Allianz insurance. You’ve probably heard the name, but do you really know anything about the company? Did you know it was basically bankrupt following WWII? Do you know what insurance policies it offers? Here at Selectra we have everything you need to know about Allianz insurance UK, just read on to discover more.
Allianz Insurance
Allianz Insurance is one of the biggest providers in the UK insurance market for car insurance (guide coming soon), home insurance and business cover. It’s also well known for offering pet insurance, cover for musical instruments and travel insurance. It’s pretty much got all the bases covered!
Allianz Insurance UK is the British subsidiary of the German insurance group Allianz Group. With branches in 70 different countries worldwide, Allianz Group is one of the largest insurers in the world. Let’s take a look at its history, paying particular attention to its British arm.
History of Allianz: two world wars, bankruptcy and success
In 1890, Allianz - a transport and accident insurer based in Berlin - was created. The company quickly flourished and started to expand internationally. By the outbreak of World War I, it had a presence in the UK, the Netherlands, the USA, Scandinavia, Italy, Belgium, France and the Balkans.
World War II brought difficult times for the insurer. It struggled to stay afloat in war torn Germany and lost all its business abroad. By the end of the war, the company was technically bankrupt, but this didn’t mean anything to CEO Gerd Müller. A few days after the end of the war, he left a note on the door of Allianz’s head office in Berlin that read ‘On May 18th we will meet and see what we can do’.
Allianz returned to business; and it soon began to thrive. Driven principally by motor insurance, the 1960s saw Allianz expand abroad yet again. By 1973 it was the largest insurer in Europe and one of the top ten insurers in the world.
Timeline
- 1890 - Allianz is founded by Carl Thieme and Wilhem Frink.
- 1893 - The insurer opens its first international office in London.
- 1914 - By the outbreak of WWI, 20% of all its income comes from its international operations in Europe and North America.
- 1945 - By the end of WWII, Allianz is technically bankrupt and has lost all its operations abroad. A few days after the end of the war, it returns to business.
- 1959 - Allianz re-opens its first international office in France.
- 1973 - Allianz is the largest insurer in Europe and one of the ten largest insurers in the world.
- 1986 - It buys Cornhill Insurance PlC, cementing its strong presence in the UK insurance market.
- 1990 - Allianz starts to expand into Eastern Europe. Today it is the top foreign insurer in this region.
- 1991 - The company buys the American Fireman’s Fund Insurance company, which gives it a presence across the USA.
- 1997 - Allianz takes over the French insurance group Assurance Générales de France (AGF).
- 1999 - Allianz starts to expand into Asia.
- 2001 - Allianz joins with Indian company Baja Finserv Limited to create Baja allianz, which today is one of the biggest insurers in India.
- 2017 - Allianz UK embarks on a joint venture with LV insurance to become one of the top 3 insurers in the UK.
- 2019 - The company purchases buys both LV’s and Legal & General’s general insurance operations.
Allianz Insurance UK: Allianz Insurance PLC
In December 2017, Allainz and LV insurance struck a deal to embark on a joint venture to better both their positions in the UK insurance market. This meant that Allianz acquired a 49% stake in LV’s general insurance business for £500 million. However, in June 2019, Allianz paid a further £578 million for the remaining 51%, meaning that by January 2020, Allianz will be the sole owner of LV’s general insurance operation.
On top of this, Allianz has also recently agreed to buy Legal & General’s general insurance business for £242 million (June 2019), which it will integrate into the LV brand. These deals will make Allianz the second-biggest general insurer in the UK - just behind Aviva - with 12 million British customers.
After these deals have been finalised, Allianz has said its first plan of action is to bring together the businesses it has acquired. Experts have stated that as the company starts to integrate its new businesses, it could have a big advantage over its main competitors when it comes to price. It should be able to offer significantly lower prices as it has a lower expense ratio. Watch this space to see what Allianz has to offer British customers in the near future!
What’s an expense ratio in insurance?The expense ratio refers to the difference between the amount of money an insurance company spends on creating and servicing its insurance premiums (e.g. employees wages and advertising), to the amount of money it gets from selling the premiums to its customers. A company with a low ratio can offer lower premium prices.
Finances
In 2018, Allianz Insurance UK performed slightly worse than in 2017. In 2018, the company earned a total revenue of £1,510.2 million, but in 2017 it made £1,582.4 million. This performance was also reflected in its earnings from premiums: in 2018 it made £2,083 million from premiums, and in 2017 it made £2108 million.
With the acquisition of LV and Legal & General’s general insurance operations, we can expect these profits to rise.
Allianz UK in the community
Allianz insurance works hard to support communities across the UK. Every three years, it lets its employees choose a charity they would like to raise money for over the next three years. Its employees take part in all sorts of fundraising activities to raise as much as they can, then Allianz matches the donation.
