organisation.
Following more than two decades of innovation experience in the insurance industry, Charlotte now leads Milliman’s insurtech services for general insurers in the UK. Before joining Milliman, Charlotte spent 15 years revolutionising insurance solutions in the pet insurance, motor telematics and household insurance industries. She most recently served as the Chief Underwriting Officer of the Insurtech unicorn ManyPets and was notably also a founding team-member of black-box pioneer insurethebox. Prior to her insurtech adventures, Charlotte was an actuary and consultant at EMB, where she first got her zeal for data-driven insurance innovation. Charlotte is well-known across the insurance industry for her drive for insurance innovation and loves to champion positive insurance evolution in a fast-changing world and companies with a real vision to shout about. She is connected to a wide insurtech network of experts and is a regular speaker at events. Milliman insurtech services support successful insurance innovation across the industry. We work with insurtechs, insurtech partners, carriers, funding partners and (re)insurance entities creating technology-driven solutions and products. We help with the build, control mechanisms and success measurement of your insurance technology solution. Milliman is among the world's largest providers of actuarial, risk management, and technology solutions. Our consulting and advanced analytics capabilities encompass healthcare, property & casualty insurance, life insurance and financial services, and employee benefits. Founded in 1947, Milliman is an independent firm with offices in major cities around the globe. Visit us at milliman.com.
Martin was an insurance broker for 33 years, so thinks like a broker, but has always acted like a client. He knows what the client doesn’t know so shares it with them - a client recently called him his “insurance wingman” which sums up what he does rather well!Martin works with the commercial buyer of insurance in a coaching, mentoring, and guidance role. He works with MDs, FDs, and Boards to leverage the relationships with their insurance brokers and insurers to ensure they achieve the best results for their business. Since setting up his consultancy in January 2022, he has worked with many different businesses, across a wide range of sectors. He is Chair of Trustees of an education charity, sits on the board of small tech-based businesses, Chair of Governors at a local dual entry primary school and volunteers as an Enterprise Adviser to secondary schools in Staffordshire.
Jane works as Chief of Staff for the UK CEO at Aon since July 2024. Before that, she completed a 6 month secondment Jan-July 2024 as Chief of Staff for Julie Page, CEO of EMEA. Jane has worked in the insurance industry for over 20 years, beginning her career at RSA on a graduate underwriting trainee programme before working as a Customer Development Consultant. She joined Aon in 2006 as a Bid Manager in Aon Global, leading various business development activities, such as global business tenders for Aon clients and prospects. She then worked a Director in Aon Inpoint, leading sales and consulting and engagement projects for insurance carriers, from Lloyd's syndicates to global composite insurers. In 2022, she was appointed Global Strategies Execution Leader in Commercial Risk, driving sustainable growth through implementation of the Aon Commercial Risk global strategies agenda. Outside work, I have two young children, enjoy running in the Sussex countryside, playing tennis and manage a disabled swimming charity called WeSwim in central London.
With over 20 years of experience in the industry Richard is a third generation Insurance Broker. His first job was sitting behind a counter in an office on the outskirts of Leeds dealing with walk-ins, looking to arrange their home and motor insurance. Richard has been immersed in a great number of different areas the insurance industry has to offer in the UK and around the world. He has dealt with individuals protecting their most precious assets to large corporations with complex insurance programmes. Having worked around UK and dealt with London Insurers, he then worked for five years in Australia where he ended up heading up the Aerospace division of an international brokerage. Since 2011 Richard has been specialising in Cyber Insurance and the risks posed by the increased use of technology in our everyday lives. Richard recently joined Onda, an MGA that is looking to make Cyber Insurance Simple; doing away with increasingly long and complicated proposal forms, so people can concentrate on what Cyber Insurance is: an insurance policy that responds to the threats businesses see in today’s digitally connected world. In his spare time, he still enjoys playing the odd game of rugby and cricket.
