One in ten families are guilty of fronting on their car insurance, according to research by moneysupermarket.com. Fronting – in which parents insure their child’s car in their own name to save money – is illegal and can result in claims being rejected by insurers. Nonetheless, one in three (30%) parents polled said they would [...]
Royal London Mutual Insurance Society has been rapped over the knuckles by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after breaching the Data Protection Act. The reprimand comes after eight of the firm’s laptops, two of which contained details of 2,135 people who had sought pension scheme illustrations, were stolen from the company’s Edinburgh offices. The data [...]
Which? has raised concerns over Admiral Group’s treatment of motorists born outside the UK. According to research by the consumer group, the insurer’s quotes vary by an average of 18%, dependent on how applicants answer the question “Have you lived in the UK since birth?” In making its argument, Which? says it has been advised [...]
Novae Group has announced that Novae Re has opened new offices in Zurich. The new offices come as Novae seeks to enhance its presence in the important European reinsurance marketplace. Presently, Novae writes business from its London office, and it announced last year the formation of the Novae Re business in Zurich. The firm has [...]
Zurich UK Life has announced the launch of new microsite Zurich4protection.com, following the firm’s recent protection campaign to support advisers and help them grow their business. The new microsite is dedicated to such protection and aims to offer a single port of call for advisers seeking a complete and professional service to offer to customers. [...]
Business continuity experts at Cowens Survival Capability have raised doubts regarding the usage of the internet as a means of searching for insurance by SMEs in the Midlands. Cowen SC works to cut risk, by auditing a business and then prescribing the necessary insurance coverage. However, Cowen SC has found that a large number of [...]
Insurance software specialist Insurecom has selected ULR to provide commercial legal protection solutions and products exclusively to the members of the recently launched InsureServe marketing group. ULR’s commercial legal services division CommercialPlus offers a comprehensive array of legal protection insurance, services and complete claims handling services. CommercialPlus has been chosen by Insurecom to be the [...]
Simple has announced that its new caravan insurance offering is now being promoted on the jml-insurance.co.uk web site. The product is aimed at the owners of the UK’s 498,000 touring caravans; 112,000 motorhomes and 335,000 caravan holiday homes (figures from the National Caravan Council). Cover is available under two policies: Simple Static Caravan Insurance and [...]
The Government has abandoned the idea of mandatory third-party insurance for dogs, the BBC has reported. Concerns that dogs are being bred solely for the purpose of intimidating others have led ministers to review the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and a week ago, Home Secretary Alan Johnson announced that plans were under consideration for legislation [...]
Specialist loss adjuster QuestGates has announced the appointment of John Freeman as counter fraud director. He leaves behind Capita, where he served as director of Fraud for Teceris Claims Services, to join QuestGates. A quartet of Freeman’s Capita team will be following him in joining QuestGates. Kay Hodgson ACFS, Dave Baxter ACFS and Verity Astins [...]
Thornside has been selected by Shop Direct Group to provide online pet insurance through the group’s Littlewoods.com and Very.co.uk brands. The firm, which is part of the Capita Group, already provides pet insurance for Shop Direct’s customers over the phone, and managing director, David Seel, says he is delighted to be supporting the development of [...]
Swiss Re’s latest sigma study has revealed that, globally, natural disasters cost insurers $22bn in 2009, with man-made catastrophes costing a further $4bn. Financial costs were greatest in North America, which saw $12.7bn worth of pay-outs, with Asia bearing the brunt of the death toll (9,400 from a worldwide total of 15,000). In financial terms, [...]
Zurich Financial Services Group has announced that its new global head of Corporate Communications is to be Pierre Goad. He joins Zurich from HSBC, where he presently works as head of Corporate Development for the investment banking and asset management divisions. Earlier in his time at HSBC he held a number of other communications positions [...]
International general insurance and reinsurance group Brit Insurance has announced the appointment of Vivek Banga as UK distribution leader. He joins Brit Insurance from NIG, where he latterly served as head of Business Development, prior to which he was head of E-Commerce Distribution. Banga brings with him over a decade of experience in the UK [...]
Furious Equitable Life policyholders are rejecting the latest proposed offer of compensation, as set out in a new report by Sir John Chadwick. In 2008, Parliamentary Ombudsman Ann Abraham recommended the establishment of a scheme that would consider individual claims for compensation from those who lost money when the failed mutual came close to collapse [...]
Commercial lines insurer, Liberty International Underwriters Europe (LIU Europe), is expanding its operations into Birmingham with the appointment of Dave Canning as regional senior underwriter. In his new post, Mr Canning will focus on establishing LIU Europe in the Birmingham area, drawing on his previous experience of underwriting liability business for a number of major [...]
Air France insurer, AXA, is to appeal against a $1 million compensation award made by a Brazilian Court to the family of a victim of last year’s Air France crash. All 228 passengers and crew died when Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the sea on 1st June 2009. [...]
The British public are becoming increasingly displeased with the NHS spending taxpayers’ money on conditions occurring due to lifestyle choices, new research from AXA reveals. Of those surveyed, 78% thought that binge drinkers requiring hospital treatment should be charged to help pay for it. With the economy in the doldrums and the state heavily indebted, [...]
Plum Underwriting, the non-standard household specialist, has announced its intent to increase its rate of expansion over the course of the next two years. The firm has set itself the target of doubling new business and expanding its agency base in 2010. These targets follow the success of Plum’s Flex offering, a non-standard household product. [...]
Stephen Jackson, MD of Latin America for Cooper Gay, has given his assessment of the Chilean earthquake on the (re)insurance market. At present, Jackson has said, the insured losses will be between $2bn and $8bn, and are most likely to be from $3bn to $5bn. If the losses are as high as expected then the [...]
