Blog Post No. 177
Global Insurance for Super Prime Property and the Intricacies for International Clients – George Seatter
26/07/2023
George has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, starting as an insurance advisor before quickly progressing to branch management and then leading various regions.
With a deep understanding of the importance of trusted advisors and the role of general insurance in protecting clients’ assets, George knows how to create bespoke insurance solutions that cater to the unique requirements of HNW clients.
To connect with this expert, email ask@www.londonproperty.co.uk or if you are a member log in to connect with George directly by clicking on his profile on this page or via ‘Hire an expert’.
Tune in to learn how clients can safeguard their Super Prime properties across the globe and make informed insurance decisions with the help of an experienced insurance advisor like George Seatter.
In this insightful podcast interview, George Seatter returns to London Property to share his wealth of knowledge on insurance matters. With a focus on serving clients in London’s Super Prime locations, George offers valuable insights for individuals with substantial properties worldwide. He highlights the often-overlooked area of global insurance and explains how consolidating multiple properties under one insurer can lead to greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
George delves into the challenges clients face when insuring properties in various jurisdictions. He emphasizes the importance of seeking tailored solutions, especially for clients with international presence and assets spread across different countries. From navigating complexities related to sanctions to ensuring compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations, George sheds light on the intricacies involved in securing comprehensive and suitable coverage.
As he delves into specific case studies, George discusses real-world scenarios where common sense and tailored insurance solutions played crucial roles in securing coverage for clients. He shares his experiences with clients who, due to their nationality or unique circumstances, faced obstacles in obtaining insurance. Despite the challenges, George demonstrates his commitment to finding innovative and persistent solutions to protect his clients’ valuable assets.
the podcast
the podcast
0:01
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0:35
Hello, and welcome to London Property, the Home of Super Prime. I’m your host Farnaz Fazaipour. And today we’re welcoming George Seatter back to the show for a third time to share some insight with us. Welcome back to the show.
0:48
Thanks very much, Farnaz!
0:49
Can you please, for our listeners who may have missed our previous episodes about private client construction, and also, the second one we did about second home versus principal homes, can you tell us a little bit about how you got to here today and gathered all this experience in insurance?
1:09
Sure. So I’ve been involved in the private client insurance sector for over 20 years. Initially, as part of the team at Stackhouse, Poland for 15 of those years, I then helped SPF private clients run their insurance relationship with Savills. And I’ve been one of the founding partners of Vision since they launched in 2017.
1:31
Thank you very much for that. So here at London Property, we have clients in the Super Prime locations in London. A lot of these clients have international presence, they’ve got properties all over the world, substantial properties all over the world. And as we all know, you know, getting things under one, one umbrella can be a lot more efficient, and also a lot more cost effective. So with that in mind talking about global clients with assets all over the world, what are the points that you would advise people to think about?
2:10
Yeah, I think you’ve mentioned a couple of the key parts there already. This area of global insurance for clients that are fortunate enough to have properties in more than one location, it is probably the most overlooked area of any of the insurances that we cover. And traditionally, that’s because a lot of the a lot of the small print, and a lot of the insurance restrictions tend to get in the way of what would otherwise be common sense. And, you know, if you’re a client and you’ve got multiple homes, why wouldn’t you choose to have one insurer covering all of your risk, you know, not only would you get a better deal in that situation, but also it eliminates any potential gaps in coverage. You know, if you’ve got different advisors and different insurers in different jurisdictions around the world, just because that’s the way that it’s always been done, then there’s always a chance that one insurer or one broker in one particular country will assume that someone else in a different country is picking up a part of the client’s overall global risk. And then you only find out when there’s a claim that that isn’t the case. And then everyone is suitably embarrassed that nobody thought to mention it to the client. So I think it’s, it’s an overlooked area that needs far more consideration, it is absolutely possible for a client with multiple properties to insure them all under a single policy. Quite often, what you need to run alongside that is a local broker to provide the the advice that goes alongside the placement of that policy. So what we’ve been doing over the last two or three years is making sure that we’ve got established partner broker connections in a lot of the main jurisdictions so that alongside organising a single policy for a client, we can back that up by providing local advice from a broker as well.
