Managing general agent platform Orvia Underwriting, which brings together Ardonagh-owned MGAs, has extended its continental reach by launching into the Dutch market. It will focus on specialist insurance lines of business including high net worth personal lines, fine art, jewellery and specie and commercial property.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has confirmed there will be no levy in 2026/27 for insurance brokers and that insurers will see the levy required drop from £113m last year to £88m this year.

Dual UK has agreed a new capacity deal with Axa for its natural resources product, which is aimed at projects using renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind power and hydro. It provides cover up to £50m with premiums ranging from a minimum of £2,500 up to £150,000.

Renata Group Ltd, which is an appointed representative of the Momentum network, has acquired Abbot Insurance Consultants Ltd. Renata offers commercial, professional and personal insurance products including buildings, motor, home, travel and lifestyle covers.

Axa UK has launched a free programme to support SMEs in how best to adapt to climate change and make their businesses more resilient to issues such as extreme weather and flooding. The programme has been developed in partnership with Axa Climate, which is the insurer’s division that specialises in helping business manage climate and environmental adaptation challenges.

Zurich has announced plans to deploy Cytora’s agentic AI-powered risk digitisation platform across more than 20 markets in the next 16 months. The decision follows a successful 90-day pilot across operations in five countries. Cytora’s platform converts unstructured and multi-language submissions into a risk format that fits Zurich’s underwriting parameters.

Research from Gallagher and the Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that cyberattacks cost large UK firms £11.7bn last year. This total included £5.4bn in direct losses from disrupted trading and £3.7bn in shareholder litigation costs. Lost assets such as intellectual property totalled £1.3bn.

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association aims to increase its engagement activity with government bodies and policymakers to push its manifesto priorities and support the broking sector. It has recruited Amy Cox as its new head of public affairs to spearhead this work.

In a message to the market, Lloyd’s has highlighted the pace of rate decline as an issue that needs to be carefully managed and, in the softening market, has emphasised the need to focus on margin, expenses, cycle management and profitable growth.

Aviva plc’s UK and Ireland business reported premiums of £2.5bn for Q1 2026, up by 26% on the same period last year. In personal lines, the growth of 59% was supported by the acquisition of Direct Line. Commercial premium income was down by 7%, which it attributed to the softening market.

Price comparison platform GoCompare has launched a ChatGPT app to enable customers to search and compare deals from car, van and home insurance providers. GoCompare says the new app returns quotes faster and customers can then edit and re-run quotes as needed.

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association has launched a new cyber insurance broker directory to enable businesses to find support to manage, mitigate and transfer their cyber risks. BIBA developed the directory in collaboration with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The British Insurance Brokers’ Association has launched a new national advertising campaign to promote brokers to businesses. The campaign puts a focus on cyber risks and the importance of expert advice in managing and insuring these exposures. It features ‘Ben the Broker’, a character used by BIBA in previous campaigns.

Transport and logistics insurer, TT Club has urged facility owners and operators to prepare for this year’s hurricane season, which will bring 13 named storms, according to the forecast from Colorado State University. This is slightly below the 1991-2020 average of 14.4.

Managing general agent and Lloyd’s coverholder Hive Underwriters has launched an aviation reinsurance division, which will begin underwriting in October this year. Scott Bradbury and Joshua Down will lead the new proposition, which feeds into the firm’s multi-class growth strategy.

Software specialist VIPR has agreed a three-year partnership with Lockton Companies LLP that sees the broker deploy VIPR Intrali, its AI-enabled bordereaux management platform, VIPR Data Cloud, its delegated data warehouse infrastructure and VIPR Insights, its AI-powered reporting analytics tool for London Market specialty insurance operations.