Insurers suffering from anxiety over the Equality Bill currently before the House of Lords will be relieved to hear that Michael Foster, a junior minister in the Equalities Office, has announced a specific exception to allow financial services providers to treat people of different ages differently. The Bill aims to put an end to age [...]
Zurich Global Corporate UK (ZGCUK) has bolstered its Marine Cargo team with a brace of senior appointments. Formerly of Allianz, Rod O’Malley and John Gibson join ZGCUK as senior market underwriters and will bring their expertise to Zurich’s Marine Cargo team in London. O’Malley and Gibson have collective experience of more than six decades in [...]
The Chubb Corporation has reported that it made net profits of $695m in the fourth quarter of 2009, equating to $2.03 per share. This marks an increase of over 50% compared to Q4 2008, when the firm made $407m net profits, or $1.13 per share. It was also a significant improvement on the Q3 2009 [...]
Central Insurance Services Ltd has opened a new office in Glasgow, cementing its position as Scotland’s foremost independent insurance broker. The Aberdeen-based firm has invested some £1.2m in the new office and staff members, and will use the new premises as a platform for its future growth plans. Managing Director Iain Henry stated that there [...]
David Vincent has been hired by AXA Insurance to act as the firm’s new head of travel underwriting for the personal lines intermediated business. Earlier in his career he spent almost a decade with RBS Insurance as part of the product management team working in travel underwriting. Vincent will be responsible for leadership of personal [...]
swiftcover.com has been named the UK’s best “Value for Money” car insurer for 2010, by visitors to Lovemoney.com. The website’s insurance buyers vote in the winner and according to swiftcover marketing director, Tina Shortle, the accolade is “particularly special” because consumers have the last say. She adds: “To be named the best ‘Value for Money’ [...]
Motorists over 80 years old are being denied car insurance quotes, according to new research by Age Concern and Help the Aged. Half of motor insurance companies will not provide car insurance to drivers aged over 80, their investigation found. A significant number of insurers refused to provide quotes for any driver over the age [...]
AXA has appointed Jacques de Vaucleroy chief executive officer of its Northern, Central and Eastern Europe Region (NORCEE) operations. Mr de Vaucleroy will take up the post on 15th March, replacing Alfred Bouckaert, who is retiring in April. He will be responsible for the group’s operations in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland, as well as [...]
Guidewire Software® has announced the launch of its new Claims Performance Monitoring™ tool as part of the upgrades to end-to-end claims system Guidewire ClaimCenter® 6.0. With Claims Performance Monitoring™ insurers will be able to see metrics measuring claims operations performance in real time. Claims personnel can enjoy auto-tracking of claims by using insurer-specific claim metrics, [...]
THB Group, the specialist broker, has announced it enjoyed a good trading period to the end of 31 October 2009, recording improved turnover and margins. Fee and commission income rose by more than a sixth (18%), and broking profit soared by 43% (on a year-on-year comparison). At the end of the six months to April [...]
Fortis has launched its recruitment drive for 100 new employees to fill vacancies at its offices in Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh. The jobs come in a diverse range of areas, including finance, compliance, administrative support, claims negotiators and team leaders/supervisors. The recruitment drive follows a substantial deal with Tesco Bank which sees Fortis providing motor and [...]
Specialty property and casualty insurer Markel International has announced the appointment of Simon Wilson as director of international development. Wilson leaves behind Lloyd’s, where he served as general representative to Singapore and managing director of Asia, to join Markel. During his time at Lloyd’s he oversaw the development of its Singapore platform, including the creation [...]
Bermuda-based property and casualty insurance and reinsurance specialist Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. has announced the appointment of Nicholas Campbell as senior vice president and head of Specialty Treaty Reinsurance for Endurance Specialty Insurance in Bermuda. Campbell brings with him a decade and a half of industry experience and expertise in credit reinsurance and structured finance. [...]
AXA Assistance and Complectus Ltd have together created a new end of lease insurance product to cover the costs of refurbishing a returned vehicle, within reasonable wear and tear standards. Lease Guard provides wider coverage than that offered by most car or van insurance, including scuffs, chips, scratches, small dents, alloy wheels and interior trim. [...]
Young Marmalade, the specialist car insurer catering to the needs of young motorists, has backed the Motor Insurers’ Bureau’s (MIB) Stay Insured campaign which has seen the MIB team up with the website of Top Gear. The website offers a quiz regarding driving without insurance in a bid to raise awareness of the need for [...]
Zurich UK Life has released figures revealing that the number of critical illness claims paid out has risen by more than a quarter from 2005 to 2009. The total sum paid out is also up, rising from £58.5m in 2008 to £62.3m for 2009, with cancer, heart attacks and strokes the most common causes for [...]
