LV= enjoyed a successful day at the National Customer Services Awards, scooping the Customer Service Contact Centre of the Year award. The award recognises the excellence of the insurer’s general insurance contact centres in Bournemouth, Croydon and Bristol. Peter Sinden, sales and customer service director, was presented with the award on 9 December. There was [...]
Sussex-based personal and commercial lines broker, Seico Insurance Services, has chosen Open GI to provide its complete back-office and e-commerce solutions. The deal includes the use of Open GI’s Core system as well as its online quote & buy solution, eBroker. In addition, Open GI’s commercial trading platform, Open Trader, will provide Seico with access [...]
Recent days have seen much turmoil in the world of airlines, with Flyglobespan becoming the latest airline to fail, leaving thousands of holidaymakers stranded overseas. Scotland’s Daily Record has reported that some 5,000 have been stranded abroad due to the failure. Over the course of the last two years around 60 airlines have failed, creating [...]
Hastings Direct and sister brands Renew, Insure.co.uk and Likewise, have announced that they are investing in state-of-the-art technology that will allow the group to seek out and reject customers who are likely to make fraudulent motor claims, at point of sale. The group says it wants to ensure policyholders are not penalised by fraudsters who [...]
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has issued advice to travellers likely to be affected by the proposed industrial action at British Airways (BA). If the strike proceeds, the first step is to contact BA to discuss the options available. Where alternative travel plans are made, travel insurance can usually be altered to cover the [...]
Edinburgh-based airline, Flyglobespan, has been placed in administration. According to Scotland’s Daily Record, around 5,000 holidaymakers have been left stranded abroad and a similar number have had their Christmas and New Year holiday plans disrupted. Meanwhile, the BBC reports that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is preparing to repatriate around 1,100 of the airline’s passengers, [...]
Business insurer, QBE European Operations (QBE EO), has acquired the brand and renewal rights of the Evergreen portfolio from Lloyd’s managing agency, Beaufort, which is owned by Munich Re. Evergreen acts exclusively as a service company for MSF Pritchard Syndicate 318, specialising in small commercial combined insurance business. According to QBE EO, the move will [...]
The use of Vehicle Index Look-up software by Open GI brokers to enhance data accuracy and achieve time savings has rapidly increased this month. DVLA information held by Carweb such as vehicle registration, make, model & engine capacity can be automatically retrieved from Open GI systems or via brokers’ websites by using the software. Data [...]
Leading online travel insurer Insureandgo has warned that thousands of holidays and millions of pounds could be lost due to the recent decision of British Airways’ (BA) cabin crew to go on strike. The strike action is due to begin on 22 December and run over Christmas itself. Insureandgo estimates that cancelled flights cost £9.7m [...]
Heath Lambert, the independent insurance broker, has been selected by Trader Media, a Guardian Media Group subsidiary, to provide the firm with general insurances. Trader Media Group is one of the biggest specialist multi media publishers in Europe, which counts Auto Trader amongst its leading automotive classified websites. It is owned by Guardian Media Group [...]
Groupama Insurances has announced that it is rolling out Hunter, the award winning fraud prevention solution, across all its household and commercial businesses. The move follows the successful implementation of Hunter throughout the firm’s motor and fleet applications and claims earlier in 2009. Hunter is based on the web and involves sharing data from insurers [...]
International general insurance and reinsurance group Brit Insurance has announced the appointment of Anna Pearce as Downstream Energy and Utilities underwriter. She joins the firm from JLT, where she spent seven years beginning as a broker and becoming an account executive and new business producer. Pearce will assume her position within the Marine & Energy [...]
The UK saw an 18% drop in net worldwide premium income in 2008, to £215.3 billion, according to International Financial Services London (IFSL), a body set up to promote UK financial services. The decline relates particularly to long-term premiums, which typically account for around 80% of insurance business in the UK. Last year, long-term premiums [...]
Travelers Insurance has announced that it is to open its first Scottish office in January next year. The office will cater to the underwriting, risk management and business development needs of the Scottish market, and will be situated in Glasgow. The firm’s range of property and casualty insurance products will be available to solicitors, architects, [...]
Insurance4carrental.com is reminding Christmas travellers to take out car hire excess insurance if they are hiring their transport. The website promotes specialists in the excess insurance sector, including insurance4carhire.com whose spokesman, Philip Suter, comments that annual policies can prove very good value for money, although most providers also have daily policies at competitive prices. There [...]
Somerset-based independent broker, Higos Insurance Services, has reported a year of growth, despite the economic downturn. The firm’s managing director, Ian Gosden, puts the success down to an early decision “not to bury our heads in the sand” and instead focus on services, staff training and relationships with clients. As a result, Higos managed to [...]
Liberty International Underwriters Europe (LIU Europe) has announced the appointment of Laurence Hautefeuille as head of Marine Underwriting. She brings extensive experience in the Marine sector to LIU Europe, and has worked for major French shipping firm Louis Dreyfus as well as holding positions with a number of large insurance firms. Hautefeuille will be resonsible [...]
The shareholders of global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Limited have voted to move the place of incorporation of parent company Willis Group from Bermuda to Ireland. The proposal was backed by the Board of Directors in September, with Ireland preferred because, as Chairman and CEO Joseph J. Plumeri stated, it offered the firm economic [...]
Towergate Partnership Ltd has announced the promotion of Amanda Blanc, presently chief executive officer of the Retail Division, to the post of deputy Group CEO. In her new post Blance will report directly to Andy Homer. She will be responsible for online commercial marketplace Powerplace, utilised by over 400 brokers. She will also take on [...]
HomeLet’s Landlord’s Insurance+ has become available on the jml insurance websites. The new product offers a broad range of coverage including buildings insurance, contents insurance, and Prestige Rent Guarantee which covers legal expenses and rental payments for up to a year. John Boyle, MD of HomeLet, has said that the Landlord’s Insurance+, created with deep [...]