Martyn has 46 years’ experience in the Insurance industry. Having spent the first 20 in the insurer space with Cornhill, Bishopsgate/Fortis and Zenith, he transitioned into broking with Marsh in 2000 and from there moved to Group Direct Ltd building what became Brightside Group where he became CEO. He then joined Markerstudy in 2014 as Commercial Director. Martyn moved into the non exec/consulting arena in 2018 and is currently Chair of Somerset Bridge Insurance Services, non-exec director with Bastion Insurance and a board advisor with Insuretec Ltd and Canford Law.
Paul is a solicitor and partner at DWF Law LLP who has worked for 30 years as a defendant insurance legal advisor, starting his career dealing with every type of insurance claim, including large and catastrophic loss, property, casualty, coverage and commercial claims as well as some regulatory work. In 2007 Paul founded a dedicated counter fraud team. Paul joined DWF Law in 2011 and now runs a team of over 70 counter fraud professionals, develops new ideas and products, manages his own team and others, and works with his clients assisting in legal, strategic and operational support. Paul's personal legal work now concentrates on fraudulent issues surrounding large losses, coverage issues, commercial and property work with a particular specialism in first party fraud.
Laura Horrocks started her career in fraud investigation in 2009. During her time as a desktop motor investigator, Laura realised she had a real passion for investigating insurance fraud. Laura progressed to the role of Head of Fraud Technology and Intelligence focusing on providing meaningful insight to clients and the wider industry across multiple lines of business. In April 2024 she moved to the role of Customer Success Manager at Shift Technology to further develop her skills within the technology sector. She now assists customers with their adoption and implementation of fraud detection technology, tailoring the right solution for a client’s individual needs.
Karen has two decades of experience in the general insurance industry covering a wide range of insurance products from car and home to pet, travel, and life insurance and a career which has spanned both sides of the insurance landscape, including working with a large direct insurer in a B2C capacity, agency side B2B and most recently as an industry advisor for an IT services company. Always 'customer first', Karen has a broad range of expertise including driving commercial growth across distribution channels particularly Price Comparison Websites (Aggregators), strategy creation and delivery and the development of existing and new products to commercial proposition. Karen thrives when developing people and has a leadership style which emphasises collaboration, positivity, and achieving tangible results. Karen is a visible figure in the industry, regularly presenting at events and webinars and contributing to news articles.
Jon Howells joined Premium Credit in September 2019 as Chief Commercial Officer. His previous role was at Close Brothers Premium Finance, where he was Commercial Director. Jon holds a wealth of broking knowledge gained from senior positions at Hastings Direct, Premium Choice and Swinton.
Trustee at Lloyds || Innovative Risk Labs, Advisory Board || Insurance Times Technology Champion of The Year 22/23 ||
Ola has enjoyed working in the London Market Insurance Sector for over twelve years on UK Retail, Product Recall, Terrorism, Onshore Energy and Parametric. Ola's background in Human-Computer Interaction and Psychology has fueled his passion for working on new approaches to risk transfer and managing risk for clients. He's proud to be named Insurance Times Technology Champion of the Year. As one of the Pioneers of Parametric Insurance, He has enjoyed building a distribution strategy for one of the first successful Parametric solutions in the London Market. He wants the market to keep improving, transforming how we cover risk and continue closing the protection gap. As Business Development Director for the UK & Ireland for Descartes Underwriting, a specialist Parametric Insurance MGA and Insurer who covers Natural Catastrophe exposure Globally. Winning the headline award at the Claims Excellence Awards this year for outstanding claims handling and MGAA's award for initiative of the year are his highlights for 2024.
Simon joined Markel in November 2019 as marketing director, UK from his previous role as head of marketing at Travelers. He began his marketing career at Weber Shandwick/ McCann and has worked in-house and agency-side in the US, Asia-Pacific and Europe with a range of brands including Shell, Honda and Allianz. Simon is a member of the Worshipful Company of Marketors and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. At Markel, Simon leads the UK marketing function with responsibility for insight, proposition development, brand, internal comms, PR and digital. He is a member of UK Executive team and the Markel International Diversity & Inclusion network. Simon is married with two children and enjoys football and motorsport.
