C&C launch standalone SME insurance unit

Stockport-based C&C Insurance Brokers have announced the launch of a new standalone unit within the business’ Commercial Team to cater for its SME customers.

Previously the Commercial Team would have handled all sizes of client from the self-employed, through SMEs, up to multi-national organisations. With the new structure, premiums of around £10,000 or less will now be handled by the C&C Small Medium Enterprise (SME) Team.

The SME team will initially comprise of six people – all existing C&C employees – and will be headed up by Operations Manager, Nicola Lowrey.

One of the key objectives of developing the stand-alone team is to introduce efficiencies which will benefit both clients and in-house processes, including making greater use of software such as Acturis. Part of the development of the unit was to create a proposition with a very limited number of insurers, whereby quotes could be generated, in most cases, within minutes.  

Ray Harris, Operations Director at C&C explained:

“Our clients are at the heart of everything we do, and we are delighted to have launched this key business initiative ensuring that we continue to deliver excellent service to them. It was important to us that we work with the right insurers and the right people.  The team are really looking forward to building on our excellent, well-established trading relationships with the selected insurers and to working even more closely with them.” 

Existing C&C clients will be allocated to the new unit; however, prior to their official launch on 1st March, new enquiries that have fit the criteria have already begun to be processed through the new SME team whilst maximising the use of our IT platform, freeing up more time to be client focussed.

Nicola Lowrey, who heads up the SME team at C&C, said:

“Setting up the unit over the last 12 months has been challenging but very rewarding. The team works really well together, is building new relationships and is excited about the future. The initial focus has to be on client retention whilst ensuring the right type and levels of insurance are in place as well as offering excellent service. The team are already flourishing and is embracing the amount of new business coming in.”

With SMEs accounting for 99.9% of all 5.5 million UK businesses according to the latest government statistics, the team at C&C have ambitious plans for growing the new business unit. Ray Harris concluded:

“We already have a fantastic group of people in the SME insurance team and this is a great opportunity for us to explore new ways of working. With what we’ve already got in place there will be a significant increase in efficiencies. But it’s almost baked-in that the SME offering will evolve and become even more potent as a means of finding the right solutions and managing them, which could easily translate into other aspects of the wider C&C business. Feedback will be ongoing and bilateral, which means learnings will be both quick and invaluable to all parties.”