Insurance firm boss Emmet McQuillan says residents cannot be complacent because we have a low crime rate.

Mr McQuillan said: ’It’s like anything, opportunist theft will occur and if you leave your doors or windows open there will always be an unscrupulous character that will try to take advantage of it.

He added however that he was encouraged by the fact that ’quite a few people’ in the island have burglar alarms.

He said the burglary spree a few years ago certainly focused everyone’s attention and we did see a rise in the number of people having them fitted, seen by insurers as a positive feature.

’You need to try and look after your property as best as you can.

He said small high value items such as jewellery and technology items are easily transported and disposed of so are high priority for the opportunist criminal.

But Mr McQuillan added: ’Thankfully it is not the same as it is in the UK.

’There is a lot more sense of community here than there is in the UK, which is a great thing.

’It reminds me a bit of back home in Northern Ireland.’

He said the community feeling was ’brilliant’.

’You can walk down the street and bump into and talk to people you know.’

Mr McQuillan said it was not just from an insurance point of view but also, for people raising children and arguably a better standard of living, the feeling of safety was greater here, compared to places in the UK.

Mr McQuillan has been managing director of Tower Insurance for more than six months.

In an interview with Business News he gave his views of the general insurance market in the island.

Also,from a Tower point of view, he explained why he says that being a local company, it is able to price appropriately for the local market.

’From an insurance perspective, if you are insuring with a UK company there is a chance they may not fully understand the Isle of Man market and how good a place it is to do business, how low the crime rates are, and other determining factors.

’We are fortunate not to have the staged motor incidents like you have in the UK, ’’no win, no fee’’.

’The cash for crash culture that is having a detrimental effect on the market and we are lucky that we do not see too much insurance fraud.

’Being a local company we take all those things into consideration when we arrive at our premiums.’

Mr McQuillan added that house and motor premiums in many parts of the UK are higher because of crime levels but that factors such as flooding,other climate related perils and property fires and escape of water claims are now coming to the forefront.

He referred to the floods which hit the island in December 2015.

Tower Insurance played a major part in assisting clients getting back up and running, in some cases potential business ruining effects. The firm’s loss adjuster was on the site the next morning with local brokers, meeting clients and dealing with claims in badly affected areas such as Hills Meadow and Tromode.

This ensured customers could start repairs, get back to trading and recover as quickly as possible.

He said Tower made a huge effort on the large number of motor claims received from this incident, some being made on the Friday were paid out on the following Monday.

Mr McQuillan said the main channel with customers seeking insurance is through the ’excellent’ network of brokers based in the island.

’Our broker network is very importan to Tower. They give invaluable advice to customers and ensure that they are provided with the appropriate cover for their needs.’

Tower Insurance celebrated 90 years in 2018 and prides itself on being part of the community and a well-known, trusted partner for personal and commercial customers.

The company spends around £50,000 a year on community events and work for good causes, such as the cycling proficiency scheme, road safety initiatives, providing smoke alarms for the vulnerable as well as supporting sports, the arts and other community activities.

Last February the company gained chartered status, the first from the general insurance market in the island.

Emmet said: ’It’s the highest industry award covering subjects such as professionalism and ethicalstandards, for Tower to achieve this shows how we are committed to ensuring our staff and the service provided are to the highest levels required by the Chartered Insurance Institute.’

Mr McQuillan took over as managing director last April from Peter Gallagher, who took retirement after nine years in the role. Emmet, like Peter has worked for the group his entire career and has an extensive knowledge of the local and national insurance market and was the underwriting manager with Tower before taking over in the hot seat.

Mr McQuillan said as long as local insurance companies and brokers continue to provide a good service then people will continue to use them.

He said people using popular online insurance companies might think they are getting a better deal but he warned: ’There could be hidden charges and admin fees. Simple things like changes of address can incur administration fees and it is very easy to look at the end price and thinking youhave a great deal, when in reality, you may have a higher excess, lower limits or missing cover. That is the beauty of Tower and our broker network being local, you have someone to talk to to ensure you are buying the correct cover.

’The most important part of the insurance journey is when a customer has a claim.

’Tower have their own claims team and claim adjuster based on island, ensuring swift and efficient handling of claims which can be stressful for those involved. By being local you get to speak to people face to face, not something you can do with a UK provider and not always in the UK.’

As a chartered insurer and past president of the Insurance Institute of the Isle of Man, Emmet said he felt honoured to take over at Tower Insurance as the new managing director.

He added: ’I am confident Tower can continue to be the insurer of choice on the island.

’We have an experienced and extremely focused staff, keento ensure we carry on providing first class service and develop our offering over the coming years, taking full advantage of technology. Coupled with our excellent broker network here in the island and and our group relationship with parent company RSA’