American International Group, Inc. (AIG) has announced that it is to sell its Japan-based life insurance businesses subsidiaries, AIG Star Life Insurance Co., Ltd. and AIG Edison Life Insurance Company to Prudential Financial, Inc. The deal is worth a total of $4.8bn, including $4.2bn in case and $600m in the assumption of third party debt. [...]
Zurich Financial Services Group has announced the appointment of Bernard Joei to the post of head of Alternative Investments. Joei, who assumes the newly created post with immediate effect, will also become chief executive officer of Zurich Alternative Asset Management LLC, succeeding David Wasserman who is set to retire later in the year. As head [...]
New research conducted by Legal & General has revealed that as many as six and a half million people could be leaving themselves and their homes vulnerable to burglary. By leaving keys ‘hidden’ outside their home (a practice engaged in by 27% of homeowners) individuals make themselves vulnerable to theft and may risk invalidating their [...]
Confused.com has added five brands to its list of motor insurance providers. Make-specific providers including Honda, Nissan and Renault now feature on the price comparison site, as well as Santander and Magic Quote, which is a brand from the Adrian Flux insurance group. The latter specialises in customers that can be difficult to place, such [...]
Insurance cheats stand a greater chance of being identified, and truth-tellers vindicated, as a result of new research into detecting lies. Dr Sharon Leal, a research fellow at the University of Portsmouth and an expert in detecting deception, has recently embarked on a £112,000 study, funded by a leading insurance fraud investigation firm, to establish [...]
Credit Suisse AG and Zurich Life Insurance Company Ltd. have formed a partnership in the area of individual life insurance for Switzerland. Under the terms of the agreement Zurich’s life insurance products will be on offer to the bank’s private clients in Switzerland from 1 October. Credit Suisse Head of Private Clients Switzerland Hanspeter Kurzmeyer [...]
The latest consumer attitudes towards pet insurance have been uncovered by the new YouGov SixthSense report. The recession has seen a relative rise in policy cancellations, and cost has been seen as an obstacle to wider coverage of pets. One in three Britons own pets (20.3 million people), but only around a third of these [...]
Insurers across the UK are being urged to raise their game to help the economic recovery. Independent broker Cowens Survival Capability has stated that two-thirds of companies fail within two years following a major insurance claim due to inadequate policies and paperwork delays. Associate Director Grant Scott has said that the figure is far too [...]
Defaqto, the independent financial research firm, has analysed 288 motor insurance policies and discovered that 23% do not cover misfuelling. In addition, 14% of policies do not provide coverage for motorists who run out of fuel. Insight Analyst Mike Powell has said that drivers who put in the wrong sort of fuel face not only [...]
UK insurance companies lack the supporting technologies and systems that can drive consistent customer retention strategies. So says business process specialist, Pegasystems, which also claims that call centre and customer-facing staff are not always well-equipped to meet individual customer needs. In a recent survey conducted in the UK and German, only 22% of UK insurers [...]
Swiss Re has published a new report which claims that hundreds of thousands of people across Continental Europe do not have enough life insurance. According to the study, which questioned over 11,000 consumers, respondents had a clear need for life insurance but many were unaware of how it can help deal with the financial impact [...]
The Law Society has launched a new scheme to help law firms struggling to secure professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal terms. SafetyNet will provide assistance to “distressed” firms, or firms seeking to avoid entering the Society’s assigned risks pool (ARP) or attempting to exit the ARP. The scheme, which is managed by Lloyd’s broker PYV [...]
Willis Group is establishing a new business unit within Willis Global Markets International (GMI), which will insure companies involved in Life Sciences. The broker has appointed Tom Teixeira as practice leader, effective immediately. Based in London, Mr Teixeira will focus on major accounts outside the US, reporting to GMI managing director, Toby Wemyss. According to [...]
AEGON has provided further details of the restructure of its UK business, first announced in June. The group aims to sharpen its focus on the At-Retirement and Workplace Savings markets and reduce operating costs by 25%. It has therefore decided to close its third party pension administration and its employee benefits software businesses but will [...]
People are saving more than spending due to worries about job losses and economic woe, according to the latest MoneyMood Survey from Legal & General. Six out of ten are presently saving, with just 23% (less than a quarter) spending, but despite this the number saving for a pension has declined over the last six [...]
Willis North America has announced the appointment of Hilaire Damiron as the new chief executive officer of Willis Mexico. Damiron, whose appointment is made with immediate effect, has been working as interim CEO of Willis Mexico since August 2009. He will be tasked with leading the firm’s operations in Mexico and driving growth, and will [...]
Aviva has launched a new iPhone app, to help people plan their pensions. The app, Time to Act, makes pension planning easier and more accessible and is available for free. The app is a simplified version of the Aviva Pensions Tracker which utilises an even more complete set of tools to enable pensions planning. Users [...]
RSA has launched a product created specifically for owners and operators of small business fleets. The new Mini Fleet policy can provide cover for fleets of between two and 15 vehicles (which need to be predominantly for business use) including cars, vans, small trucks, trailers and forklifts. Brokers can access the offering via several e-trading [...]
Specialist insurance group Novae Group plc has reported its interim results for the first six months of 2010. The firm made a pre-tax profit of £13.6m (before currency gains on non-monetary items), a return to the black after a £2.1m loss during the same period last year. This follows annual pre-tax profits in 2009 of [...]
