Meet Matt Sumpter: Head of Technology Underwriting

Describe your career to date

I began my insurance career in a UK composite Insurer as an underwriter some years back (!), which was a great springboard into the world of insurance. This enabled me to take on several diverse roles such as underwriting, sales and distribution and training. After a few years working for a US Specialty Insurer in a sales management role, I was lucky enough then to be approached by someone working in the technology insurance space who had heard of my background, and general ‘geekiness’ and wanted me to join another US Insurer based in London to establish a Tech / Cyber practice there. After 13 years in the business there building up teams across Lloyd’s, UK and Europe, I was approached by James Hastings here to launch Technology Liability as a new class of business for Berkley Specialty London.

Having joined Berkley Specialty London in late October, I’m excited to develop our Technology portfolio here and build a team of high performing individuals who understand client needs and exposures in this underserved market sector which has seen Insurers increasingly focused on standalone cyber rather than professional indemnity.

Why Berkley Specialty London?

Berkley businesses have been underwriting Technology Insurances in the US for a considerable number of years, so there’s a great depth of understanding and experience of this unique class of business. Berkley Specialty London has a real commitment to the sector and in particular our London market partners. A major advantage to me is the Group’s decentralised business structure, which enables us to make decisions on a localised/product level based and really empowers us to provide what works best for the success of the business.

Since landing at Berkley Specialty London, the support I’ve received to get the Technology business operational has been phenomenal. There is a real “can-do” attitude and stakeholders from across the business have come together to get us to a position where, I am happy to say, we are now quoting deals and binding risks.

What inspires you about the sector and what makes Berkley Specialty London’s Technology offering stand out?

I have always found the Technology sector to be a vibrant and fast paced environment. I have a real passion for the subject matter – I am genuinely enthused to meet clients and understand their businesses and drivers and create solutions that provide true long-term value and security.

Our Technology PI and Cyber product has been developed with careful consideration to what’s important to our clients, and to ensure we don’t fall into the wording traps that some of our competitors tend to do. High quality service is key to our offering, with fast turnaround times, in-house claims expertise (including a strong panel of award-winning service providers), and complete authority for our line of business here in our London office.

Leading a first-class team, with a market leading wording and claims service are very important to me. Berkley Specialty London provides freedom to succeed, and I look forward to working with our partners to help them achieve their goals in the technology space.

Read more about our Technology Liability offering here.