Who are Great Lake and Munich Re, Luko’s financial supports?
Have you had the opportunity to read your Luko contract? 🤓 There are 2 companies on your contract: we Luko, “ the manager” and Great Lakes, “ the insurer”.
Who the hell is Great Lakes? Everything is explained in this article, as well as about Munich Re, “ the reinsurer”.
Who are Munich Re and Great Lakes?
Who is Great Lakes?
Great Lakes is an insurer, just like AXA or Allianz. Great Lakes insures people and their property against the risks of daily life.
First independent, the former Canadian company was acquired by Munich Re in 1975. As one of their major subsidiaries, Great Lakes has also proven its financial strength to rating agencies, as can be seen from its ratings equivalent to those of Munich Re (AA- at Standard’s & Poor and A+ at AM Best).
Who is Munich Re?
Munich Re is a reinsurer. It is even the world’s leading reinsurer.
What is a reinsurer?
To put it simply, it is the insurer of the insurers. The reinsurer insures insurance companies.
To use the precise definition of Wikipedia:
This means that the insurance company cedes to a specialized company (the reinsurer) a random risk (the consequences of a fire loss, death, earthquake, shipwreck) against the payment of a reinsurance premium corresponding to the risk transferred and the method of transfer set out in the reinsurance contract.
Thus, in the event of a major loss in which traditional insurers do not have enough equity to reimburse their policyholders, reinsurers intervene. This was the case during the Katrina storm, the Fukushima accident or more recently the failure of Arianespace’s Vega rocket launch.
Who are Munich Re’s customers?
“Munich Re” is probably already reinsuring your former insurer 😉
Munich Re’s clients include the world’s leading insurers such as Allianz, HSBC, Sony Life, Bank of China and many others.
Munich Re’s financial strength
With a turnover of 49 billion euros, it is the largest reinsurer in the world. Founded in 1880, half a century before MAAF or MAIF, Munich Re’s main shareholders are Berkshire Hathaway (W. Buffet’s investment company) and BlackRock (the largest investment company in the world).
Standard&Poor’s rates its financial strength AA- on a scale from AAA to D.
In other words, Munich Re has a “very strong ability to fulfill financial obligations”. Robust, isn’t it?
What is the difference between Great Lakes and Munich Re?
Munich Re is a reinsurer. It therefore has no legal right to offer insurance products to people. Their approval concerns only reinsurance, i. e. insurance products for insurance purposes.
This is where Great Lakes comes in. With an insurance license, Great Lakes can directly insure individuals, in the same way as AXA or Allianz.
Why is Great Lakes on my contract?
Like a new bank, Luko is an MGA (Managing General Agent). This means that we manage our policyholders’ contracts from A to Z, from subscription to termination, including claims management.
On the other hand, we do not bear the risks. Great Lakes supports them for us because we co-built our home insurance with them.
Since our home insurance product is co-constructed with Great Lakes, you will see their name appear on our contract.
This partnership came about very naturally. We have already been working for 2 years with Munich Re, which owns Great Lakes. In addition, Munich Re is very attentive to new insurance and focused on innovation. In short, an obvious choice!
In the end, who is protecting me?
In case of problems, your contact person is us, Luko.
Need to modify your contract, a question, claim declaration: everything is done with Luko. Luko manages the life of your contract: from your subscription to its termination.
You will never be in contact with Great Lakes or Munich Re. Their role is to provide us with unparalleled financial strength and extremely reliable insurance contracts.
To give you an image, imagine Russian dolls: you are the first doll and we cover you. Then Great Lakes covers us. Finally, Munich Re covers it all.
What if Luko disappears?
In the unlikely event of Luko’s disappearance, you will of course continue to be insured ✅ Great Lakes will continue to protect you and you will retain the same warranties and conditions as the Luko offer. He will simply no longer be your daily contact person, but Great Lakes agents.
And since we are without obligation, you can cancel your insurance without waiting a year if you are not satisfied.
Originally published at https://www.luko.eu on July 15, 2019.
