International general insurance and reinsurance group Brit Insurance has announced the appointment of Richard Carver as underwriting director in the firm’s Reinsurance strategic business unit. Carver, who takes up his new position in later September, will be directly responsible to Brit Reinsurance Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Turner. He brings extensive experience in the fields of [...]
AXA Insurance has appointed Martin Eyres as head of mid-corporate risks, with responsibility for driving the profitable growth of the insurer’s mid-corporate offering. The specialist appointment is the firm’s fourth in recent months, as it continues to build capability to accommodate larger risks. Having taken up his post on 1st September, Mr Eyres is now [...]
Aviva has announced the appointment of Sam White as its group public policy director, effective from 1st November 2010. Mr White will have overall responsibility for implementing the insurer’s global public policy, regulatory agenda and strategy, across its core markets of the UK and Europe, as well as North America and Asia. He will be [...]
Aviva paid out 684 critical illness claims during the six months to the end of June; with an average payment at £74,740 the total came to over £51 million. In addition, the group paid out £87 million in life insurance to the families those who had died, or customers diagnosed with a terminal illness. Other [...]
PartnerRe Ltd. has announced the appointment of Dean Graham as the firm’s new head of Life. Graham, whose appointment is effective from today, will assume responsibilities for all of PartnerRe’s Life operations. He succeeds Franck Pinette, who departed from PartnerRe to pursue other opportunities, and will report directly to Marvin Pestcoe, a member of PartnerRe [...]
Lee Grainger has been named by broker-only insurer MMA as the firm’s new regional development manager for South Wales and Gloucestershire. Grainger previously worked for AXA Insurance as a key account executive, and in his new role will be directly accountable to UK Business Development Manager Claire Ephgrave. He brings more than a decade of [...]
Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings has announced the appointment of Martin J. Sullivan as the firm’s new deputy chairman, and as chairman and chief executive officer of Willis Global Solutions. Willis Global Solutions is a new business unit which will supervise the brokerage and risk management advisory services provided to accounts of a multinational [...]
AXA Insurance has launched an online portal for independent personal lines brokers. The insurer claims that PartnerSpace is easy to use and offers brokers a secure forum for discussing business issues and ideas, with both the company and like-minded brokers. The social media site has been developed following feedback from brokers and offers a range [...]
Bupa Individual Protection has been appointed to the First Complete protection panel, meaning that members of the financial services network can now offer Bupa income protection, critical illness and term assurance products to their customers. Commenting on the move, the insurer’s individual protection head of sales, Steve Casey, says: “We are always looking for ways [...]
The number of fraudulent applications for insurance policies fell during the first half of 2010, according to Experian. Having hit an all time high of 16 fraudulent applications per 10,000 in the final three months of 2009, the figure has since halved and now stands at eight applications in every 10,000. However, the credit specialist [...]
Deceitful motorists can expect short shrift from car insurer swiftcover.com, which is now to review the histories of applicants for motor insurance automatically. The insurer has estimated that 10% of applicants may not tell the whole truth, and that they are more likely to make claims, particularly of a fraudulent nature, than the 90% of [...]
Eurobase Insurance Solutions has enhanced its insurance team with the appointment of Stuart Pembery as the firm’s new sales director. The firm will benefit from the extensive experience Pembery has accumulated during his career, which spans a quarter of a century. During his lengthy time in the insurance sector he has held a wide range [...]
LV=, the mutual insurance, retirement and investment group, has reported its interim results for the first six months of 2010. The firm saw gross written premiums increase by 37% from £397.5m to £546.4m, with broker business rising by 56% to exceed £300m. During the same period last year the firm recorded a 92% rise in [...]
ClimateWise, a group set up by insurers to respond to the risks and opportunities of climate change, has launched a global insurance industry statement that focuses on developing countries. Prepared in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, The Geneva Association and Munich Climate Insurance, the statement seeks to highlight ways in which [...]
Open GI has announced that it has filled the newly created role of head of Customer Service with the appointment of Michele Munn. Munn brings extensive experience to the new position, having worked in the industry for over a decade and a half, and formerly worked for Open GI as head of Insurer Relations. As [...]
New research from the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) suggests that brokers are having to fight harder to get claims paid, with the body blaming stricter policy interpretations and insurers’ anti-fraud systems for the struggle. Sixty-seven per cent of BIBA members questioned said they had to get tough with insurers on behalf of customers, and [...]
Willis North America has announced the appointment of Colleen McCarthy as its new director of communications. She joins the firm from leading commercial insurance publication Business Insurance, leaving behind her role as associate editor. Earlier in her career McCarthy worked in television journalism, holding positions as a reporter and news anchor in New York, New [...]
The value of enhanced annuity sales in the UK rose to £1.26 billion in the first half of 2010, an increase of 41% compared to the second half of 2009. Enhanced annuities, also known as impaired life annuities, provide higher pension incomes because the purchaser will have been assessed as having a lower than average [...]
The AA has named fraud as a major contributor to a 31% increase in car insurance premiums, over the past 12 months. According to the motoring organisation, the typical cost of fully comprehensive cover currently stands at £704, premiums having risen at their fastest rate since records began 16 years ago. Furthermore, premiums for younger [...]
LV= car insurance has commissioned research indicating that 4.2 million motorists who do not wear glasses admit that their vision is imperfect, and 1.1 million drivers who have glasses or contact lenses for driving so not always wear them. The most common reason, reported by more than half, for not wearing glasses was simply forgetfulness, [...]