My journey in insurance has led me to proudly don the patches of the London Market and SME brokers.
Beyond the world of insurance, I've ventured into creative pursuits that promote inclusivity and representation. I've collaborated with Detester Magazine to co-author a manuscript that champions inclusivity. Together, we also crafted an animated adaptation of "The Brown Skin She Wore Was a Weapon," which resonated with an audience of over 1,300 viewers. This project highlights the potential of multimedia storytelling to connect with diverse audiences.
My written work has found a home in publications such as Orange Magazine, Peahce Project, and others.
Mike Keating has been CEO of the Managing General Agents' Association (MGAA) since September 2020, bringing with him a wealth of experience and a successful career across the insurance industry. He began his career as an underwriter in the company market before joining AXA Commercial in 1999, where he managed strategic MGA and delegated authority partnerships. Mike went on to become Managing Director of AXA’s Personal Lines business (excluding direct). After leaving AXA in 2011, he joined the board of UK General, one of the largest MGAs in the UK, where he led the Commercial portfolio and successfully introduced a targeted strategy for UK regional brokers. From 2016, Mike held executive roles in the broker sector before partnering with West Hill Capital to launch the Insurtech MGA start-up, Qlaims. For the second consecutive year, Mike was named in the 2024 Insurance Business Global list, recognising his continued influence and leadership in the industry.
Dan has worked in media and market intelligence businesses for more than 25 years, including a three year spell as Publisher of Insurance Times in the 2010's. Before then he was on the launch team for Health Insurance magazine and more recently worked at consumer group and ratings agency, Fairer Finance. Dan currently combines his role as Publishing Director of Insurance Times sister publication, Global Reinsurance, which involves helping to run the rapidly growing Dubai World Insurance Congress event, with being co-founder of Insurance DataLab, a market intelligence platform launched to solve the increasingly difficult challenge of finding credible, comparable, and digestible information on the performance of insurance companies. Dan lives in South London and is often found traipsing around the country following his beloved Plymouth Argyle FC.
Yiannis is deputy editor at Insurance Times and the winner of the Most Promising Newcomer prize at the Biba Journalist & Media Awards 2023 for his work covering the big stories within the insurance industry. With a particular focus on regulation, geopolitical and systemic risks and conflict, he has covered the insurance implications of the Ukraine war, riots in France and the commissions scandal for multioccupancy buildings insurance. He graduated in 2017 with a degree in history from the University of Exeter and entered the world of trade journalism at a dental magazine. Before moving into the world of insurance in 2022, he also worked as senior reporter at a magazine for opticians. Outside of work, Yiannis is an obsessive Arsenal fan and enjoys hiking, tucking into a tome and doing nothing at all.
Kelly Lane is the Operations Director at Clegg Gifford – Lloyds Brokers. Kelly brings experience from a successful career in retail. She is actively involved in managing operations, improving processes, and launching new branches.
Kelly’s leadership earned her the “Director of the year” award at the Broker Innovation awards. Kelly is also secretary of the Orsett Show Horticultural & Agricultural show and is a member of the Worshipful Company of Insurers.
Liz is an accomplished and commercially minded insurance leader with experience in taking products to market, leading start-ups, and driving change in more mature, established organisations. She has acquired broad experience across the general insurance industry having worked with brokers, software providers, and insurers. Today Liz is the CEO of Qlaims Limited, a fast-growing specialist MGA providing loss recovery insurance and expert claims support to businesses and homeowners. Prior to Qlaims she was Commercial Director at Saga Insurance Services.
Eddie has been an independent claims and supply chain development consultant for 25 years. Working on 3 different continents and for many of the top UK insurers and vendors, Eddie has a national reputation for innovation and finding new solutions to suit changing and challenging situations. A prolific writer and commentator on all things claims related Eddie is a regular speaker and facilitator of insurance events. Often asked to advise his clients on new claims technology solutions Eddie also brings significant experience of the worlds of insurtech, customer experience design, and supply chain integration. Renowned for his ‘straight talking’ he has a passion for excellence and an intolerance of the ordinary!
