The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published a consultation paper setting out its plans for regulating Connected Travel Insurance (CTI), that is to say travel insurance sold alongside a holiday. The FSA already regulates travel insurance bought directly from insurance firms and brokers, and the consumer group Which? has campaigned to extend the regulation to [...]
The Financial Services Consumer Panel (FSCP), the body that advise the Financial Services Authority (FSA) from the point of view of an independent consumer, has warned that new rules governing the sale of private medical insurance (PMI) will put policyholders at risk. The FSA plans to put PMI in the same category as car and [...]
John Nicholson, Marsh’s chief operating officer in the UK, has been made chairman of the firm’s Scottish operations. In his new role, he will be responsible for Marsh’s Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow offices. Nicholson will retain his membership of the Audit and Risk Committees, as well as his directorship. He has spent a decade with [...]
Fitch Ratings, the international credit ratings agency, has reported that its outlook on the UK non-life insurance sector remains stable and refers to insurers having remained on the path of underwriting discipline, despite challenging market conditions. The report commends the non-life sector for having performed above market expectation throughout 2006 and into 2007, achieving strong [...]
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has published its submission to the Flooding: Lessons Learned Review, which has been commissioned by the Government. In the document, BIBA makes the point that the balance of risk is changing, with shifting patterns of climate change. It assumes an increased likelihood of flooding in the UK and recommends [...]
Global casualty insurance group Catlin has to announced that its Bermuda arm has purchased around $225 million worth of catastrophy cover in a trade arrangement that will come to fruition should the US experience a series of natural disasters over the coming three years. The move will see Catlin providing support for over $200 million [...]
Insurance regulator the Financial Services Authority has today announced it is to consult relevant parties on its proposals for overhauling rules surrounding travel insurance selling, in a move that will see the initial step towards introducing more formal requirements on insurance intermediaries. The move comes off the back of an announcement from the UK Treasury [...]
RFIB Group has named Christine Dandrige as its new non-executive director. Dandridge will take up the role on 1 January, and join the boards of RFIB Holdings Ltd and RFIB Group Ltd. Dandridge leaves behind Atrium Underwriting plc, where she has spent more than two decades working in a variety of positions, including a recent [...]
General insurance companies will be receiving a refund from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in the New Year. The scheme, which is the UK’s statutory fund of last resort for customers of authorised financial services firms, collects a levy from the insurance sector so it can pay compensation if a firm is unable, or [...]
Direct Fleet Insurance (DFI), the website that allows fleet owners and their brokers to obtain quotes directly from leading insurance companies, has reported strong growth since its launch this autumn. The company has recently added Brit and HSBC to its insurer panel, which already includes AXA, Allianz and Zurich. Using the DFI service, a fleet [...]
Holdings group American Financial Group has today announced it has purchased a majority holding in Lloyd’s insurer Marketform by virtue of a binding agreement to acquire at a price of $75 million overall, in a move designed to consolidate AFG’s holding within the London market. The terms of the agreement are dependent on final valuations [...]
BIBA has welcomed the publication today by HM Treasury of its legislation to bring all travel insurance providers under FSA regulation. Eric Galbraith Chief Executive of the British Insurance Broker’s Association, said: “The British Insurance Brokers’ Association has long campaigned for this legislation to protect the 20 million people who buy travel insurance every year. [...]
Leading insurer Norwich Union has today been fined by the regulatory body the Financial Services Authority following widespread reports of security breaches leading to identity theft amongst a number of its policy holders, in one of the first moves of its kind so far. The Financial Services Authority today announced it had fined the insurer [...]
Bernard de Haldevang has been appointed by Aspen Insurance Holdings to the newly-created post of head of political risk insurance, effective immediately. De Haldevang has decades of experience underwriting political insurance. He leaves behind Atrium Underwriting, where he held the position of class underwriter for financial and political risks in addition to being a member [...]
A large number of Norwich Union policyholders are expecting to receive windfall payouts of £2,000 each, in summer 2008. The company’s 1.1 million with-profits policyholders are due for a share of so called “orphan assets”, that is to say assets that are surplus to amounts needed to cover current or future payouts. Norwich Union’s “orphan [...]
A group representing insurance customers is considering turning to the courts over concerns that insurance companies plans to make use of extra assets will negatively affect current policyholders. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) verified that companies are able to employ any excess capital along with profit funds to finance the other areas of business. Consumer [...]
Targeted Lloyd’s insurer Kiln has today announced it is to recommend to its shareholders and approach by Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance in a bid worth around 150p per equity share, following a selection process of several other tabled and speculative approached for the business. According to statements released today TMNFI have made a [...]
Richard Finn has been appointed by Advent Capital (Holdings) PLC as its new non-executive director of Advent underwriting. In addition, the firm has declared it is altering the structure of its underwriting team. Finn has a great deal of experience of business underwritten by Advent Syndicate 780, and it is hoped that this experience will [...]
Sarah Richmond has been named by Marsh as the firm’s new risk consultant for its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Product Risk Practice. Richmond leaves behind Danone Waters UK & Ireland, where she was employed as quality and regulatory manager. In this position she developed a comprehensive product database detailing the firm’s entire dairy [...]
Paternoster, the company that specialises in acquiring final-salary company pension schemes, could be on the brink of the UK’s largest pension transfer. The company is reported to have agreed the take-over of 11,000 pensions belonging to former employees of P&O, the shipping group, in a transaction that could be worth around £800 million. It is [...]
