MANCHESTER, 16 November 2006 – Housing associations could slash insurance premiums by up to 45% by doing more than the bare regulatory minimum on risk management, according to Aon, the UK’s leading insurance broker and risk management consultant.

Speaking to leading players in the housing sector at a seminar at the Lowry Centre in Manchester today, Aon is calling upon housing associations to make risk management a top priority to boost their Decent Home standards and control their insurance costs.

Over one million local authority homes in England have now transferred to housing associations since 1988 (source: National Housing Federation, October 2006). As demand for housing grows with more struggling first time buyers and an aging population, associations can use well-developed and robust risk management plans to improve their housing stock. In turn, this will help build an association’s case for more funding to meet the growing need for more homes.

Risk assessments will enable associations to prioritise improvements to housing stock to achieve Decent Home standards. They will also identify key risks so associations can put plans in place to help prevent costly claims. Associations need to review three broad categories:

• liability – in today’s compensation culture, limit claims through maintenance of communal areas. For example, pinpointing and repairing uneven pathways will eliminate the chance of someone tripping over and making a public liability claim;
• housing stock – plan how to reduce the number of urgent repair cases, set minimum standards when letting out to new tenants and deal with voids securely. For example, find the middle ground between creating a ‘prison’ or simply putting up net curtains – it should be appropriate to the area; and;
• employees – for example, plan how to deal with stress when interfacing with irate tenants or proposing ASBOs and put controls in place for when employees are working alone. 

Nigel Cooper, client director at Aon, said: “Failure to act now and implement a robust risk management strategy means that housing associations will find it harder to meet Decent Home standards by 2010 and will struggle against the competition. Associations also need to be more risk savvy to keep premium costs down. Claims experience is important but, going forward, insurers want to see commitment to risk management and business continuity through focused plans. This will have a positive impact on premiums in the long term and bring more stability, despite insurance market volatility.”

Notes to editor:


About Aon

Aon Corporation is a leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting. There are 46,000 employees working in Aon's 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Backed by broad resources, industry knowledge and technical expertise, Aon professionals help a wide range of clients develop effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions.

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