Motor insurers have been inundated with claims this week following heavy snowfall across much of the UK. AA’s call centres struggled to cope with the number of insurance claims, whilst esure reported a 100% increase in snow related claims. AA said the increased number of claims were largely due to UK motorists being unfamiliar with [...]
International general insurance and reinsurance group Brit Insurance Holdings PLC has expanded its Personal Accident team with the appointment of Andrew Bowers. In his new role Bowers is directly responsible to Brit Global Markets business’ Keith Thorogood. Bowers leaves behind Aon Benfield, where he served as director of the Accident & Health division, to join [...]
Zurich Financial Services aims to avoid job cuts by increasing premiums, chief executive James Schiro has revealed. Asked by the Sonntag newspaper whether Zurich would be cutting jobs, Schiro said: “I hope not. “The insurance industry is still doing well. “Life insurance is in demand, people are driving less and therefore there are fewer accidents.” [...]
Older motorists have made no more insurance claims than usual this week despite heavy snowfall across the UK, Saga Insurance has revealed. The insurer said its claims centre was not deluged with calls yesterday – as might have been expected – because of the experience of its customers, all of whom are over 50. Saga [...]
Economic gloom is changing the UK’s attitude to insurance fraud, with a 27% increase in the number of people who see submitting a fraudulent claim as acceptable. A survey by insurance group RSA found that 4.7 million Brits have no problem with submitting a false claim – an increase of one million compared to March [...]
One in five UK motorists have downsized to a smaller car since the start of the credit crunch, new research has revealed. Car insurance provider LV= discovered that 19% of drivers have sold their car in favour of a smaller model, with each downsizing motorist saving an estimated £309 on running costs. Nearly one in [...]
FWD Research, which provides services to the UK financial sector, has been surveying brokers to gain a snapshot of levels of confidence in the insurance sector. The research, which is based on the opinions of 250 brokers across the UK, revealed that brokers remain confident that the industry is weathering the economic downturn well. Forty-seven [...]
Scottish Widows has once again banned certain types of withdrawal from its £600 million Life Property Fund. The move means that around 35,000 investors in the commercial property fund will have to wait up to 180 days to retrieve their savings. However, claims made on the death of a policyholder, at policy maturity or for [...]
Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) has recruited Andy Bear to head its new transport, engineering and utilities industry practice group. Mr Bear has expertise in dealing with the risk management and risk financing needs of both national and international organisations, particularly in the area of transport risks. He has worked in the insurance industry since 1984, [...]
American International Group has named Anastasia Kelly as vice chair. Kelly, also executive vice president at the company, will report direct to AIG chairman and chief executive officer Ed Liddy. In her new position, Kelly takes responsibility for communications corporate affairs and human resources in addition to her present duties in charge of global legal, [...]
Business and home insurer Chubb Corp has posted its fourth quarter results with profit down 37% on year. Net income fell to $407 million, or $1.13 per share, from $650 million, or $1.68 per share, in the same period a year ago. Net premiums dropped 4% on year to $2.9 billion. Chubb said about half [...]
Demand for Government action on trade credit insurance is finally being answered, according to a report in The Times. The insurance protects companies when customers fail to pay or enter administration and claims have been rising sharply, with the Association of British Insurers reporting a 59% increase during the third quarter of 2008. Trade credit [...]