Dave Martin joined Aviva in April 2023 as Managing Director UK Commercial and Chief Distribution Officer and sits on the UK General Insurance Executive Committee. Dave is responsible for setting and leading the strategic direction of Distribution and responsible for driving profitable growth across our UK Commercial business across Digital SME and Schemes and Mid-Market. Before joining Aviva, Dave has spent 34 years in the insurance industry in a number of roles having started as an apprentice handling personal motor in Bristol. Most recently Dave was Head of Retail Management at Zurich where he led the Personal Lines, Direct, Digital and Mid Commercial businesses. On a personal note, Dave has been married for over 30 years and has 3 children and 6 grandchildren and enjoys running in his spare time.
Elaine Mason is the founder and CEO of Belvedere Mead – the Claims Delivery Specialists. Elaine has worked in the claims function for over 40 years and has always been passionate about the claims service being at the forefront of the industry. It is after all the product that is being sold and all insurance purchases should put protection of the insured at its core. Elaine’s personal experience encompasses personal lines, commercial lines and the speciality business written within the Lloyds and London Insurance Market and she is delighted to be invited onto the judging panel again.
With a global background in strategic transformation and technology innovation within the Financial Services sector, David has played pivotal roles both as part of senior leadership teams and as a consultant, operating across the UK, US and Middle East.
Ajay Mistry is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of iCAN (The Insurance Cultural Awareness Network) which is an industry-wide independent network that was set up to support multicultural inclusion and career progression across the UK Insurance sector. iCAN currently has over 9,000 members across four Regional Hubs – London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Bristol - and run a number of key initiatives to drive change in the industry.
As well as having 15 years’ experience in the Insurance Sector, Ajay is also the Founder & Director of several businesses: Gambit Partners, a sales & marketing consultancy focused on supporting early-stage Startups and Small Businesses with their growth strategies, Gambit Insurance Solutions, a commercial Insurance Broker focusing on charities and not-for-profit clients and Mode Insurance – a specialist online Insurance Broker supporting self-employed freelancers in the media and entertainment industries.
Ajay is also an Advisory Board Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute’s Insurance Broking Board, which is a community of insurance broking professionals that aims to raise the levels of professional knowledge and technical competence, supporting over 13,000 Broker members in their personal career development at all levels of experience.
Ajay was recently named in the Global 100 Leader list 2024 by Insurance Business and placed in the Insurance Power List Top 40 2024 for his work in the industry.
Mary joined the Proximo Group 15 years ago and is now responsible for The People who experience Proximo covering employees across the group as well as end-customers. Mary has a wealth of knowledge covering People Engagement, Learning & Development and Customer Experience, all of which have a direct impact on the holistic goals, objectives and ambitions for Proximo’s growth and success. Mary is a recognised industry thought leader, regularly contributes to publications and speaks at major events. Mary loves spending time with her family, enjoying the outdoors and keeping fit.
Ami is Head of Personal Injury and Fraud at Tesco Insurance and is responsible for managing and developing the Underwriting and Claims fraud propositions. Ami was appointed Chair of IFIG in December 2021 having joined the board in 2017. She has over twenty years of experience in both claims and underwriting specialising in counter fraud and is passionate about collaboration in the counter fraud community and a member of the General Insurance Fraud Committee.
Michelle began her career within the motor claims department where she gained experience in handling a wide variety of RTA claims. After successfully completing her legal studies and training contract she was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 2010 and went on to gain a wealth of legal experience in complex personal injury claims and high value litigation matters. During her lengthy career at ALPS, Michelle has collaborated with other departments to build an extensive knowledge of the businesses’ products and services. Michelle now sits on the Senior Leadership Team at ALPS and is responsible for overseeing the award-winning claims team. She combines a wealth of legal and claims knowledge with effective leadership skills to ensure excellent service delivery.
