Profile: Levelling the playing field

Passion and energy are the first two qualities that come across when speaking with the British Insurance Brokers’ Association’s (Biba) executive chairman Graeme Trudgill and head of public affairs Andy Thornley. In particular when they talk about the work done behind the scenes lobbying in the Palace of Westminster.

Making life better for brokers is what underpins their targets. This involves speaking to various MPs, gaining access to the right Ministers and developing long-term relationships with the civil servants who keep the government’s engine running.

The pair regularly speak to government officials on a wide-range of issues such as Vnuk, FloodRe, the Insurance Distribution Directive, signposting, Brexit, IPT, passporting, GDPR, Ogden, CMCs, fraud, The Insurance Act – the list goes on…

We decided we shouldn’t just be listening to announcements. We should be influencing the laws being made

Graeme Trudgill

The road to Biba

Neither began their career as lobbyists and both took very different routes into Biba. Trudgill says it all began when he was looking for a summer job while waiting for his A-level results. 

He always wanted to work in financial services after being put off outdoorsy work as a young teenager when he helped out on a friend’s dad’s farm. A local broker in Canterbury offered him a job and that kicked off his career.

“The rest is history,” he explains. “I went down the Open University and Chartered Insurance Institute routes with training instead of going to a traditional university.

“It was fascinating and enabled me to start my career in broking. After working for three more brokers I came to Biba in 2001.”

Thornley, who hails from Liverpool, admits he took a “convoluted route” and originally wanted to be a scientist studying human biology at Leeds University. “I struggled to find jobs in labs,” he admits.

However, this background in science eventually led him to a communications role for an NHS primary care trust. And later saw him take a press position at the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) in Milton Keynes.

“That’s when I got to know Biba,” he notes, “and when a communications role came up I put my name down and got the job.

“It was one where I really thought I could make a difference.”

That was in 2013 and later when the head of corporate affairs position was available Thornley was the first choice for the role. 

“Communications and what we do with public affairs are actually very similar,” Thornley insists. “It is about boiling down complex subjects into their constituent parts and presenting that with brevity. 

“I believe in representing brokers who are the agents of the customer. It gives me the energy to bowl into a minister’s office and persuade them to change policy.”

I believe in representing brokers… It gives me the energy to bowl into a minister’s office and persuade them to change policy

Andy Thornley

Gaining influence

Public affairs is a fairly new string to Biba’s bow – it was formed in 1977. They only began taking on broker issues with the government about nine years ago. 

“We produced our first Manifesto in 2008,” Trudgill explains. “We decided we shouldn’t just be listening to announcements. We should be influencing the laws being made.”

According to the executive chairman, the Manifesto helps to build relationships with civil servants, which leads to ministerial meetings. It also helps “grow relationships” with the relevant European Union officials.

Trudgill says that each meeting requires a huge amount of preparation: “We try to go with evidence, cost benefit analysis, everything that will support our case. That takes quite a lot of relationship management. 

“The important one for us is the Treasury minister,” he details. “Steve [White, Biba CEO] and I just met Steven Barclay and that was positive. He was interested in what we had to say on Brexit [Biba was for remain] and offered to support us on many of our positions. It is much easier than it used to be to get in front of a minister.”

They also work closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), having meetings with CEO Andrew Bailey. “We had him in this very room just a few weeks ago,” Trudgill points out.

Making an impact

There has been some suggestion that Biba does not wield the same influence as organisations such as the Association of British Insurance but they are insistent their impact is strong. 

“There is always more you want to do but I think we punch well above our weight,” Thornley states. “We’re quite small and I feel our impact exceeds the resource.”

And what of those who believe lobbying is simply high-end hobnobbing? What is lobbying actually like? Thornley jokes that it isn’t as glamorous as it might seem. “People think I sit down for dinner with the Prime Minister on a regular basis, but the reality is more like sitting down to answer 30 questions in a government consultation on tax or contract law.”

In some, but not all, cases they have been successful in changing legislation. They were buoyed up early on when their lobbying and media work ensured travel agents selling travel cover would need to be regulated.

“The Treasury put legislation through to make sure travel agents were regulated to sell insurance and that led to them outsourcing it to brokers. It was our first success,” Trudgill reminisces.  

Another highlight was helping persuade then Chancellor George Osborne to ensure claims management companies were regulated by the FCA – the claims bill is currently going through Parliament with Biba’s recommendations as part of it. 

The team is also particularly proud of its Find a Broker service, which has helped 498,000 people get insurance this year. 

The service is recommended via official government channels. “It’s taken a lot of work to build that trust,” Thornley points out.

But what is the impact of their own personal political views? Trudgill reveals he is very much a “swing voter”. However, Thornley is more active and admits he is a member of “a political party”. He declines to say which one he supports and insists that when it comes to Biba all personal political desires are put aside. “It’s all about the brokers,” he insists.

Looking to the future the two concede there are some tough challenges ahead. A focus will be IPT and Trudgill says they also want to tackle the burden of regulation, Ogden and the emerging cyber market – the pair will be working to ensure legislation around these areas does not impede brokers.

The organisation now has an ally in Parliament in the shape of former broker and current MP Craig Tracey. The MP recently admitted he was not a Biba member during his broking days. Thornley says seeing their behind-the-scenes work has changed his view: “He said now that he sees the value of us as a trade body in terms of shaking up the legislative landscape. That was validation for our work. ”

Trudgill concludes: “The aim is to always get a level playing field for brokers.”