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Mutual & Federal now offers liability cover through Camargue deal set to grow liability market in South Africa

Camargue Underwriting Managers and Mutual & Federal have announced the signing of a deal that appoints Camargue as the liability underwriter for Mutual & Federal. An underwriter of niche insurance products and a provider of risk management solutions to a broad spectrum of industries in South Africa, Camargue has all the right credentials and was the obvious choice in partner for Mutual & Federal. The short-term insurer is said to be confident that this new venture will allow Mutual & Federal brokers to offer a wider product selection to meet the needs of their clients.

With the new Companies Act being introduced and the potential growth in the liability insurance market due to the Consumer Protection Act, Mutual & Federal is now well equipped to meet these new challenges and obligations with Camargue as its official Liability, Commercial Crime, and Financial Lines underwriter.

“Our partners, clients and brokers will all benefit from this strategic move,” says Caroline Da Silva, executive general manager: Sales and Marketing at Mutual & Federal. “It represents a wider range of solutions and provides incredible opportunities for our brokers to  enhance their service to their clients.”

The partnership is expected not only to introduce competition into the Liability, Commercial Crime, and Financial lines insurance sector, it will give clients and brokers more options.  

The first step towards this includes equipping brokers with the product knowledge, a function which Camargue will fulfil. Full training and toolkits will be provided to brokers through Camargue’s soon to be established Broker Liability Academy. According to Camargue managing director, Mitch Marescia, the purpose of the training is to de-mystify the current perceptions around liability insurance.  “There has been a significant shortage of skills in this sector. Our training will effectively equip brokers to take advantage of this new opportunity and in effect to successfully grow the liability market in South Africa”.

“We appointed Camargue as our partner as we believe them to be leaders in their field and we like their approach to business,” says Da Silva. “The company really lives by its creed of being a good corporate citizen.  In addition, every policy underwritten by Camargue includes integrated, value-added risk services which will benefit our clients, helping us and our distribution channel to grow the market.”

Another angle that sweetened the partnership is that clients do not have to lodge a claim to benefit from Camargue’s insurance policies. Essentially Camargue equips policyholders with business enhancing services that assist in managing a successful enterprise.

“There is considerable pre-loss value.  For example, the Directors & Officers Liability product includes Institute of Directors (IOD) membership, sponsored director training and arbitration services. The Employment Practices Liability product includes integrated labour consulting services, the General Liability product includes consumer protection manuals and call centre advisory services. The Pension Fund Trustees benefit from sponsored training programmes, private arbitration and a forensic risk assessment. This added value all holds enormous appeal for our client base’” adds Marescia.

Mutual & Federal is a member of the Old Mutual Group

Camargue: Authorised Financial Services Provider ■ License Number 6344

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