Almost nine in 10 UK brokers say they want to work with insurers that maintain a strong regional presence, a 12-percentage point jump from a year ago, Aviva's latest Broker Barometer survey has found.
The preference, shared by 88% of respondents, underlines a market-wide push for closer ties between brokers and underwriters. Some 42% of UK brokers said they received better service from insurers with a visible regional footprint, while 32% said regional teams were simply more accessible.
Aviva said it had responded by expanding its office network to 15 locations, which it described as the largest broker footprint in the UK. The sites are fully staffed trading offices across cities including Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, and London, housing underwriters, business development managers (BDMs), claims leads, and client relationship managers.
The insurer opened its most recent branch in Cardiff in May 2025, where it said it was the only insurer with a dedicated mid-market premises in the city. The build-out marks a reversal from 2013, when Aviva shuttered 13 of its then-30 regional offices and cut 80 broker-facing roles.
Almost a third of Broker Barometer respondents said their needs were better understood by insurers they could meet in person.
Industry analysis earlier this year found that broker-underwriter relationships across the UK market were shifting away from transactional exchanges toward more transparent, solution-focused partnerships.
“Brokers continue to tell us that strong relationships and face-to-face engagement are central to their success. With the largest broker footprint in the UK, our focus is on understanding what brokers and customers need, keeping our service as responsive as possible, and making sure we meet the promises we make,” Aviva mid-market managing director Michael Yabantu (pictured above) said.
The survey pointed to the outsize role of BDMs in day-to-day broker operations. Some 96% said BDM support was important, with 44% calling it "essential" on the grounds that BDMs "materially improve brokers' ability to place business and serve clients."
Aviva said BDMs work alongside underwriters, claims relationship leads, and local risk experts as part of its regional support structure.
UK brokers continued to rank relationships above cost. Nearly nine in 10 (87%) said strong client relationships mattered more than competitive pricing, and almost half cited them as the single most important factor in their business success.
That emphasis extends to the problem of underinsurance. Some 48% of brokers said they planned to address it by deepening client relationships.
The Broker Barometer data revealed that 67% of UK commercial properties are underinsured, with an average gap of 79% between sums insured and actual rebuild costs. Some 68% of brokers reported a rise in claims being declined or reduced because of inadequate cover.
Yet only 24% of brokers discuss sums insured with clients on a regular basis. Jason Chambers, Aviva's director of innovation for commercial lines, has described underinsurance as "no longer just an oversight" but "an embedded behaviour."
The Association of British Insurers is separately surveying more than 1,000 SME decision-makers on the issue, with results expected this year.