Kelly Ogley is the CEO of Consumer and Local Commercial at Howden, one of the UK’s largest insurance brokers. With over eight years at Howden, Kelly has been instrumental in driving the company's growth and transformation. As the former Chief Operating Officer for A-Plan (now Howden Consumer and Local Commercial), she led the business through a period of substantial expansion, including over 50% increase in Gross Written Premium (GWP), a 45% growth in the branch network, and the successful completion of more than 60 mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Howden, Kelly had a distinguished 29 year career at Swinton Insurance. Starting in the branch network, she rapidly ascended through various leadership roles to eventually become COO. Kelly is passionate about attracting diverse talent to insurance as well as ensuring the industry fully embraces tech and data as an enabler to continue to delight clients and meet their changing expectations.
Neil brings a wealth of expertise to the Insurance Times judging panel, having carved out a remarkable career across the insurance claims and automotive sectors.
Starting his career at Enterprise -Rent-A- Car he has held senior leadership roles at companies including Solera (Audatex/HPI), Vizion Network, ControlExpert, and now consumer intelligence.
Known for his strategic leadership, innovative thinking, and deep industry knowledge, Neil’s insights have been instrumental in driving progress and helping shape the future of insurance.
Matt is responsible for the provision of fraud detection, investigation and robust defence of fraudulent claims within Sabre Insurance’s claim service.
His daily responsibilities include handling his own portfolio of complex cases, providing technical guidance for Complex first & third party claims, devising and leading training in fraud identification for the Claims Department, and planning and implementing an operational Counter-Fraud Claims strategy.
He has spoken at a number of Roundtable Counter-Fraud Motor Industry events following changes to the Civil Liability Act 2018 with a view to ensuring a consistent, industry wide approach is taken to new themes seen within the Counter-Fraud arena.
Matt has worked in the Motor Insurance Sector for over 13 years and has a real passion for the investigation and defence of Fraudulent Claims as well as leading the recruitment within Counter-Fraud and developing others within the business.
Louise is an experienced product manager with over two decades of experience in financial services, predominantly in General Insurance.
Louise oversees the proposition strategy for Atlanta Partnerships which includes Paymentshield’s suite of products, as well as the wider partnership businesses within the Atlanta Group. Paymentshield is one of the UK’s leading insurance providers, enabling financial advisers, rental platforms and other organisations to offer quality insurance to their customers.
Working with some of the best-known insurers in the UK, Paymentshield offers a range of insurance and protection products for homeowners, tenants and landlords. In her role, Louise works to optimise products and journeys to ensure the needs of both end customers and distribution partners are being met – whether that be mortgage advisers, rental businesses or automotive firms. She is also responsible for ensuring all products meet regulatory requirements.
Emily Peters is the Head of Research at Sønr. Sønr works with (re)insurers around the world explore market trends, track competitor activity, and scout and assess best-in-class tech companies.
Emily leads the company's Research Team, which works with 50+ insurance companies around the world – including Generali, Travelers, and Tokio Marine - helping clients discover, accelerate and de-risk new products, services and businesses.
Ruth is Product and Strategy Director at Concirrus, a leading provider of insurance intelligence and technology. Ruth is responsible for spearheading Concirrus' product vision and innovation strategy, leveraging her deep understanding of both technology and insurance to develop solutions that address the evolving needs of the market. Ruth has 24 years of experience in the insurance industry which have included leadership roles at Mastercard, where as Vice President Insurance, she had global responsibility for identifying new insurance opportunities, as well as Chubb, CLS and Fusion Insurance, where she responsibility for marketing, strategy, and digital transformation. Ruth is also a patented inventor and established advisor, mentor, and writer on insurance innovation.
Anna-Marie is an experienced marketing leader. Her long, varied career in the insurance industry includes building marketing teams, coaching insurtechs, developing distribution strategies and working with brokers and MGAs to grow their business.
She is currently Head of Marketing at Hiscox, bringing the brand story to life for brokers.
