Insurance claims appointments: CPP Group, Towergate Insurance Brokers, Minster Law, Coplus

CPP Group appoints new chief executive officer, Towergate Insurance Brokers expands its Welsh claims team, Maggie Game joins Minster Law, and Coplus names two divisional managing directors—read about all the latest appointments in the insurance claims sector

CPP Group has appointed Carl Carter as the new chief executive officer of its UK business.

Carter succeeds retiring UK managing director Michael Whitfield, who will remain with CPP Group in a strategic consultancy role to support the growth of its insurance business.

Carter has most recently worked as managing director of Voyager Insurance Services, the wholesale and retail broker, which also has a number of direct-to-consumer and direct-to-business insurance brands within its portfolio.

He has almost 30 years of marketing, development and senior executive leadership experience within the insurance, assistance and financial services sectors. This includes a strong background in product innovation and diversification, where he has worked closely with existing and new brands to deepen commercial relationships and expand product lines.

CPP Group UK has acted as a startup since launching in 2018, leading its operations from its headquarters in Leeds. In September 2019, it entered the insurance broker market and is continuing to establish its reputation as the go-to ancillary insurance products and services provider in the UK. 

Jason Walsh, chief executive of CPP Group, said: “We began integrating our legacy and ongoing operations in the UK last year and Carl will help to complete that process, along with driving commercial aspirations in our home market.”

“Carl brings an extensive knowledge of, and connections within, the insurance and wider financial services sector to CPP as well as a huge amount of business development and marketing experience.”

Carter, whose appointment is subject to regulatory approval, said: “I am delighted to be joining CPP at a pivotal moment in the development of the UK operation. We have some exciting plans to drive the business forward and provide real value to our partners and their customers.”

“The re-entry into the UK domestic market for new business since 2018 has seen good progress being made and we have a strong portfolio of insurance products and services which we’re planning to build on. This includes the portfolio of Blink Parametric, part of the wider CPP Group, which provides great opportunities for delay and disruption assistance for travellers.”

“I look forward to working with the talented team here, our underwriting partners and with all of our existing and new partners over the coming years.”

Towergate Insurance Brokers has expanded its Welsh claims team with a new appointment.

Alex Dodds joins Towergate Insurance Brokers as claims broker, bringing a wealth of industry experience from his time spent working as an intermediate claims handler.

Discussing his new role, Dodds said: “This is a great opportunity for me to join such a renowned company and get stuck into a new challenge. I’m excited to provide clients with a top-quality claims experience whilst developing my own skillset—I’m already learning new things daily.”

“I hope to use my time with Towergate Insurance Brokers to gain professional qualifications, starting with a certificate in insurance from both the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters and the Chartered Insurance Institute.” 

Gary Stevens, area managing director for Wales at Towergate Insurance Brokers, said: “I am delighted to welcome Alex to the claims team. His drive to continually better himself is admirable and combined with his industry experience, makes him a positive addition to the team.” 

“Alex’s appointment further demonstrates our commitment to investing in talent to complement our existing teams in Cardiff, Swansea and Haverfordwest. It’s great to have Alex here and I look forward to working with him.”

Insurance and transformation specialist Maggie Game has been appointed to the role of chief operating officer at Minster Law.

She took up the role at the personal injury, employment and consumer law firm on 6 April.

Game has a track record of senior roles across financial services, including two years as director of insurance at Experian, and director of banks and building society distribution at L&G between 2018 and 2019.

She has worked at insurers including Markerstudy, DLG, Santam and Aviva, and has also run her own management consultancy business, Tudeley Consultants, from where she joined Minster Law.

Shirley Woolham, chief executive officer of Minster Law, said: “Maggie is a hugely important signing for us. She is an exceptionally talented change agent with deep experience of transforming businesses in financial services and especially insurance.” 

“It is great that she is joining us at such an exciting time for Minster Law and bringing her expertise in transformational change to an already diverse executive team.”

Woolham continued “Whilst we provide legal services as a very proud law firm, we are organised as a digital customer service business and we measure our success on excellent customer outcomes which drive strong economic and brand benefits for our partners.”

“Our digital transformation journey has helped us understand how extensively a business needs to embrace change to support a truly digital agenda. Maggie will be driving forward Minster Law’s digital and data-enabled operating model, which is key to meeting our strategic ambitions to be the leading legal services provider to the insurance sector.”

Commenting on her new role, Game said: “Minster Law is one of those firms that is consistently cited as a pioneer in what is a very traditional sector. Minster has been at the forefront of the digital evolution in legal services for many years, from the early days of customer-self-service to the use of AI and, more recently, the launch of INK—which is transforming the customer experience in personal injury claims.”

She added: “I was also attracted to Minster Law because the company thinks and does things differently and has an immensely strong consumer focus. The experience of the executive team spans numerous sectors from insurance and financial services to claims management and retail, which has created an entrepreneurial culture that feels less hidebound by lawyerly tradition.” 

“I am joining at a challenging time for claims, but in our industry and, as the economy reopens, there are exciting opportunities open to well-organised, digitally savvy businesses that champion the consumer.”

“My priority will be to ensure Minster Law further builds its reputation as a 2020s law firm and I look forward to working alongside Shirley and the rest of the Minster Law team to realise our ambitious growth plans.”

Coplus has appointed two divisional managing directors as the business creates a new divisionalised structure.

Andrew Bennett is the new managing director for insurance products and James Blyth has been appointed as managing director for claims.

Both Bennett and Blyth have a wealth of expertise within insurance and claims handling. 

Bennett has worked within the general insurance industry for 20 years at market leaders such as Allianz, BGL Group, Direct Line and General Motors subsidiary MICL. Blyth joined Coplus in 2000 and has been instrumental in the businesses evolution and growth with vast experience within the operation.

On his appointment, Bennett said: “I’m really excited to be leading the product division at Coplus. There is great scope for our insurance products and now with some early wins under our belt we believe we can show true customer value at competitive prices using innovative financial models reflecting the modern business that we are. The Coplus approach to capacity provision, compliance and technical underwriting gives us a strong capability in this changing market and one that we are looking to capitalise on fully.”

Blyth commented “The divisionalised structure will help us gain traction in both our core markets. Specifically in claims handling we are gearing up for growth in specialist FNOL with telematics and pay as you go being big growth areas. The whiplash reforms and our capability in small claims handling also opens up a range of new markets as high quality, cost managed support for claimants is vital going forward and it’s something we can do very well.”