Consumers seeking travel insurance are increasingly going to their current account providers to find it, according to a new survey from YouGov SixthSense. Comprehensive travel insurance has recently seen its profile in the public consciousness increase dramatically, due largely to the unprecedented volcanic disruption to airlines and kept in the public eye by industrial action. [...]
Two Willis Group executives have been named as 2010 “Risk Innovators” by Risk & Insurance magazine. Awards have gone to Alex Fairly, the broker’s senior vice-president and leader of it global sports practice, and Partho Ghosh, managing director and global head of financial products at Willis Structured Risk Solutions. Already a leading authority in handling [...]
The Insurance Charities has named Kirsten Watson, key account manager at Crawford and Company, as President for the forthcoming year. The body, which was established in 1902, acts as a charity for the UK and Republic of Ireland’s insurance industries, giving financial and practical support to past and present employees and their dependent relatives. Last [...]
The Coalition Government is facing calls from AXA to clarify its plans regarding the UK’s flood defence strategy, particularly with regard to funding. The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) is approaching, and question marks remain over the money necessary to enact the Flood and Water Management Act, which became law shortly prior to the General Election. [...]
Lockton has been named the Best Place to Work in Insurance by Business Insurance magazine and Best Companies Group, for the second consecutive year. Business Insurance praised Lockton as a high quality workplace that enables employees to thrive. The Best Places in the magazine won such praise for their excellent work environments, supervisor relationships, training/development, [...]
MMA, the broker-only insurer, has announced the appointment of Chris Line to the position of major account manager. Prior to joining MMA Line spent more than a decade with Allianz where he was most recently responsible for supervision of relationships with high volume sellers, including Lloyds TSB and Endsleigh. In his newly created post Line [...]
Specialist UK life assurance group Just Retirement has announced that it is to acquire The Open Market Annuity Service Limited (TOMAS) from Kerr Henderson (Financial Services) Ltd. The acquisition is part of Just Retirement’s strategic approach to invest in further development of the open market option. TOMAS caters to providers, advisers, trustees and employee benefit [...]
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has announced that “Opportunities in Adversity” will be the theme for its 2011 conference and exhibition, to be held at Manchester Central on 11th and 12th May 2011. The title has been chosen in recognition of the difficult economic conditions facing the UK, while at the same time giving [...]
Liberty Syndicates has announced that it is entering the agricultural and weather reinsurance market and to that end has hired of a team of specialist underwriters. Operating from the insurer’s Paris office, the new team will underwrite agricultural and weather reinsurance programmes on a worldwide basis including North America, Latin America and Asia. Jean-Christophe Garaix [...]
RSA has acquired Canadian firm, GCAN Insurance. The mid-market, large risks & specialty commercial insurer offers a range of products, including Property, Liability and Motor. It has a strong track record of profitability, with a combined operating ratio of 81% and gross written premiums of £57 million in 2009. The transaction, which is subject to [...]
Global risk and reinsurance specialist Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC has received a pair of awards from Reactions magazine. The firm was named Best Global Reinsurance Broking Firm for Casualty/Liability and Best Global Reinsurance Broking Firm for Specialty Lines at the magazine’s 2010 Global Awards gala event in New York on 30 September. The awards [...]
International general insurance and reinsurance group Brit Insurance has announced that the Reinsurance Contracts Manager for its Reinsurance business unit, Alan Groves, has won the prestigious Chartered Insurance Institute’s Rutter Prize. The accolade is awarded every year to the finest new Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute (FCII). Groves received his gold medal and cheque [...]
ClimateWise has announced that If P&C Insurance, a leading property and casualty insurer in the Nordic region, has joined its Cambridge-based group. The network, which comprises leading insurers dedicated to reducing the risks of climate change, has expanded from its early European roots to include members from four continents, and countries as far afield as [...]
As the country braces itself for the tax hikes and spending cuts of the Coalition’s austerity drive and the economy emerges from recession, the competitiveness of the City of London has become a matter of discussion. Tim Leggett, a partner in the financial services practice at Ernst & Young, has called for Solvency II to [...]
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has called for a one year minimum period of learning to help reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries suffered and caused by younger drivers. The proposal has the backing of three out of four people, according to new research commissioned by the ABI. Director of General Insurance [...]
Aviva is promoting its global brand with the slogan “You are the Big Picture”. The campaign launches today in London, Warsaw, Paris and Singapore (with Delhi and Mumbai following a month later) and there are three key elements, as follows: Landmark buildings across six cities globally will be wrapped in portraits of Aviva customers, employees [...]
Fortis (Insurance UK), which includes RIAS and Kwik-Fit Insurance Services, has begun the process of changing its name to Ageas. The move reflects the group’s status as a standalone global insurance business, following last year’s sale of its banking operations. The name change should be completed by the end of March 2011 and will be [...]
Equity Insurance Group (comprising Equity Red Star syndicate 218 at Lloyd’s and Equity Direct Broking Limited) has announced the appointment of Ian Foy as its chief executive officer. Foy has extensive experience in both the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and for the last two years served as the chief executive officer of Insurance Australia [...]
Homes are increasingly being seen as pensions by the over 50s, according to new research from retirement specialist LV=. Although 54% of the over 50s believe that the value of their house has fallen in recent years an estimated 1.2m people may utilise the equity locked in their homes to help augment their retirement income. [...]
Speaking at Lloyd’s City Dinner, Lord Levene called for common sense to prevail and argued against imposing overly harsh regulation on the insurance sector. Lord Levene complained of a failure of common sense for making the insurance sector fight against strict regulation, despite being a healthy industry that was not hit particularly hard by, nor [...]