Stuart has been the driving force behind some of the UK’s leading insurance businesses including Stuart Alexander, Arthur J Gallagher as CEO of UK retail broking and Bluefin as CEO and latterly Executive Chairman. He has served as Vice President of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), Chair of the CII Broking Faculty, Deputy Chair of the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA), and Chair of BIBA’s Large Brokers Committee, demonstrating his commitment to quality standards.
He is currently chairman of insurance brokerage Partners& and of sharing economy insurance specialist, Pikl, a Non-Executive Director at Harbour Underwriting Limited. one of the country's leading commercial dispute insurance specialists, and Qlaims a leading claims handling specialist MGA. Stuart also writes a monthly opinion piece for Insurance Times.
Simon is the founder and Managing Director of Moonrock Drone Insurance. Simon launched the company in 2016, and it was the UK’s first dedicated online platform-based insurance scheme, solely offering policies to the rapidly expanding commercial and consumer drone market. Moonrock is now a fully authorised MGA in the UK and one of the largest drone insurers in the UK. Since then, Simon has earned a reputation as an industry leader for drone insurance and currently sits on the UK government’s advisory committee for drones which consults along with the CAA and Department for Transport.
Winner of Biba’s Best thought leadership Award 2023, and highly commended in the WTW awards as Insurance and risk technology journalist of the year for her technology section.
Interested in all things insurance technology and insurtech.
Writer of the monthly TechTalk section of the magazine and backchat. When not writing can be found doing yoga, at some kind of dance workshop, singing, globetrotting, or baking – not in any specific order.
Tony is an executive with over 30 years of insurance experience both as a practitioner and as a consultant, shaping and driving change and transformation across the insurance industry. This often involves the consideration of how to use technology to accelerate and deliver lasting change. Starting his career at RSA, he has held various senior roles at IBM, EY and Alpha FMC and is currently working at Ki Insurance. He also lectures in Insurance & Risk Management at Bayes Business School.
Katie Scott joined Insurance Times in October 2019 as the publication’s associate editor. She was promoted to editor in February 2021 and has worked passionately to build and promote the title for its readership in the UK general insurance market.
Katie has performed a range of writing roles since 2012, more specifically undertaking trade journalism roles from 2014 across professional industries such as fitness and human resources.
Since joining Insurance Times, Katie has successfully obtained a number of industry accolades.
During her tenure so far, she has taken home prizes such as Best Trade Award and Publication of the Year from Biba’s annual Journalist and Media Awards, been annually shortlisted in the General Insurance Journalist of the Year (B2B) category at Headlinemoney’s yearly awards event, as well as received numerous highly commended prizes in the Insurance and Risk Features Journalist of the Year category at WTW’s annual Media Awards.
Outside of work, Katie is an avid badminton player, runner and exercise lover – when she can find the time around caring for her baby son Charlie. She also enjoys reading, cross stitch, musicals, visiting fancy restaurants and an evening G&T.
Matt is the co-founder of Insurance DataLab, a market intelligence platform launched to solve the increasingly difficult challenge of finding credible, comparable, and digestible information on the performance of insurance companies. He is also an award-winning journalist who started his career as an Actuarial Associate Consultant at Aon where he studied towards the professional exams of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and completed an MSc in Actuarial Finance at Imperial College Business School.
As Insight Editor of Insurance Times, Matt reported widely on the UK general insurance market, focusing particularly on the financial and regulatory landscape. He has authored many well-respected research publications including the annual Insurance Times Top 50 Insurers and Top 50 Brokers reports, and is a regular speaker at industry events on topics including motor insurance, regulation, cyber insurance, customer service, and financial performance.
Matt is a keen martial artist and football fan, and when not in the office he can often be found enjoying the countryside of Dartmoor near his native Plymouth
Donna Scully is a Joint Owner/Director at Carpenters Group, a leading UK provider of insurance and legal services.
A global leader in the insurance world, based in Liverpool for over 25 years with a proud Irish heritage, Donna is a lawyer, experienced public speaker and podcaster who also works closely with the Ministry of Justice in relation to motor claims and civil justice reform.
