Sofia Geraghty Reviews the News

This week we spoke to Sofia Geraghty, TV Presenter at Insure TV, to get her take on the past week in insurance news.

What has been the stand-out story for you in the insurance market this week and why?

I’ll sacrifice any residue street cred I own, and admit I found the official ‘failure’ of Danish motor insurer Gefion really interesting. In an industry as regulated as insurance, how on earth do we get to the stage where policyholders might be paid out in bankruptcy dividends? Whilst being publicly declared as ‘failed’ is the indisputable nail in this and any coffin, it was hardly a surprise ending. Solvency concerns around Gefion date back years.

So why was it allowed to write so much UK business? Is this a regulatory or market error? What will the fall-out be? I have so many questions.

Which news this week do you think will have the most long-term impact on the insurance industry/profession?

I think the internet outage on Tuesday raised a lot of big questions for the cyber insurance community. It may be the result of too many disaster movies (come up with some new ideas Hollywood), but I think most of us have been waiting for an Armageddon-style internet outage for a while. And we got a taste of that on Tuesday.

Don’t get me wrong - being unable to access Amazon for an hour is hardly the stuff of cinema, but it did show us just how large the risk is. It also raises questions about tech and diversification. Surely so many big websites using the same server is a huge risk in itself?

Who is your insurance personality of the week and why?

It has to be Greg Collins, CEO of Miller, for launching LMG’s new graduate/school-leaver online hub. Insurance seems to be an industry that people fall into by accident, only to find out that its not a bad place to be. We all like a good surprise, but the market could be doing a lot more to sell itself to young people. The new hub is a good step forward.

I don’t dream of a world where toddlers want to be underwriters, that’s disturbing, but graduates and school-leavers should at least have some idea of what the industry can offer them.

What has been the most interesting/intriguing/surprising item you have seen in the background of any video-based calls so far this year and why?

Not quite a response to this question, but I saw an Aston Lark logo on the wall behind Peter Blanc’s head last week and still asked him if he was WFH or in an office. I can confirm he does not have an Aston Lark logo nailed to his house…

And finally: If you could interview anyone from the world of insurance and they had to answer your question 100% truthfully, who would it be and what would you ask them?

It would probably be whoever spoke to the cyber criminals at CNA Hardy. Thanks to stock images I always imagine cyber criminals as neon-blue holograms with no faces and binary code instead of skin. It would be interesting to know how they communicate with businesses in real life and what those ‘negotiations’ look like. Messenger, phone, Zoom, email or in person? Do they use emojis?

I’d also like to know the full extent of the attack.