Adrian Flux has announced 100 new UK jobs after breaking its sales record three times this year. The specialist motor insurer posted record monthly sales in March, April, and July. The new recruits, to be appointed in November, will be based at the group’s headquarters in Norfolk. New posts include sales, clerical, and customer service [...]
Lloyds Banking Group has announced plans to axe 200 jobs from its insurance unit. The announcement increases this year’s lay-offs at the firm to 7,500. The latest job cuts are due to a merger of the Lloyds TSB and HBOS general insurance divisions, including sales, marketing, actuarial, and underwriting operations. “We are bringing together these [...]
Specialist insurer Hiscox has posted a 29.5% increase in first half profit. Net profit for the period was £122 million, or 31.8 pence per share, compared to £84.4 million, or 20.9 pence per share in the same period last year. Pre-tax profit for the six months rose to £141.4 million, up from £109.2 million in [...]
More than half of Brits could be duped into paying for travel insurance in Europe because they’re unaware of the free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). A poll by moneysupermarket.com found 51% of UK adults don’t know about the benefits of the EHIC when travelling in Europe. Furthermore, 43% of those polled still believe the [...]
Lloyds TSB Added Value Accounts has commissioned research which reveals nearly 2 million Britons will go holidaying in sunnier lands during the forthcoming weekend. Of the 1,000 respondents approximately one in ten (equating to 5.2m when extrapolated to the entire UK population) admitted to going on holiday in the past without proper insurance. Nine percent [...]
A new report from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) estimates that around 250,000 Britons aged between 17 and 20 are driving without car insurance. The figure equates to one in five young motorists and MIB research also reveals that one in 10 young drivers claim not to be aware that car insurance is a legal [...]
Insurers must be saving money because large numbers of motorists are so fearful of losing their no claims discounts (NCD) that they opt out of making legitimate claims. So says Confused.com, which has been researching the delicate relationship between car owners and their NCDs. According to the website, 38% of drivers equate making a claim [...]
Admiral has posted pre-tax profit of £105.3 million for the first six months of the year, up 5% on the same period of 2008. Profit from UK car insurance business soared 18% to £101.2 million and UK turnover leapt 17% to £540.1 million. The group, which operates the confused.com website, said customer numbers rose 18% [...]
XL Insurance has announced the appointment of Peter Bitterlin as the firm’s new Energy regional underwriting manager. He joins from Partner Re where he latterly worked as senior underwriter of Energy and brings with him over a quarter of a century of experience. Earlier in his career he worked for Rhine Re and Baloise Insurance [...]
Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC has revealed in a briefing that reinsurers have managed to recoup half or more of its losses from the financial crisis and storms in 2008 due to underwriting gains and a greater sense of stability. In the first half of the year Guy Carpenter Global Reinsurance Composite recorded an increase [...]
International Passenger Protection (IPP), which operates the ProtectMyHoliday.com brand, has reported a sharp increase in demand for protection against the failure of established “legacy” carriers, such as British Airways. The firm, which offers protection in the event of insolvency, has published a risk exposure snapshot, as at 17th August, as follows: British Airways came top [...]
CETA is advising brokers to alert clients quickly and directly if an expected regular payment on a policy has not been received. The intermediary network expects the number of failed direct debit payments to rise as the recession bites and suggests brokers need to take a pro-active stance, not assuming that a missed payment equates [...]
Keith Ashworth has been appointed by Aon to serve as the firm’s new head of risk transfer for UK & EMEA. He joined the firm three years ago as an Aon Global director, prior to which he spent 17 years with JLT and has more than three decades total experience in the sector. The position, [...]
Summer is a dangerous time of year for dogs, M&S Pet insurance has warned. Despite this summer’s disappointing weather, dogs have continued to suffer seasonal ailments, M&S Money said, citing the popularity of its 24-hour Vetfone advice line. Cases dealt with by the advice line this summer include a dog who ate a whole pack [...]
LV= Asset Management (LVAM) has announced it has expanded its UK Equities team with a quartet of appointments. Graham Ashby has been named as the new head of UK Equities, and will be joined by Michael Crawford, Marcus Chandler and Mira Bhogaita. Ashby formerly worked for Credit Suisse Asset Management as MD and head of [...]
InsureandGo is providing the organisers of the Big Gig Weekend with £1 million of cover for swine flu, a Welsh newspaper has reported. The line up at the Shepton Mallet concert includes Katherine Jenkins, Boyzone, Diversity and James Morrison, any of whom could be prevented from appearing by the virus. According to Wales on Sunday, [...]
Amlin says it achieved record earnings during the first half of 2009, with pre-tax profit up 29% to £177.1 million, compared with £137.3 million for the same period of 2008. The group received a boost from its investment income, which generated an increased contribution of £53.1 million compared with £22.5 million in the first half [...]
Insurers are toughening up with lenders at risk of mortgage fraud, with Co-operative Financial Services and its merger partner, Britannia, forced to reshape their conveyancing panel, if cover is to continue. Solicitors on a lender’s approved panel normally act for the buyer and lender but the system can facilitate fraud as the solicitor involved is [...]
Resolution Limited, the acquisition vehicle headed by Clive Cowdery, is reported to be in talks with Lloyds Banking Group over the sale of Lloyds’ Clerical Medical business. Lloyds TSB’s takeover of HBOS last year meant the new group included Lloyds’ life insurance arm, Scottish Widows, plus HBOS’s Clerical Medical and Halifax Life units. Bearing in [...]
Fortis Insurance UK has won a £20 million contract to provide car insurance to Toyota customers. Fortis said the deal, agreed with Toyota’s UK insurance partner Aioi, will help it build on its position as the UK’s third largest motor insurer. Aioi Motor and General will continue to underwrite claims, while Fortis will take charge [...]