Donna is renowned for her thought leadership on insurance industry fraud, reform and other matters that impact the insurance and legal market. Donna received the Outstanding Achievement award at the 2014 Personal Injury Awards for her work in setting up AskCUEPI & in September 2018, she jointly won the Insurance Post Magazine’s Social Media Influencer Award.
Donna was awarded the Outstanding Achievement of the Year Award 2023 at the Modern Claims Awards and was named on the Insurance Business UK’s ‘Elite Women’ List 2024. Beyond her work in the insurance and legal sector, Donna is passionate about social impact and dedicates her time and resources to helping a plethora of causes.
A huge advocate and supporter for those in society that need extra care, Donna runs a homeless breakfast club every Sunday which she personally attends and provides food for. She is an Ambassador for Fans Supporting Foodbanks, a Football for Change Champion and mentors for the Girls Network and the Insurance Breakfast Club. She sponsors many grassroots organisations that support social mobility, homelessness and mental health.
Awarded the ‘Outstanding Charity Support’ Award 2021 at the Liverpool Echo Regional Business Awards for her charity work during the pandemic. Carpenters Group won the ‘Outstanding CSR Award’ at the YM Liverpool Property & Business Awards in 2022. Donna also won the ‘Metro Choice Award for Social Impact’ at the Employer’s Excellence Awards 2024.
Most recently, Donna received the Merseyside Woman of the Year 2024 and Business Leader awards for her outstanding work. Donna is on the editorial Board of Modern Insurance Magazine & Chairs the Insurance Times Fraud Charter Group. She has twin men and lives in Merseyside.
Savan Shah is head of research at Insurance Times, working here for nearly 8 years. With a masters in data sciences and having worked in a variety of industries, Savan brings a wealth of research expertise and passion to the role. With a particular focus on research in etrading, MGAs, digital transformation and commercial and personal lines insurance, he has been instrumental in the development of the Insurance Times 5-star ratings reports, data insight books, webinars and more. In addition, Savan works collaboratively with a variety of insurance companies, MGAs and more to transform services and products through insightful research methods. Savan has previously worked in various research roles in the European Parliament, national and local politics in addition to working in real estate and investment funding research. Outside of work, Savan is a big Man Utd and UFC fan and enjoys a variety of sports and outdoor activities to keep fit and healthy. Savan loves to watch films and enjoy a variety of cultural activities.
Michael Sicsic is a senior executive in the field of risk and regulation in the financial services sector, with a strong focus on insurance. He has a deep understanding of business models in the insurance sector and its related risks.
He founded Sicsic Advisory, a strategic regulatory and risk consultancy in 2019. Sicsic Advisory is now an established consultancy with 25+ senior consultants operating across the UK, Ireland and Gibraltar with 6 hubs: London, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Dublin and Gibraltar.
Michael is the former head of supervision of the retail general insurance sector at the Financial Conduct Authority. Formerly, he spent five years at Aviva as Global Operational Risk Director covering Life Insurance, Asset Management and Non-Life insurance.
Previously, he worked over 10 years at GE Capital in senior risk and finance positions across commercial and corporate finance activities.
He has extensive international experience covering credit risk modeling and capital allocation, financial risk, ALM, operational risk management and quantification, conduct of business, financial crime compliance, M&A activity across multiple jurisdictions.
Michael is a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Insurers.
Having spent 30 years working in partnership with the dynamic and unique UK broker market, developing specialist expertise in SME delegated and e traded arrangements through his roles at RSA, Allianz and Ageas, Russell is excited to bring this experience to the market via Peach, the market-facing brand of NPA Insurance Ltd. NPA Insurance is the in-house insurer for the National Pharmacy Association, and all underwriting profits made by Peach are ultimately used for the benefit of UK Community Pharmacy, a vital part of the front-line of the NHS. He is proud to lead a fantastic business at NPA Insurance and Peach, and loves working with teams of passionate people delivering innovative solutions and brilliant service.