4:10
Brilliant. And I like what you said, because actually in in, in a lot of things to do with property, common sense, should should drive you because if something makes sense, when you think about it, then there almost always is a solution for it. And I think people don’t, don’t take, you know, their own gut instincts as seriously as they should, you know, it’s like, okay, what I’ve got five houses, why am I not going to the same guy for these insurance? People should ask themselves that question.
4:36
I think you’re right, but I think quite often, we get caught up in things being done a certain way, because that’s just how they’ve always been done. And it’s one of my sort of biggest frustrations, as you say that common sense doesn’t come into it in a bit more detail. You know, increasingly as well in that sector, you’re having to deal with family offices on behalf of the client. And when you’re dealing with those family offices. or indeed trusts companies that are based in Jersey or Guernsey or Cayman or wherever, you know, those, those trustees have have a responsibility to make sure that the client’s assets are properly protected. So having someone like me to provide oversight on those global risks is is is important. Now, obviously, I’m not going to understand all of the intricate details of let’s say, either the insurance market in the US, but that’s why we would choose to partner with a US broker in these situations so that we can provide the best of both worlds we can, we can understand the complexities of the local market, but still be providing the global solution at the same time.
5:45
Now, you touched on all the key words came in Cayman, Jersey, Guernsey, so let’s talk about KYC. So does KYC play a big part in insurance as well?
5:56
Increasingly so, you know, if you, if you go back 10 or 15 years, you’d be able to get a quote from an insurer, without actually divulging who the client is. You can’t do that anymore. So you know, any quote that we want to get on behalf of a client, even if the property is owned by a limited company or trust, we still have to divulge who the ultimate beneficial owner of the trust is, so that so that the insurers can, can understand that element of the risk. It has become even more relevant from a sanctions perspective, particularly with what’s been going on in, in Ukraine in recent years. Insurers are very nervous around any clients with a Russian origin. And in some ways, it’s, it’s, you know, whilst I can understand it, it also means that a lot of really good business has been, has been caught up in this situation, because, you know, from a sanctioned client perspective, it’s, it’s pretty much impossible to get cover in the UK. But there’s a lot of clients who haven’t been sanctioned, whose risk profile hasn’t changed, but just because their Russian, it’s made the process of them getting insurance far more difficult.
7:12
And there is another reason where common sense isn’t being used, right? Because people are people, you can’t say an entire nation is at fault, and they can’t get what they need to just live their day to day lives. So that must have been quite a challenge to deal with. So what happens to people who are uninsurable?
7:29
I mean, it’s a very good point, you know, we had a situation with our largest client last year where he’s insured with the same insurer for 15 years, you know, paying on average $450,000 a year for his insurance, you know, so huge amounts of money. Claims record is good, no adverse risk profile. But because he’s a high profile, Russian businessman, his insurers decided not to offer renewal. So, you know, in that scenario, we had to start from scratch and try and find a new insurer for a global portfolio, including US property, European property, London property, cars, boats, planes, you name it, and it was a very difficult placement. We were able to do it. But I think quite often, you’ve got to be persistent in that market. All of the main composite insurers in the UK, you know, the names that will be very familiar to, some of your listeners, have pretty much pulled out of writing any Russian client as new business. So you’re having to look for more unusual solutions to come up with something that allows the clients to continue to be insured. You know, and it’s important because quite often with these clients, we saw another Russian client where he had a very significant property in North London, with a very expensive loan set against the property. It’s a requirement of the loan that the property is insured, yet he can’t get insurance. So not only is, is that a problem in itself, but he’s also breaching the terms of his mortgage at the same time. So yeah, it’s a very complex area.
9:19
It is a complex area, and then he that man is going to find himself in a situation where the loan is being pulled. And there’s no insurance and yeah, he’s probably at no fault.
9:29
And it’s crazy, because, you know, for years, you know, it’s been a very attractive part of the market, you know, you will have insurers competing to win business, you know, from each other in this sector. And now, you know, you’ve almost got to, as you said before, a whole population that are that are finding it very difficult to get cover.
9:52
Let’s hope that common sense brings solutions that bring a lot more transparency, and people can actually you know, only be punished if they should be punished. Thank you very much for talking to us. And for our listeners who have complex requirements, they now know exactly where to go. Thank you very much.
10:11
Thanks, Farnaz.
10:13
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