Insurance Industry in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Insurance Industry in the UK - Essay Example The performance and the challenges of insurance industry in Britain are set under examination in this paper. Emphasis is given on the market segmentation, the British demographics but also the buying trends of consumers in regard to the services of this type. Moreover, the competition and the opportunities of the British market – as it can affect the insurance industry are analytically explained using appropriate strategic models, such as the Porter’s Five Forces model and the PESTEL analysis. It is concluded that the insurance industry in UK is a sector with significant prospects but it is necessary that measures are introduced for the sector’s more effective monitoring – referring to the quality of services and the balance between services/ pricing which influences the level of competition developed in the specific industry. 2. Insurance Industry Overview – Market segmentation The British insurance market is the second most powerful globally; the sector’s employees are estimated to 313,000 (Efinancial careers 2011); in 2010, a decline was observed regarding the number of people working in the particular sector, reaching the 275,000 (Stern 2011), probably as a result of the pressures against the British economy; the continuous increase of premiums in the specific sector is rather a negative factor for the sector’s growth (British Insurance Premium Index 2011). In any case, the specific sector has a key role in the development of the British government’s policies – referring especially to the environmental plans and initiatives of the British government. The above fact is reflected in the cooperation in 2010 between the British government and CEOs from the country’s major firms in order to suggest an effective plan of action regarding the limitation of global climate risk - in ‘the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’ (University of Cambridge 2010); the cooperation between the British government and the insurance sector is expanded further, including the joint activities undertaken for the limitation of the financial risks across the British market (Stobbart 2009). On the other hand, the risks in the particular industry can be high – especially because of the turbulences in the British financial market, under the influence of the global financial crisis (Guardian 2011). However, the industry’s position in the British market is significant – in fact, it has been proved that the particular sector ‘controls the 17% of the country’s stock market’ (Economy Watch 2011). The market segmentation could help the firms of the industry to increase their position in the local market; geographically, Britain can be divided into two major zones – in terms of business concentration: the greater London area, including City, is the centre of the country’s business activities; the rest of the co untry presents similar market (and economic) characteristics. In terms of behaviour, the British market could be also divided into two major parts, as above; in the greater London area, business activities influence the life of people, while outside London, emphasis is given on quality of life; however, the modes of living do not represent particular differentiation –