Towergate Partnership has acquired independent mortgage broker, John Charcol, via its Towergate Financial unit. Under the terms of the deal, all John Charcol staff and directors will be making the move to Towergate Financial and CEO, John Garfield, will then work closely with Towergate Financial CEO, Ian Darby, to grow the business. The acquisition supports [...]
Capita Insurance Distribution’s pet insurance division Thornside has been selected by AXA to provide and adminster Sainsbury’s pet insurance. Thornside is a third party administrator for AXA and will handle claims, sales and fulfilment of Sainsbury’s pet insurance products. AXA’s corporate partnerships Managing Director Gary Stott explained that Thornside had been chosen because AXA believed [...]
Drivers of cars that have passed their fifth birthday are being alerted to the fact that they belong to the UK’s “most likely to claim” group of motorists. According to Virgin Money Car Insurance, 9.6% of all motor claims processed by the firm were from drivers of five-year-old cars, with four-year-old cars following closely behind. [...]
Insurance broker Bennetts Commercial Ltd has announced the appointment of Carole Lowe as a director and member of the senior management team. She joins Bennetts from The Jelf Group where she worked as director for the Southern Region. Lowe brings with her more than a quarter of a century of experience in the sector, during [...]
Commercial lines underwriting specialist Arista Insurance has announced the promotion of Anthony Foulds to the post of regional underwriting manager for the South East. He joined the firm four years ago as senior underwriter, prior to which he worked for RSA as a senior development underwriter. Foulds will be handed responsibility for managing the property, [...]
Torus has secured a $185 million injection of cash that will be used to support continued expansion. Subject to regulatory approval, the move will increase the speciality insurer’s equity capital to over $1 billion. US-based Corsair Capital is providing $150 million of the cash, which will be topped up from private equity funds managed by [...]
AEGIS London is moving into the reinsurance treaty business and has appointed Chris White as property treaty underwriter. Mr White joins from Odyssey Re, where he has spent the last ten years underwriting property treaty reinsurance business, as well as direct and facultative reinsurance and retro. In his new role, he reports to John Chambers, [...]
Abbey Life has announced that it has secured the “largest ever” longevity insurance transaction. The Deutsche Bank-owned firm will provide the BMW (UK) Operations Pension Scheme with a hedge for life expectancy risks associated with nearly £3 billion of pension scheme liabilities relating to around 60,000 pensioners. The deal involved Abbey Life making use of [...]
Bupa has revamped its online trading system for the intermediaries who sell its individual protection products. The new system should make transactions smoother by allowing users to tailor products to suit their clients’ needs and upload multiple product applications in a single action. Intermediaries can now also make alterations up to the point when a [...]
Royal London is reported to be in talks with Royal Liver regarding a takeover. Established as a friendly society in 1850, Royal Liver offers a range of financial products including mortgage and insurance services, whereas Royal London is recognised as the UK’s largest mutual life and pensions provider. The idea of a merger between the [...]
Sterling Insurance has launched a new commercial product available at fixed rates for three years, for selected clients. Twelve months in its development, the Executive Business policy claims a number of innovative features such as crisis containment and covering the cost of PR professionals to mitigate reputational damage. The policy also provides “lotto win” cover [...]
CBG Group has announced that it has sold certain parts of its personal lines business to Swinton. The unit currently generates annual revenue of £370,000 and is break even at the operating level. The Manchester-based broker and financial services specialist says the move is in line with its strategy of focusing on its corporate insurance [...]
The recession has left plenty of empty shops on the UK’s High Streets and Aviva is reminding property owners of the importance of having the right insurance in place. According to research by Local Data Company, retail property vacancy rates across Britain have risen to 12%, with some towns seeing as much as 24% of [...]
PartnerRe Ltd. has announced that the chairman of PartnerRe Global, Bruno Meyenhofer, has chosen to retire effective from 31 March 2010. Meyenhofer joined the firm some 12 years ago during the acquisition of Winterthur Re, and led the integration of the underwriting oeprations (outside the US) of PartnerRe, SAFR and Winterthur Re. During his time [...]
Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd has announced its financial results for Q4 and 2009. In Q4 the firm made net income of $154.8m, equating to $2.56 per diluted share, a substantial rise on the Q4 2008 net income of $16.9m, or $0.22 per diluted share. For 2009 as a whole Endurance achieved a record net income [...]
Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. has announced that from 1 March 2010 David Cash will assume the post of chief executive officer. In another move at the top of the firm, William M. Jewett will become president and report directly to Cash. The two men will also be nominated for election to the board of directors, [...]
Allianz has joined forces with Mondial Assistance to develop an online safe deposit and assistance solution for Air France travellers. Allianz Protect claims to be a first in this area of protection, combining as it does the secure storage of electronic documents with Mondial’s emergency services. The safe deposit system is accessible from www.airfrance.com and [...]
Scottish Provident has reported a four-fold increase in sales of its family income benefit plan, which pays out a regular income to claimants. The life and pensions provider observes: “As the economic instability remains in the UK the security offered by this kind of product is becoming ever more popular as consumers seek products that [...]
