ARAG, the specialist legal insurer with its UK head office in Bristol, has appointed Brynley Case to the new position of chief customer officer.
Brynley, pictured, has joined from DAS UK, the Bristol-headquartered insurance group bought by ARAG in January.
He joined DAS in 2016 and served as the UK group’s General Counsel and company secretary until 2021, when he became its director of legal services.
Before working in the legal expenses insurance sector, Brynley managed a team of lawyers and commercial managers as legal director for Bristol and London-based outsourcing firm Capita Local Government, Health and Property.
In his new role at ARAG he will have responsibility for all its claims as well as those at DAS UK.
He also joins ARAG’s executive management committee, reporting directly to CEO Tony Buss, who said he brought a depth of understanding and leadership qualities to the businesses that were needed to drive its customer experience to even greater heights.
“ARAG has always worked hard to deliver market-leading service to policyholders and he will extend that ethos across our growing business,” he added.
“As chief customer officer, he will bring greater unity and increased collaboration across our customer-facing teams to develop straightforward and frictionless customer journeys.”
Launched in the UK from Bristol in 2006, ARAG provides a comprehensive suite of ‘before-the-event’ and ‘after-the-event’ legal expenses insurance products and assistance solutions to protect both businesses and individuals.
It is part of the global ARAG Group, the largest family-owned enterprise in the German insurance industry.
Founded in 1935, on the principle that every citizen should be able to assert their legal rights, ARAG now employs more than 5,000 people in 19 countries around the world and generates revenue and premium income totalling more than €2.4bn.
Following its acquisition of German-owned DAS UK, ARAG is to roll out a range of ‘best-in-class’ products to sell through its broker, insurer and MGA (managing general agent) partners.
DAS, which had been a pioneer in the legal expenses insurance market since the concept was first introduced to the UK in 1975, was acquired by ARAG from the German ERGO Group – one of Europe’s largest insurance groups whose majority shareholder is insurance giant Munich Re.
As well as its legal expenses insurance company it also owns a law firm servicing legal expense claims.
The move created a business with a combined workforce of around 800 staff in Bristol.