Insurance Australia Group (IAG) posted its 2008 full year results this week with a profit of A$181 million ($150.5 million). Gross written premiums grew to A$7.84 billion, up from A$7.79 billion in 2007. The group said selling its under-performing UK businesses, coupled with a strong performance by UK-based Equity Red Star, helped it recover from [...]
Travel insurance firm Europ Assistance has rejected an insurance claim from a British teenager who suffered severe head injuries in a car crash whilst on holiday in France. Dicken Richards, 18, woke from a four day coma in a Toulouse hospital this week to discover that his insurance company will not pay out because the [...]
Nearly two in five motorists never claim on their car insurance to avoid losing their no-claims bonus, research by Confused.com found. A poll by the price comparison site found 38% of drivers avoid making claims because they’re concerned about the effect of the claim on their insurance premiums. Confused.com said not making a claim when [...]
Daman National Health Insurance has opened a new medical service centre in Abu Dhabi. Daman, in which German firm Munich Re has a 20% stake, will offer patients healthcare support for conditions such as chronic diabetes and obesity. Such healthcare services form the core of Munich Re Health’s platform, together with disease management for chronic [...]
Novae Group plc has announced it has established Novae Re, a new unit dedicated to writing international and predominantly reinsurance account. The new unit will be staffed by eight actuarial and support staff and 12 veteran underwriters. Novae Re will be led by Gunther Saacke, formerly head of Reinsurance with Bermudan firm Endurance. It will [...]
Specialist insurer Ecclesiastical has announced the appointment of Paul Bloxham as underwriting director for UK General Insurance. He brings with him many years of experience, and began his career in Birmingham where he held a number of underwriting and survey roles for Allianz. Twelve years later he joined Ecclesiastical and has since taken on various [...]
Specialist insurance market Lloyd’s has announced that it has appointed Hank Watkins as president of North America. He will assume the role on 31 August and be based in New York. In his new position the market’s operations in Canada and the US will fall under Watkins’ umbrella, including offices in locations such as New [...]
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) has announced it has filled the newly created post of president and CEO of Domestic Life and Retirement Services with the appointment of Jay S. Wintrob. Wintrob was formerly president and CEO of AIG Retirement Services and will assume leadership of the firm’s life insurance and retirement services businesses in [...]
Aviva has extended the deadline for its ballot on the reattribution of its with-profits surplus by one month, to 21st September. The insurer is proposing that a windfall of not less than £200 and up to £1,150 be paid to with-profits policyholders holding CGNU and Culac policies that were in force on November 21st 2006. [...]
GoCompare.com has announced its first ever multimillion advertising venture in an effort to win back business lost during Comparethemarket.com’s meerkat campaign. GoCompare’s TV ads will feature fictional opera singer Gio Compario singing ‘Go Compare’ to the tune of George M Cohan’s classic song ‘Over There’. Compario’s larger than life personality and songs will let people [...]
Zurich has improved its critical illness cover by reducing premiums for some policy holders and broadening the range of conditions covered. The insurer, which paid out nearly £60 million in critical illness claims last year, said the policy revamp was “the right thing to do”. Premiums have been reduced where exclusions apply for cancer or [...]
QBE Insurance Group posted a 19% rise in first half earnings this week, with the increase driven by strong premium incomes and lower claims. The company, which is Australia’s biggest insurer, announced net profit for the six months to 30 June totalled A$1.02 billion ($850 million), compared with A$859 million in the year ago period. [...]
Tesco Personal Finance (TPF) looks set to move its insurance operations to Glasgow and is expected to announce plans to create up to 800 jobs in the city. According to reports, a new customer service centre is scheduled to open in 2010 at Broadway One in central Glasgow, part-funded by a £5 million Scottish Government [...]
Armed pirates who seized the Russian cargo ship Arctic Sea in the Baltic Sea threatened to sink the vessel unless they were paid a $1.5 million ransom. “The crew members have already confirmed that the captors demanded a ransom and threatened to blow up the vessel if their orders were not obeyed,” a spokesperson for [...]
Aviva may be adding a postcode element to its life insurance premiums. The group is currently trialling the use of postcodes to illuminate the personal circumstances of its protection customers, having already introduced postcode weightings on its annuity products, along with several of its competitors. Aviva’s protection director, Richard Verdin, says research by the group [...]
American International Group’s (AIG) new chief executive is already making his mark with regard to the group’s painful restructure, Reuters has reported. Robert Benmosche took up his post on 10th August, replacing Edward Liddy. He has since decided to hold onto an investment advisory business unit comprising Sagepoint Financial, Royal Alliance, and FSC Securities. All [...]
The recession is prompting insurers to make lower offers for claims. The suggestion comes from the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (Biba) which has been researching its members to find that the majority have been successfully fighting for increased payments over the past year. The survey found that 91% of brokers had secured an increased payment [...]
The Equitable Life compensation saga continues with the publication of a new report commissioned by the Government. The life and pensions provider came close to collapse in 2000 when it could not deliver the returns it had promised. At the time, over one million savers lost up to 50% of the value of their pension [...]
New research from Aon Consulting shows the value of the assets in employees’ defined contribution (DC) pension funds rising sharply in July, to reach a combined £451 billion. The recovery, which reflects rallying share prices, represents an increase of almost 7% on June and puts the combined worth of UK DC funds £1 billion ahead [...]
