Trifords Limited, part of the Markerstudy Group, has acquired from the liquidators of Auto Windscreens certain trading assets, including the right to use the trading style “Auto Windscreens”. The new owners of the brand have confirmed that 250 jobs will be created as a result of the acquisition, which includes three freehold sites, one of [...]
Ecclesiastical has appointed Simon Bennett as head of customer service for its direct operations. Mr Bennet has worked for the specialist insurer for ten years, most recently as schemes operations manager, and in his new role will be responsible for customer service related issues at the firm’s direct personal lines and direct commercial operations. He [...]
Admiral Group has announced a 23% rise in pre-tax profit in 2010, to £266 million. Turnover, or total premiums written, rose 47% compared with 2009, to £1.58 billion, as customer numbers increased 32% to 2.75 million. The group, which owns the elephant.co.uk, Diamond and confused.com brands, also reported a 64% year-on-year rise in non-UK car [...]
Standard Life has launched a new employee benefits portal which it says offers a single integrated solution to address the business issues employers face around employee engagement, recruitment and retention. Lifelens provides pension and non-pension benefit solutions via the workplace, offering a range of savings options, flexible benefits, online payslips, total reward statements, planning and [...]
Allianz has reported its financial results for 2010, including an IFRS pre-tax operating profit of £158.5m, a decline of around a quarter from the £203.7m achieved in 2009. However, gross written premiums rose from £1,588.1m to £1,663.7m and the combined ratio rose from 92.9% to 95.9%. Chief Executive Officer Andrew Torrance has described 2010 as [...]
LV= has reported its annual with-profits performance and payouts for 2010, including a with-profits fund investment return of 15.5% (flat with 2009′s 15.4% return). The firm’s mortgage endowments performed well, with a 20 year policy covering a £50,000 mortgage presently paying a surplus of £8,000. Furthermore, the firm’s mortgage endowment guarantees that policies paid to [...]
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling made today has met with swift disappointment and disapproval from the UK insurance sector. Under the ruling, women drivers may see rises in motor insurance premiums of 25% as their present status as lower risk than male drivers ends due to the ECJ considering this discriminatory and unacceptable. [...]
The decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to ban the use of gender in insurance policies from December 2012 has been described as “disappointing” by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). According to the ABI, over the next 20 months insurers will have to make large-scale changes including amending all affected policy documentation; [...]
Arc Legal Assistance is claiming a UK first with the launch of its iPhone claims app for legal expenses policies. The app is available across the firm’s portfolio, including its large-scale contracts and key niche business sectors, such as landlord cover. The company also has plans to develop its existing online claims offering to give [...]
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued a ruling preventing insurers from charging different motor insurance premiums based on gender, the BBC has reported. The landmark ruling, which was widely expected, will cost women drivers who, until now, have benefited from being classed as lower risk than male drivers. The court ruling comes after [...]
GAB Robins has launched a training scheme for its loss adjusters and claims handling staff. The scheme is aimed at ensuring staff provide the right level of advice and support to allow fire and water damage claims to be managed effectively and efficiently, for both clients and insureds. The five-day programme has been developed in [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published its first Retail Conduct Risk Outlook (RCRO), which examines how a range of current, emerging and potential risks could impact customers. As a key component in the regulator’s consumer protection strategy, the RCRO report seeks to identify current and upcoming risks by analysing the environment in which the [...]
