Why choose Lir Insurance for your business?

Because yours is the most important business in the world! Dave Watkin from Lir Insurance discusses how his business can help your business.

WHO ARE LIR INSURANCE? Lir Insurance are a chartered insurance brokerage set up in Mullingar in 2015. We deal exclusively with business enterprises. I have tried to marry the various skillsets that I gained over the years, and customise these to our target client base. Using the corporate standards and the local touch, we feel that we offer the best of both worlds to our clients.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF I have had a long and varied career in the insurance industry, having started as an underwriter and surveyor with a major insurer. I moved from there to join a substantial brokerage in the Midlands specialising in large commercial and corporate clients. In 2001 we decided to join forces with a major corporate brokerage in order to better serve our clients, and at that time I became a director of one of the largest multinational brokerages. In that capacity, I was appointed to the executive board and worked initially with large national and multinational clients. In the latter years, I changed tack and took over the management of all of the affinity schemes, as well as the wholesale business.

TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT THE LIR INSURANCE TEAM Our staff have been handpicked and trained to work to our exacting standards, and I feel that we have a very strong core team. There is a mixture of age and experience combined with youth and enthusiasm. To augment this, a number of former colleagues work with us as required on a consultancy basis. They would have huge experience in certain industry sectors and are a great asset to the business.

WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT TO OTHER BROKERS? We have a business objective to be a ‘World Class Insurance Brokerage’. That has nothing to do with our financial status and everything to do with our clients, who are the core of everything we do. To achieve our objective, we run a programme of continual improvement to ensure that we are always offering the best possible service to our customers. We have a number of key pillars that support these aims • Customers Focus. • Team Work. • Operational Excellence. • Compliance. • Financial Awareness. • Risk / Compliance.

SO WHO ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS? This is one of the key strengths of our operation. We tend to target specific industry sectors. In doing so, we learn a lot about the risks associated with those industries and are therefore well placed to advise on their specific insurance needs. We have particular expertise in wholesale, retail, manufacturing, logistics, technology and contracting.

YOU MENTION TEAMWORK - IS THAT NOT A GIVEN? This is an important part of what we do, as it not just about our internal relationships, but also about our relations with insurers. We only deal with insurers that meet our strict criteria. It is not just about their central bank approval - we take into account a number of key factors: • Their commitment and understanding of the Irish market. • Their understanding and experience of the trade sector. • The underwriting and claims handling ability. • Their additional services including risks management.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT YOUR OPERATIONAL MODEL? Our model is all about the customer. Our operations are all about taking a standardised and consistent approach and our clients’ interests are at the centre of everything that we do. Central to this approach is the client review. This is a detailed process which ensures that we understand fully the clients’ needs. This enables us to customise a programme and choose the most suitable insurer.

DOES THIS REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? I genuinely feel that the review we carry out is important and in virtually every case we find some inadequacy in the insurance programme. This may be down to issues such as inadequate sums insured or limits, and inadequate indemnity periods. There can also be issues relating to gaps in cover and unrealistic warranties, all of which can render the insurance programme ineffective, hugely impacting the cover. I feel that many businesses place far too much emphasis on the price rather than on the value of the programmes and particularly the level of service that the broker provides. It is also interesting that many businesses pick their brokers based on the price put forward by the insurer rather than based on the value of the broker services.

HOW CAN A MIDLANDS BASED BROKERAGE COMPETE WITH MULTI-NATIONAL BROKERS? Obviously, the large multinational brokerage has a wealth of resources and buying power with Irish and foreign insurers. Knowing we cannot compete with that, we instead work with them. We have a unique arrangement where we work in partnership with Willis Towers Watson (one the largest brokerages in Ireland, and the world). We deal with the client and they broker the risk on our behalf. This gives the customer the benefit of our dedicated service, married with the resources of a large multinational. This has proven successful for us and recent wins include a large food manufacturer (exporting worldwide),a medical device manufacturer (with US exports), a coal distributor and a number of construction related businesses.

Lir Insurance Limited, Park Court | Austin Friars Street | Mullingar | Co. Westmeath

044 939 6398 / 086 856 0165 | dave.watkin@lirinsurance.ie

For information please visit: www.lirinsurance.ie

Lir Insurance Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.