Airmic emerging emboldened from pandemic, says Skinner

Aimic has emerged from the pandemic emboldened and less conservative, according to the association’s past chair Tracey Skinner who helped steer the organisation through the crisis. Skinner, who is also group insurance director for telecoms company BT Group, took over as Airmic chair in July 2020, just as the UK was emerging from its first Covid-19 lockdown. The risk and insurance management association had just decided to cancel its annual conference, instead holding a virtual event in September. Despite uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, the association took the decision to return to its physical annual get-together this year, albeit delayed by three months. And Skinner told CRE ahead of this year’s conference in Brighton that she believes the experience of operating through Covid-19 has helped Airmic shake off some of its shackles. “I believe that as a result of this experience, Airmic has become a little bolder in the way in which we manage risk. Historically, Airmic has been quite conservative in the way in which it does this,” she said. The decision to push ahead with the conference had to be made early to allow time to plan, explained Skinner. This was during a period when there was still a lot of uncertainty, as well as strong demand from partners and members for a conference, she added. Skinner added that the crisis has also forced Airmic to work in new ways that can help it reach more risk professionals around the UK. “Airmic has emerged from the pandemic in a way that has shown us how we can operate in a ‘blended’ way, with use of remote and face-to-face activity. I feel this has attracted a wider audience to online events and allowed us to provide services to members who are all over the country and elsewhere, whereas in the past there was a concentration of attendees from London and the southeast. Airmic will continue to use this blend of delivery methods,” said Skinner. The risk management profession has faced a mixed pandemic, having been part of the solution and a target for criticism, she argued. “A lot of questions were asked of the profession in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic as to why this had happened. I think there was some criticism of the profession as a result. However, the business continuity systems have proved to be very robust in most organisations and this has supported the profession and the work carried out in the risk teams since, which has improved the reputation of the risk profession,” she said. “The biggest learning I took away from this is to remain as agile as possible and regularly review all options available and not leave anything off the table,” Skinner said of her experience as Airmic chair during the past year. She is optimistic about the future of the risk profession. “I think there is a desire for all parts of the business to work a lot closer together in future. There is a need to work to ensure that the processes are better understood. There is a need to separate the management of enduring risks from point risks in order that they can receive a different focus,” the former Airmic chair said. The pandemic is also helping drive risk management further into UK businesses, explained Skinner. “I think there were many organisations, maybe smaller ones, who did not have an end-to-end risk management system in place and now recognise the benefits of having one. For them it has gone from a nice-to-have to an essential part of managing their business,” she said. The insurance industry, however, has fared less well during the pandemic. Companies hit by Covid-19 lockdowns sought to recover business interruption losses from insurers but faced a lack of clarity over contract wordings, which resulted in disputes and litigation. A test case brought by the UK FCA regulator clarified major areas of contention in January, largely to the benefit of policyholders. Skinner feels that the insurance industry has emerged from the pandemic with “a little bit of a dent to its image”. “I fully understand why the industry had a problem responding to business interruption claims for Covid but the way in which it handled the issue, especially with the smaller customers, was not good,” she said. “At a time when companies were fighting for their survival after paying their premiums for years, many felt completely abandoned by the industry. I think the industry could have worked harder to explain the situation,” she added. Skinner is also critical of how insurers have managed the hardening market, although she accepts price rises were necessary for some lines of business. “I do appreciate that the market had underpriced risk in a certain number of areas over the last decade and some correction was required. I support a fair rating but not some of the opportunistic pricing that has been seen,” she said. “The market needs to remember that this forces buyers to look at alternatives, like the use of captives, and once a risk has left the external market it is very unlikely to return,” she concluded.

Airmic emerging emboldened from pandemic, says Skinner

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