Universal Provident, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkeley Morgan Group, is making a major launch into the UK insurance broker market on 1 July.
To spearhead the move, the company has recruited Steve Sharrock and Andrew Sandilands, previously PMI consultants with Legal & General, and given them a remit to expand its broker base business fivefold over the next two years.
Also from 1 July, the company will cut its PMI insurance premiums. Its PMI contracts are all written over a two year period, which gives clients a guarantee of premium until renewal becomes due.
At present, Universal Provident says it has just under one per cent of the PMI market in the UK as a result of sales generated by its own brokerage and through its website.
Berkeley Morgan chairman Jon Pardoe said: “Although we get a lot of demand from brokers to write business, until now, we haven’t been able to provide them with the service they need.”
He added: “This move should significantly increase the business we write and make us a serious player to intermediaries.
“We intend to support them through web-based engines, through our broker sales consultants and our intermediary support team.”