From 2016-2018, Allianz and its employees raised a massive £1.1 million for Air Ambulances. From 2019 (for the next three years), they will be raising money for Mind and its sister company in Scotland, SAMH, which are mental health charities.
On top of this, all Allianz employees are given 10 hours paid leave a year to volunteer in their local community.
Insurance policies: Allianz musical insurance and more
So now you are up to date on your Allianz history, it’s time to get down to the real stuff: the insurance policies the company offers.
Home and car insurance
Since embarking on its joint venture with LV insurance, Allianz insurance is not issuing any new personal home and car insurance policies. This also means that if you currently have an Allianz home or car insurance policy, you will not be able to renew it when it expires.
Allianz is now helping to create LV home and car insruance. Are you interested in getting a LV home or car insurance police? Head to the relevant guide to find out more.
Are you a current LV or Legal & General home or car insurance customer? Find out what the Allianz deals (guide coming soon)mean for you.
Musical insurance
Allianz is the UK’s number one provider of musical instrument insurance. No matter what instrument you play, Allianz will cover it: from guitars and trumpets to saxophones and violins. It will also cover vintage and antique instruments, as well as sound equipment such as PA systems, amplifiers and microphones.
Allianz musical insurance will cover your instrument/musical equipment for:
- Professional use
- Theft, loss, fire and accidental damage
- Damage in transit
- Depreciation after repair
- Loan hire costs
Policies also include up to £500 of cover for accessories, such as instrument cases and strings.
Pet insurance
Through Petplan, Allianz offers insurance for dogs, cats and rabbits. Petplan provides two types of policies:
- Covered for life: this policy will cover your pet over their full lifetime, even if they have new medical conditions and problems as they get older, including diabetes and arthritis. Despite the name, you still need to renew the policy every year. If you have a ‘break in cover’, your pet will not automatically be covered for new conditions.
- Time-limited: this policy will cover your pet for treatment for up to 12 months after an illness or injury is first diagnosed. This includes behaviour treatment.
For both plans, Petplan will pay your vet directly so you never have to worry about making a big bulk payment when your pet falls sick.
Allianz also provides insurance for horses and riders through Petplan Equine.
Business insurance
Allianz offers insurance for small and large businesses. You cannot buy these policies online. You can only purchase them through an insurance broker or intermediary. If you are interested in purchasing an Allianz business insurance policy for your small or large business, contact a broker.
Don’t have a broker? Click the button below to find one in your area.
Legal protection
Through solicitors, business partners and other insurers, Allianz also provides customers with a range of legal expenses insurance. This type of insurance covers legal costs for both individuals and businesses. You can either take out ‘before the event insurance’ or ‘after the event insurance’.
- Before the event legal insurance provides cover for possible unforeseen legal costs and is usually and add-on to another policy, such as home or car insurance. For example, if you are involved in a car crash and the other party sues you, this insurance will cover your legal expenses.
- After the event legal insurance, is, as the name suggests, taken out after an event that has led to legal action has occurred. You can only buy this policy through a solicitor.
Allianz Assistance
Under the name Allianz Assistance, Allianz offers travel insurance, breakdown cover and car warranty insurance.
Allianz travel insurance: Allianz offers a wide range of travel insurance policies, including single trip insurance, annual multi-trip insurance and backpacker insurance. It also provides additional cover options for every type of travel you can think of, such as ski insurance, golf insurance, family insurance and cruise insurance. Find out what these policies cover and if they are good value for money in our Allianz travel insurance guide.
Allianz breakdown cover: this stops you from being stranded on the roadside when you break down! There are four coverage options to choose from:
- Bronze: this will cover your for 24/7 repairs and recovery when you are 1 mile from your home (a bit useless for long journeys).
- Silver: this covers you for breakdown help if your car breaks down just outside your house or on the road.
- Gold: this includes both the bronze and silver levels of cover, plus cover to get you to where you need to be, whether that is alternative transport, a hire car or accommodation for the night.
- European breakdown cover: this covers you for breakdown assistance whether you are in the UK or elsewhere in Europe.
Allianz car warranty: car warranty insurance covers you for car repairs and replacement parts when your car needs fixing. Allianz overs 3 coverage levels:
- Comprehensive: this covers you for the failure of all of your cars factory-fitted parts, such as the engine, braking system, airbags and alarms.
- Standard: this covers you for only some of your cars factory-fitted parts (fuel injectors, starter motor, ignition coils, airbags, alrams, parking sensors, in-car entertainment systems, on-board Computer and sat nav).
- Essential: this is the most basic type of car warranty insurance Allianz offers and includes cover for the major parts of your car that basically keep it running (engine, gearbox, driveline components, timing belts, turbocharger and sundries).
If you are interested in purchasing either Allianz breakdown cover or car warranty insurance, you can find out more about the policies in Selectra’s guide to Allianz car insurance (full guide coming soon).
