The UK insurance market is set to lose one of its oldest and most recognized names. RSA Insurance, once known as Royal & Sun Alliance, will be rebranded as Intact Insurance by the end of 2025.
The change comes from Intact Financial Corporation (IFC), Canada’s largest property and casualty insurer, which bought RSA’s UK and Canadian operations in 2021 for £3 billion. Intact has now decided to unify its branding. Alongside RSA, two other brokered insurance firms, NIG and Farmweb, which Intact acquired from Direct Line Group in 2023, will also adopt the new name.
RSA has been a major player in UK commercial insurance, providing coverage for cyber threats, property damage, and business interruptions. The company has deep roots, tracing back to the Sun Fire Office founded in London in 1710. Its clients include large businesses like G4S and Network Rail, and it currently serves about 7% of the UK’s small and medium-sized commercial insurance market.
IFC’s UK and Ireland division reported strong financial results in 2024, with a pre-tax operating profit of C$301 million (£172 million), nearly double the previous year’s C$151 million.
RSA CEO Ken Norgrove said the decision to change the name was influenced by insurance brokers. Unlike personal insurance, which is often sold through price comparison websites, commercial insurance is typically sold through brokers, making brand recognition less important.
“Being a household name is not critical for us,” Norgrove said. He added that brokers supported the rebrand because Intact already has a strong reputation in the market.
IFC CEO Charles Brindamour noted that UK insurers faced brand damage during the Covid-19 pandemic due to disputes over policy wordings. In contrast, North American insurers were less affected because their policies were clearer in excluding pandemic-related claims.
“The clarity of the language and the product is an issue, especially on this side of the pond,” Brindamour said. “North America fared much better.”
He also pointed to growing concern around cyber risks. Many business leaders believe current policies do not provide enough protection against cyberattacks or IT failures.
Norgrove said RSA’s cyber coverage is mainly designed for large clients with specific risk management strategies. However, the company wants to expand these offerings to better support small businesses.
“We do provide an element of cyber coverage but in our opinion it’s not broad enough, strong enough, or taken up enough by SMEs,” he said.
Brindamour added that climate risk is another key area of focus. Intact has invested early in modelling climate threats, which he says gives the company a competitive edge in closing the “protection gap” between weather-related losses and insurance coverage.
He warned that cyber threats pose a bigger challenge. While natural disasters are limited by geography, a widespread cyberattack could hit many businesses around the world at once.
“It’s hard to diversify,” he said. “Tail risk management is a big issue. There are models. But the problem is that: they’re models.”
In the UK, Intact is now planning for climate-driven disaster costs to rise by 50% over the next 15 years, mainly due to flooding.
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