Insurance broker and risk adviser Marsh has announced that it has reached an agreement with INSIA a.s. (INSIA), the insurance broker network headquartered in Prague, to help promote the firm’s growth in the Czech Republic and other European countries. As part of the agreement Marsh will acquire a 15% stake in INSIA, which has over [...]
Royal Liver Assurance and Royal London Group have signed a transfer agreement setting out the terms and conditions of the potential transfer of assets and liabilities from Royal Liver, to Royal London. Royal Liver’s board is recommending the move but the final say will come from a delegation of over two hundred member representatives, in [...]
More than £820,000 has been allocated to 16 emergency and voluntary groups across England to improve responses to flooding. The money, which has been provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), will be used to buy rescue equipment and to train people to deal with local flooding emergencies. Announcing the new [...]
Allianz China Life (AZCL) has won the award for the Top 50 Workplace in China, for the second consecutive year. China has seen rapid growth in its insurance sector in recent years and according to AZCL, the industry is short on high-calibre talents and has a high attrition ratio. The company therefore has a management [...]
Ageas has joined forces with the Neighbourhood Watch Trust to persuade Britons not to make their homes a “shop window” of opportunity for thieves. New research carried out on behalf of the insurer indicates that homes across the UK have an average £1,223 in valuables (such as TVs, other electronic goods, antiques and works of [...]
Aviva is proposing to sell part of its shareholding in Delta Lloyd NV, reducing its stake in the Netherlands-based insurer from 58% to 43%. According to group chief executive, Andrew Moss, the move will strengthen Aviva’s balance sheet, whilst also being in line with its strategy of focusing on growth in 12 key markets, where [...]
Howden Insurance Brokers has launched RiskSurv, a professional indemnity policy aimed at Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ regulated firms with a fee income of under £750,000 per annum. Underwritten by Zurich and Barbican Syndicate 1955, the product has been developed with the needs of smaller firms and sole traders in mind and is suitable for [...]
Beazley, a leading Lloyd’s market political risks underwriter, has announced the appointment of Chris Parker as head of the terrorism and political violence team. Parker, whose appointment is effective from today, was formerly managing director of Bowring Marsh Terrorism. Adrian Lewers, head of Political Risk and Contingency, explained that the team Parker now led was [...]
Insurers are less confident that the industry will achieve Solvency II compliance by 1st January 2013, according to new research undertaken by the Economist Intelligence Unit for Deliotte. The survey found that just under half of respondents (46%) were confident or very confident about the prospects for industry compliance, compared to 63% in 2010. However, [...]
G4S has acquired The Cotswold Group, the Gloucester-based surveillance, fraud analytics, intelligence and investigations firm. Cotswold is the largest provider of surveillance and investigative services to insurance clients within the UK, with a strong emphasis on personal injury fraud. It also provides services in property, motor, employers and public liability fraud, employee screening, housing benefit [...]
The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) of the Financial Reporting Council has published a paper that sets out its vision of “clutter-free” financial reporting. The body, which promotes high-quality corporate reporting to foster investment, describes clutter as “immaterial disclosures that inhibit the ability to identify and understand relevant information, and explanatory information that remains unchanged from [...]
Thousands of drivers will be compromising passenger safety by overloading their cars this Easter, according to LV=. Research by the insurer’s road rescue arm, Britannia, suggests that around 6.7 million Brits will drive to UK holiday destinations during the Easter break, with one in ten packing their car full to the brim. Unfortunately, they will [...]
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has secured an agreement with the Government’s Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) to provide general insurance brokers with access to the ECGD’s export insurance scheme. The move means that BIBA members can now use the scheme to arrange insurance for UK exporters against non-payment by their overseas buyers. In [...]
A spike in the number of breakdowns on British roads has been forecast by Britannia Rescue, in view of the millions heading for holidays in the UK during Easter and the summer. The problem will be exacerbated by the prolonged and severe winter weather the country suffered recently, worsening the potholes on the nation’s roads. [...]
Beazley Group has announced that it is to substantially enhance its presence in the Australian group disability market through the acquisition of managing general agencies (MGAs), Australian Income Protection (AIP) and Blue-GUM. For the last eight years AIP has provided group disability insurance to industry superannuation funds, retirement funds run by industry associations and trades [...]
The country could see a surge in burglaries during the Royal Wedding, according to home insurer AXA Insurance. Research commissioned by the firm indicates 40% of Britons will be out of the house during the state occasion, with 21% opening their doors for a party with friends and family. Unfortunately, burglars tend to be wise [...]
Aon Benfield has launched an earthquake model for Cyprus developed by Impact Forecasting, the reinsurance broker’s catastrophe modelling unit. Earthquakes in Cyprus are common as the island is close to the boundary between the Anatolian and African plates; notable events include the February 1995 earthquake afflicting Paphos and Nicosia and the October 1996 event causing [...]
Gadget-loving commuters are carrying over £3,800 worth of technology to and from work, according to new research from esure. The typical commuter bag or briefcase is likely to contain electronic kit worth £593 more than two years ago, including costly smartphones, laptops, e-readers and MP3 players. With over 35% of Britons considering buying an iPad [...]