Working at Allianz Insurance
Are you interested in working for Allianz insurance? The company currently employs 4,600 people and each and every one is entitled to great benefits, a competitive salary, opportunities for career development and flexible working hours.
As a huge insurer, there are a plethora of areas you could work in, including:
- customer service
- digital solutions
- marketing and communications
- finance, legal and auditing
- human resources
- risk and assurance
- engineering
To see if there is a role suitable for you on offer, head to Allianz’s careers page. Here you can search for roles by sector, location or both.
Allianz also offers opportunities for graduates with schemes in management, actuarial, engineering, finance, claims, IT and insurance underwriting. Additionally, it welcomes students for internships and placement years, and recent school leavers for hands-on apprenticeships.
Office locations
Where could you work? Allianz Insurance has offices in the following locations:
- Birmingham
- Brentford
- Bristol Aztec West
- Bristol City
- Chelmsford
- Glasgow
- Guildford
- London
- Maidstone
- Manchester
- Milton Keyes
- Southampton
- Woking
For some roles, there is also the option to work from home.
Allianz Insurance UK: reviews and complaints
Reviews for Allianz Insurance as a whole are quite scarce and mixed online. The company gets a fairly damning report from Trustpilot, ranking a measly 1 out of 5, or 09./10. It must be noted that Allianz only has 52 reviews on the site, which is nowhere near enough to draw conclusions from, but it’s still worth seeing what these reviews complain about: principally poor claims management and inefficient customer service.
Every person that works for this company does not take responsibility and just passes the buck to different teams. There is no ownership or responsibility to actually 'manage' a claim. Anonymous Allianz customer
Allianz fairs much better on review site review.io. Here 85% of all reviewers would recommend Allianz to a friend. Overall, the insurer is rated 4.28 out of 5 and is given an A for both customer service and price.
Excellent customer service, received all paperwork promptly, very satisfied and pleased with the service. Anonymous Allianz customer
However, some reviewers display similar complaints to those on Trustpilot, stating the customer service is very slow and inefficient.
Just spent 30 minutes in a queue trying to get through to their claims department and they just dropped the line on me. What terrible service. Jon
Like Trustpilot, review.io does not have enough reviews to draw a fair conclusion from (only 181), but the fact that inefficient service is a recurring complaint suggests that Allianz’s customer service is not always the best.
For more extensive reviews on a particular type of Allianz insurance, including how they compare to other providers on price, head to the relevant Selectra guide: Allianz home insurance, Allianz car insurance (coming soon), Allianz travel insurance.
Complaints handling
Seeing as Allianz lacks general reviews online, let’s have a look at its complaints data to see how many complaints it receives, what these complaints are about and how efficient Allianz is at dealing them.
To start, in the 6 month period from July to December 2018, Allianz received 2.46 complaints for every 1,000 premiums in force. This figure means it received a higher ratio of complaints than a lot of its rival, including AXA and Covea.
In this 6 month timeframe, Allianz resolved a total of 13,683 complaints. Compared to other UK providers, Allianz is not particularly effective at solving complaints within 3 days of receiving them. It only managed to resolve 28% within this time frame, whereas its biggest competitor, AXA, resolved around 40%.
Nonetheless, Allianz is one of the best when it comes to resolving complaints within 8 weeks, solving 61% in this time. By comparison, AXA only managed 41.90% and Aviva 60%.
Overall, when it comes to complaint handling, Allianz is fairly average. It is by no means the fastest at resolving issues, but is on par (if not a bit better) with other companies at meeting the general 8 weeks benchmark.
The most common reason for complaints was product performance and features, suggesting that the quality of Allianz’s actual policies is an issue for some customers. This is quite different to many other providers we have reviewed, where the most prevalent type of complaint was customer service.
Selectra’s verdict
Allianz is a well respected and trusted insurance provider with tons of experience in both the UK and international insurance markets. The fact that Allianz has now purchased the general insurance operations of both LV and Legal & General shows how strong it is right now as a company.
We like that it offers a wide range of insurance products: if you want something insured, chances are Allianz have got you covered. Plus, with the new purchases under its belt, there is a chance it will start offering lower prices.
However, the company has received more complaints from its customers than many other UK insurance providers. The fact that these complaints are about the actual products (as opposed to customer service like other providers) suggests customers are finding failings in their Allianz policies, which is something we do not like hearing at Selectra.
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| Offers a wide range of insurance policies. | Receives more customer complaints than many other UK insurance providers. |
| Experts suggests it might offer low prices thanks to its newly acquired general insurance operations. | Complaints heavily weighted towards policy performance and features. |
Data and information correct as of July 2019.
All material on this page and the selectra.co.uk website is for information purposes only and does not constitute any form of financial advice. Selectra.co.uk is not responsible for any consequences that might arise from your use of the information provided.
Other providers are available and the best deal for you will depend on your individual circumstances. Please do your own research and seek professional advice if necessary (moneyadviceservice.org.uk offers free, independent advice on all financial issues).
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