We’re always striving to give you new ways to work with us, to make ourselves effortless to trade with.

That’s why, in September 2017, we established our National Trading Centre (NTC) in Manchester to meet the specialist needs of a select number of trading partners. We listened closely to our brokers and worked with the market to establish a centralised trading unit with a dedicated team to handle new and existing cases.

The NTC is made up of highly-experienced underwriters who can provide a consistent, attentive and responsive service for all complex risks, whether new business or renewals. It offers a one management structure across all complex and eTrade business, allowing you to work across your whole book. It even offers you access to NIG’s complete product range, including trading tools such as our ‘one quote to market’ for complex products. 

We caught up with three members of the NTC team, to hear about the kind of business they work on, and how they’re working hard to make to the broker experience feel like a walk in the park. 

Let’s meet:

• Chris Hurst, Manager. Chris heads up the team of 25 people at the NTC.
• Karen Rolph, Team Leader. Karen manages a team of 16 underwriters.
• Mark Billington, Technical Underwriter. Mark specialises in new business for Motor Trade, Fleet and Property.

I started with NIG 14 months ago and was brought in to lead the team at the National Trading Centre. I have 16 years’ experience in various roles, starting as an underwriter before moving on to sales.

The concept behind the NTC is efficiency, to make the broker’s life easier by providing timely responses so that they’re seeing the best of NIG at every transaction. Every broker has a dedicated Senior Business Development Manager who can be contacted at any time and who will facilitate a quick response. Brokers also have access to our full suite of products – complex as well as eTrade.

We work across all complex products including Commercial Combined, Contractors Combined, Cyber, Essential Property Owners, Fleet, Motor Traders Combined and Motor Fleet. In addition, for every new business quote where the client may be exposed to a cyber risk, we quote Cyber as standard.  

We’re really keen to prove ourselves to brokers. In our first year alone, we’ve hit all kinds of targets and achieved substantial growth. We’ve done that by building trust, keeping our lines of communication open, and doing everything we can to build and grow together.

Plus, we’re writing all kinds of business, from single garage motor traders to multiple location property owners. Now that we’ve proven what we can do, we have a real appetite for more.

I’ve been with NIG for five years. In my previous role, I managed the regional team in Birmingham. Now I am Team Leader of Technical, Trading and Commercial Underwriting at the NTC. It’s a very different sort of place – here are a few of the differences I’ve noticed.

The first thing that sets the NTC apart from our competitors is our commitment to customer service. We do a number of things differently to make sure our brokers get the best deal in the fastest time. We aim to make contact on all cases in 48 hours, and we’ll always respond with a call, so we can open a discussion right away. 

Once lines of communication are open, we’ll agree a bespoke deadline with the broker as we’re aware all cases are different. Whatever the case you’ll be speaking to an underwriter who is a professional in your area. 

Lastly, we’ve invested in soft skills training for our people so that we’re asking all the right questions to reach a solution that meets your needs.

I joined NIG about five years ago as a commercial underwriter. Then, when the NTC was established, I moved here as a new business technical underwriter. I mainly deal with new business opportunities, helping brokers to grow their accounts with us through offering the best quotes. I mainly specialise in motor, but I also have experience in property.

In one year, I’ve seen how invaluable the NTC is to our brokers. Whether the broker needs help with a complex large risk, or if they need a sector specialist, we can help. We have skills in the team that gives us flexibility and we’ll focus on what a broker wants in relation to what we can offer. There’s no time wasting, no jumping through hoops, and we can do more than ever to make sure our brokers get a professional response. 

We want to help our brokers grow, and we know the only way to do that is to offer the best service possible, every time.

Organising our business around you

Our National Trading Centre is just one of the ways we’re organising our business around the needs of our brokers. To find out more about the different ways you can trade with us, speak to your Senior Business Development Manager today.