The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Donald McKee Morgan, a partner in the firm of Donald Morgan Insurance Services (DMIS), £335,204 for insurance fraud. Mr Morgan, whose business was based in Ayrshire, Scotland, has also been banned from carrying out any regulated financial services activity in the future, as has his wife and sole [...]
Arthur J. Gallagher has acquired a majority interest in Insurance Dialogue, which trades under the Insure4Retirement (I4R) brand. I4R is a niche retail broker specialising in personal lines insurance for the over 50’s market and its largely outbound call centre, based in Bournemouth, generates approximately £11.7 million a year in revenues. The firm has 163 [...]
Aegon’s group marketing director, Paul McMahon, is to join FNZ as chief executive officer, UK business. FNZ is a leading provider of transaction and custody services for the UK platform sector and earlier in his career, Mr McMahon was responsible for getting AXA into the platform sector with the AXA Elevate platform. Commenting on his [...]
Swiss Re has appointed Margo Black as the firm’s new head of Reinsurance for Latin America South and president of Swiss Re Brasil Resseguros, S.A, with effect from July. Black is to be based in Brazil and prior to her appointment worked for Willis as head of Brazil reinsurance. In her new role she will [...]
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has appointed Deliottes to conduct a strategic review of the trade body following its merger with the Institute of Insurance Brokers (IIB) in November of last year. Opening the BIBA 2012 conference today, chief executive, Eric Galbraith, also warned brokers about political pressure in Europe for mandatory disclosure and [...]
Legal & General Group Plc has announced that Dr. Nigel Wilson is to become the firm’s new group chief executive. Wilson will succeed Tim Breedon, and joined the firm as group chief financial officer and a Board member in 2009. He becomes group chief executive designate with immediate effect and will formally assume his new [...]
Friends Life has issued a reminder that from 6th April 2012 the Government will automatically bring members of defined contribution pension plans, who contracted out of the additional state pension, back into the state second pension (S2P). The Government will no longer pay national insurance rebates to members’ plans, instead workers will build up an [...]
The Supreme Court has ruled against an appeal by insurers regarding the scope of insurers’ obligations where employees have contracted mesothelioma, following exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma has an unusually long gestation period, which can be in excess of 40 years between exposure to asbestos and manifestation of the disease. The insurers bringing the case maintained [...]
Russell Thomson from The Injury Lawyers explains how insurance companies are driving compensation culture for whiplash claims in a bid to chase referral fees. More from the injury lawyers injury claims website: The Injury Lawyers. Whiplash claims, whiplash compensation, whiplash injuries – or Whiplash Cash, Whiplash Epidemic, and “the weakest necks in Britain” as the [...]
The first quarter of 2012 was the most active first quarter on record for the global catastrophe bond market, according to GC Securities, part of the Marsh & McLennan group. During the period, $1.34 billion of risk capital was issued through eight transactions, exceeding last year’s record of $1.02 billion for Q1. GC Securities also [...]
Ageas achieved an 11.1% year-on-year rise in total income in the first quarter of 2012, with gross written premiums (GWP) increasing to £513.3 million. Non-Life GWP rose by 10.8%, to £445.5 million, and protection GWP increased 71.2%, to £15 million. For the first three months of the year, profit before tax stood at £22 million [...]
Munich Re has reported that in the first quarter of 2012 it made a consolidated profit of €782m, more than a billion euros better than the €948m consolidated loss it incurred during the same time in 2011. The firm has confirmed that its annual profit target remains unchanged at €2.5bn. The firm reported a quarterly [...]
LV= has added a break clause to its fixed-term annuity, allowing customers to transfer to another pension or annuity product with LV=, or another registered pension scheme, in the event of certain changes in circumstance. These include becoming eligible for flexible drawdown, the diagnosis of a medical condition which qualifies for an enhanced annuity, marriage, [...]
Groupama Insurances has secured a deal with Sky Insurance Services Group Ltd., the specialist modified, prestige and performance car insurer. Groupama is expected to write £1.5m in the deal’s first year, with volumes forecast to rise over the course of the next three years. Personal Lines Director for Groupama Insurances Kevin Kiernan said that the [...]
OIM Underwriting Limited, part of the UK and international operations of Arthur J. Gallagher, has announced the creation of a new e-Underwriting division. An auto-rating model is used by e-Underwriting, which provides point of sale quotations for a range of risks, both standard and non-standard. Brokers will therefore benefit from lower costs, and the model [...]
Bluefin, the national insurance broker, has urged businesses to take measures to help prevent the theft of catalytic converters from fleet vehicles. Over a five month period the number of such crimes, which involve removing the catalytic converter to sell as scrap metal, has more than doubled from 1,100 to 2,300. The surge in crime [...]
New research from the UK manufacturers’ organisation, EEF, indicates that the downward trend in sickness absence rates in the sector has plateaued. According to the latest EEF/Westfield Health report, the overall rate among manufacturers’ employees remained unchanged in 2011 compared with 2010, at 2.2%, and the average number of working days lost to absence held [...]
Aviva Investors has appointed Paul Abberley as interim chief executive officer. The move means that Mr Abberley, who is currently chief executive of Aviva Investors London and of the group’s Global Investment Solutions unit, has assumed responsibility for the global business and will be joining the Aviva group executive committee. Patrick Regan, chairman of Aviva [...]
Markel Corporation has reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2012, which includes diluted net income per share of $5.92. This is many times better than the corresponding period last year when the firm made just $0.85 per share. The combined ratio fell, year-on-year, from 112% to 100%, although Q1 2011 did include [...]
New research commissioned by LV= found that 86% of financial advisers questioned considered equity release to be a significant future growth area for their business, with more than half of this group already reporting an increase in client interest. Over two thirds of respondents believed pension shortfalls will be the main driver, while almost a [...]
Based on preliminary figures, Allianz SE says it achieved total revenues of over €30 billion in the first quarter of 2012, compared to €29.9 billion in the same period of 2011. Operating profit exceeded €2.3 billion, approximately 40% above last year’s level of €1.7 billion, and net income in the first quarter of 2012 topped [...]
Aon Risk Solutions has been appointed by EnviroMission as the exclusive provider of insurance placement and risk consulting services for the construction and operation of EnviroMission’s first Solar Tower power station, to be built in Arizona in the US. The renewable energy technology specialist has an agreement to sell solar-powered electricity from the 200MW facility [...]
