Headquarters:

30 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 3BD

Year founded:

1886

Number of employees:

13,196

Phone:

0207 105 4000

Email:

enquiries@uk.qbe.com

Website:

qbeeurope.com

LinkedIn:

linkedin.com/company/qbe-european-operations

“Restructuring inherited and legacy positions is a particular strength of our firm because of our ability to carefully evaluate existing security positions”

Thomas Carhart, South Street Advisors LLC

QBE

Tim Bluck

Client Proposition Lead

Nigel Cooper

Senior Underwriter

Jess Finan

Senior Underwriter, Casualty

Leadership

Tim Bluck has worked in the insurance sector for over 30 years, of which 15 have been with QBE. He has a background in casualty underwriting, working with some of QBE’s largest contractor clients. He has now taken on the role of client proposition lead, which takes a more holistic view of our client relationships and how we can continue to deliver outstanding service to our clients.

Client Proposition Lead

Tim Bluck

Nigel Cooper has experience of working in senior positions in the construction and engineering insurance market for over 30 years and has been with QBE since May 2022. He has broad experience, with leading construction projects in the UK and internationally, including annual programs across both company and Lloyd’s markets. His experience extends to working with multinational insurers to establish new construction portfolios, as well as growing and maintaining existing portfolios within the London Market.

Senior Underwriter

Nigel Cooper

Jess Finan has 10 years of experience in London’s construction and engineering insurance market. After completing a degree in civil engineering, she moved into construction insurance broking, working within the Aon and Marsh construction teams and managing programs for leading UK engineering and construction clients. In May 2024, she joined QBE as a casualty underwriter, specialising in construction risks.

Senior Underwriter, Casualty

Jess Finan

Tim Clarke

Senior Underwriter, Professional Indemnity

Tim Clarke has been in the insurance industry for over 20 years and has been with QBE since October 2022. Prior to this, he held a senior underwriter role at RSA, followed by Zurich, specialising in construction and global corporate risks.

Senior Underwriter, Professional Indemnity

Tim Clarke

Stuart Swinden

Regional Underwriting Manager

Stuart Swinden joined QBE in 2017 and has more than 15 years of experience in casualty and construction underwriting. He manages a significant portfolio of contractors’ risks and supports construction-focused projects and tenders across the UK. With expertise in underwriting, portfolio management and risk management, Swinden enjoys building strong relationships with brokers and clients, helping them navigate complex risks and find practical insurance solutions. He is always keen to discuss how QBE can add value and support construction businesses in achieving their goals.

Regional Underwriting Manager

Stuart Swinden

For QBE, the strategic move that has defined its success in the construction sector is the integration of underwriting, claims and risk management into a single, customer-centric system. That shift underpins how QBE now supports contractors across the country. Rather than treating cover, claims handling and risk advice as separate functions, the insurer has built a joined-up model designed to give customers a clearer picture of their total cost of risk. “The integration of claims, underwriting risk management and claims and client management into a unified customer-centric system has allowed us to deliver meaningful insight into our customers’ total cost of risk,” says Tim Bluck, client proposition lead. From that foundation, the business has moved towards a more proactive stance, engaging with clients on risk solutions and claims relationship management before problems escalate, with the aim of reducing both the frequency and severity of losses. The practical expression of this strategy is QRisk, QBE’s online platform, which gives construction customers a digital hub for self-assessments, eLearning modules and progress tracking. The platform hosts a suite of tools, including liability self-assessments, the Minds in Business mental health profiling tool, a risk culture profiling framework, and an ESG self-assessment. It is offered free to all QBE business insurance customers and sits alongside the QBE Return+ rehabilitation program, which uses digital case tracking to support early intervention for injured workers and reduce absence costs linked to claims. Underpinning the platform is a construction practice staffed by underwriters, claims handlers and risk specialists with hands-on sector experience. “QBE is a market leader with a dedicated construction practice staffed by experts who have deep understanding and hands-on experience in the sectors we cover,” Bluck says. That expertise has been tested by a run of sector-wide pressures, including inflation on materials and labour, supply chain uncertainty, tightening regulation, climate-related exposure and a persistent skills shortage. QBE has responded by expanding sector-specific risk insight and tools and by broadening its Minds in Business initiative to address workforce wellbeing, one of construction’s more urgent underlying issues. The strategy also reaches into how QBE works with brokers. The business positions itself as a transparent, single point of contact spanning underwriting, claims and risk, delivered through dedicated client and claims relationship teams. That structure, combined with a broad appetite ranging from major UK contractors to mid-sized firms via its Contractors Combined product, has positioned QBE to support the industry through its next phase, including the government’s renewed focus on housing, transport and energy infrastructure. Bluck says, “We take time to talk to our customers and understand the challenges and emerging risks within the construction sector.” Looking ahead, QBE is continuing to invest in its data and technology capabilities, from claims analytics that identify loss trends to partnerships with customers using telematics, drones and on-site sensors. For an industry facing tightening margins and mounting complexity, the insurer’s bet is that a unified, insight-led model will keep it ahead of the risks construction clients face next.

“Our disciplined investment process helps position our clients to reap the benefits of rising securities markets at an appropriate level of risk”

Thomas Carhart, South Street Advisors LLC

Eli Smith

Claims Relationship Manager

Simon MacLean

Risk Solutions Practice Leader, Casualty and Construction

Ryan Jones

Senior Risk Manager

Sophie Cresswell

Head of Marketing

Eli Smith joined QBE in 2024 with 17 years of insurance claims experience. He is QBE’s practice leader for construction claims and manages relationships with several major construction clients, supporting them through complex claims and delivering insight-led strategies to reduce risk and improve claims performance.

Claims Relationship Manager

Eli Smith

Simon MacLean joined QBE’s risk solutions team in August 2021 after nearly 30 years at Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, where he held predominantly health and safety roles. For the final 14 years of his tenure, he led the health and safety risk management of the capital delivery framework, a £2 billion construction investment program.

Risk Solutions Practice Leader, Casualty and Construction

Simon MacLean

Ryan Jones joined QBE’s risk solutions team in September 2021 as a construction cross-class senior risk manager, having worked for five years previously as a risk control specialist at another insurance carrier. Prior to that, he spent 10 years working in the construction and civil engineering sectors, with experience in both project and site management and operational roles.

Senior Risk Manager

Ryan Jones

Sophie Cresswell joined DUAL in 2019 and was appointed head of marketing in 2023. Her responsibilities include marketing strategy, brand awareness, events, content and communications. Before joining DUAL, Sophie held a number of marketing roles in various law firms and start-ups.

Head of Marketing

Sophie Cresswell

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Ciaran Astin

Chief Personal Lines Officer

Ciaran joined KGM as Managing Director in 2024 and in 2025 expanded his role to Chief Personal Lines Officer for DUAL UK. Ciaran has over a decade of leadership experience within the motor and home insurance sectors, having previously held senior roles at Hastings Group and Direct Line Group. He was most recently Managing Director of DriveScore, the app-driven motor insurance data business within ClearScore group.

Chief Personal Lines Officer

Ciaran Astin

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Stephen Kerr

Chief Executive Officer, Asia

Nicki Dunn

Chief Client Officer

Nigel Cook

Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Head of Major Complex Loss, Asia

John Law

Chief Executive Officer, China

Alexa Tang

Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong

Aldrin Wong

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Malaysia

Andri Dirgantara

President Director, Indonesia

Pam Chhabra

Manager – Residential Strata

Adam Basaldella

Manager – Claims

Adam Basaldella

Manager – Claims

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Stephen Owen, South Street Advisors LLC