Independent international Lloyd’s broker Tysers has named Edward Page-Turner as the new Marine Division director. Page-Turner’s appointment has been to made in a bid to expand the successful Marine-Cargo book. He was previously head of Cargo with Benfield Corporate Risk, prior to which he worked for Marsh and earlier he held the post of senior [...]
Munich Re expects insurance premiums against sea piracy to rise following a spate of pirate attacks off the Somali coast. Dieter Berg, Munich’s head of marine insurance, told Reuters that insurance rates are rising in all markets – marine insurance being no exception. Payouts from current claims are pushing premiums up, Berg said. He added [...]
Nationwide Accident Repair services has posted its expected 2008 results with record net cash of around £5.4 million and nil borrowings. The UK’s biggest crash repair specialist has bucked the recession, acquiring six body shops in the last year. A statement from the company said: “The performance demonstrates the success of the Company’s twin track [...]
German legal services firm, ARAG, has been appointed by MMA Insurance to provide legal expenses cover alongside the firm’s commercial combined portfolio. MMA is a broker-only insurer and the move will assist its customers by avoiding the need to obtain separate legal expenses quotes and complete proposal forms for standalone cover. In addition, brokers using [...]
Consumer advice group Which? has criticised several price comparison websites for failing to provide customers with accurate information. Which? investigators examined six of the most popular price comparison sites, and found that on some sites, car insurance quotes were given with a different excess to what the customer asked for. Some websites, including Gocompare.com, altered [...]
Shareholders in Fortis, the Dutch insurer and one-time financial giant, are threatening legal action against the Dutch state. Last autumn, a collapse in confidence in the business necessitated an €11.2 billion bail-out of the group by the governments of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Members of the FortisEffect shareholder action group, which comprises around 1,200 [...]
From 2010 banks and credit card providers will no longer be able to sell Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) alongside unsecured loans and credit agreements. PPI is intended to cover repayments on unsecured loans if the borrower loses their job, becomes too ill to work, or dies. The insurance has been the subject of controversy for [...]
Fortis has started renegotiating a bailout deal with the Belgian Government and BNP Paribas. The original bailout collapsed after a successful legal challenge from shareholders. Fortis said the renegotiations will consider recommendations from a court-appointed panel of experts to sell only half of its insurance unit to BNP Paribas. Fortis had planned to sell its [...]
American International Group (AIG) is to pay around $450 million (£316 million) in retention bonuses to staff in the unit most responsible for its $42.5 billion losses over the last year. Citing its source as two people familiar with the situation, Bloomberg said the payments were offered to around 400 employees of AIG Financial Products [...]
Hackers have stolen the personal data of up to 4.5m jobseekers by breaking into the database of online recruitment site Monster.co.uk This latest breach is purported to be the UK’s second largest breach behind the HM Revenue and Customs data breach in 2007, and is another example that cyber crime is on the rise and [...]
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has announced that Maggie Craig has been appointed its first Director of Scottish Affairs. Ms Craig, who lives near Cumbernauld, is currently the association’s director of life and savings. In her new job she plans to develop wider and deeper relationships with the Scottish Government, Scottish Financial Enterprise and [...]
The chief executive of Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has revealed that his company had demanded the resignations of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chiefs as long ago as May of last year. Appearing before a Treasury Select Committee yesterday, Peter Chambers reported that LGIM had called for the bank’s chairman, Sir Tom McKillop, [...]
Storms that left 26 people dead across southern Europe this weekend caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage, an insurance industry group has revealed. The Federation Francaise des Societes d’Assurances (FFSA) said better estimates will come in the next few days when the full extent of the destruction is clear. Three types of insurance [...]
The vast majority of UK underwriters expect insurance premiums to rise in the first quarter, according to research released this week. In a survey conducted by Aon, 92% of underwriters predicted an increase in premiums for vehicle insurance. In addition, 74% predicted a rise in property rates over the next three months, whilst 69% said [...]
Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) has posted its fourth quarter results, with profits down 85% on year despite an increase in operating income. Fourth quarter profits were $9.4 million, or $0.14 per share, compared to $63.6 million, or $0.99 per share in the year ago period. Operating income rose 9.6% to $100.0 million, or $1.45 [...]
Insurance for new properties built in flood-prone areas will become increasingly difficult to find, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) warned this week. Developers who build in areas of high flood risk will find it difficult to sell properties because insurance will be prohibitively expensive or unavailable, the ABI said. Stephen Haddrill, director general of [...]
Research from Investis, the online corporate communications specialist, suggests that insurance companies are the best corporate website communicators. In its quarterly review of FTSE 100 companies, the firm found that the websites provided by life insurers are rich with both content and functionality. Aviva took first place and Prudential 12th having been assessed for clear [...]
Standard Life has placed limits on withdrawals from some of its property funds. Investors in up to six of the insurer’s commercial property funds have been told they will have to wait for six months to redeem their cash. Policyholders who are withdrawing their investments because they are retiring will not be affected, nor the [...]
Friends Provident has reported an 11% drop in sales during 2008. The company will issue its full-year results on 17th March but today’s trading update estimates last year’s sales at £1.005 billion, compared with £1.135 billion in 2007. The life and pensions provider has attributed the decline to the economic slowdown and the financial crisis, [...]
Independent insurance broker Heath Lambert Group has appointed Richard Buckmaster to enhance its specialist classic car sector (part of the Art, Jewellery and Private Client Division (AJPCD)). He brings with him experience from both Aston Scott Ltd and Aon Ltd, where he developed a strong classic motor trade scheme and specialised in classic car insurance [...]
