Business

FAI chair Tony Keohane set to head up new insurer’s board

OUTsurance DAC plans to enter Irish motor and home insurance market in first half of this year

South African insurance group OUTsurance has injected €100 million into its new Irish unit as it looks to enter the domestic motor and home coverage market this year. Photograph: iStock

Joe Brennan
Thu Feb 1 2024 - 06:00

South African insurer OUTsurance has enlisted Tony Keohane, chairman of the Football Association of Ireland and Uisce Éireann, to chair the new Irish unit it has set up to enter the motor and home insurance market in the first half of this year.

The Cork native, a former chief executive and chairman of Tesco Ireland, is among a number of non-executive director appointments Dublin-based OUTsurance DAC has filed in recent weeks with the Companies Registration Office (CRO).

The new board also includes Angela Keegan, former managing director of MyHome.ie, which is owned by The Irish Times; Michael Brady, chief executive Golden Arches Insurance, the former global insurance hub for fast-food giant McDonald’s; and Richard Day, an actuary and industry veteran of three decades.

Golden Arches Insurance entered wind-down in 2021 as McDonald’s moved its insurance operation to Bermuda.

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“OUTsurance DAC has selected a diverse board that brings together extensive insurance experience, a deep understanding of the needs of the Irish consumer and a strong track record of successful businesses in Ireland,” said the company’s chief executive Peter Broom.

The new insurer, which was granted final authorisation by the Central Bank in December, has received €100 million of capital from its parent to meet regulatory requirements and finance itself as it seeks to grow in the coming years, according to Mr Broom.

OUTsurance currently has about 55 employees in Dublin, but aims to grow the local workforce to about 300 over the next three years.

The insurer plans to launch in Ireland in the first six months of this year, initially focusing on home and motor insurance. The Irish Times first reported a year ago that the South African insurer, which is one of the largest players in its own market, was planning to enter the Republic.

[ South African insurer OUTsurance granted licence to enter Irish market ]

OUTsurance is among a number of companies that have moved recently to get into the Irish market following a series of reforms aimed at reducing volatility and coverage costs in a historically highly volatile market even by the standards of the cyclical nature of insurance internationally.

Italian insurance giant Generali agreed to buy Liberty Mutual’s businesses in Ireland, Spain and Portugal last year in a deal worth €2.3 billion. The deal, expected to close soon, marks a return by the Italian group to the Irish general insurance market some 22 years after it closed its Dublin office, which had been writing small amounts of property and casualty business as well as commercial insurance at the time.

[ South African insurer plots entry into Irish market ]

Neobank Revolut also entered the Irish motor insurance market, with policies underwritten by AIG.

The introduction of judicial guidelines on personal injury awards in 2021 has led to a sharp fall in the average award by the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. Laws enacted last year to strengthen the board’s role are being rolled out on a phased basis.

Meanwhile, legislation aimed at balancing a property owner or business’s responsibilities with those of customers or the general public was enacted last July.

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan is Markets Correspondent of The Irish Times

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