A new report published today by Endsleigh, the specialist insurance broker for leisure trusts, warns trusts that they could be liable should a customer injure themselves on a piece of faulty gym equipment. The report highlights that under the terms agreed between some leisure trusts and companies leasing gym equipment, it is the trust and [...]
Lloyd’s broker, Tysers & Co. Ltd. (Tysers), today announced the appointment of John Walsh as a Director of its UK Professional Risks Team. John is a well-respected figure within the Professional Indemnity market, with over 25 years’ experience. He joins Tysers from Arthur J. Gallagher following the recent acquisition of the FirstCity Partnership where he [...]
The Association of British Insurer’s (ABI’s) director general, Otto Thoresen, is calling on the insurance industry to improve its reputation. According to Mr Thoresen, the reputation of UK financial services in general was harmed by the banking crisis and while insurers are not banks, the public perception of the industry is not high. The call [...]
The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) has named its retirement panel providers as follows: Canada Life, conventional and enhanced retirement income products; Just Retirement, enhanced retirement income products; Legal & General, conventional and enhanced retirement income products; Partnership, enhanced retirement income products; Reliance Mutual, enhanced retirement income products specifically for those who smoke. According to [...]
DUAL Corporate Risks has appointed Christopher Blake as a professional indemnity underwriter in its Manchester-based national business unit. The move follows the specialist insurer’s expansion into the information technology sector, with the launch of a dedicated professional indemnity, public liability and products liability offering earlier this year. According to DUAL, Mr Blake, who moves from [...]
SSP has reported that it is working with Stonebridge International Insurance to upgrade its existing I90 system with SSP Select Insurance, as part of a large-scale legacy transformation project. According to the technology provider, the project will help support Stonebridge’s business objectives across seven European countries, enabling it to provide a wider range of products [...]
British drivers are determined to defy the unpredictable UK weather, according to research from LV= which shows the number of convertible cars on British roads increasing 218% over the past decade, and by 599% since 1993. The figures make convertibles the fastest-growing car type in the country, with ownership currently just short of one million. [...]
Aviva has appointed Saskia Goedhart as chief risk officer for North America. Joining from Munich Re Life, North America, where she established the firm’s enterprise risk management function, Ms Goedhart will lead Aviva’s risk management strategy in the region, including the implementation of the group’s risk management transformation plan. Prior to Munich Re, she worked [...]
Having recently settled up with the Dutch state regarding its rescue package, AEGON has outlined plans to deliver earnings growth for its businesses in the Americas, the Netherlands, the UK and Central & Eastern Europe. Full details will be presented at an investor conference today but specifically, AEGON aims to: Grow underlying earnings before tax [...]
Zurich Financial Services Group has announced that its subsidiary Zurich Insurance Company Ltd has agreed to acquire 100% of Malaysian composite insurer Malaysian Assurance Alliance Berhad’s (MAAB) share capital. The sale is being made by MAA Holdings Berhad (MAAH), with the purchase price denoted in Malaysian Ringgit and worth approximately US$115m. Following purchase Zurich expects [...]
British bike insurer Bennetts has announced the appointment of Matthew Long as its new associate director, Commercial. Prior to joining Bennetts Long worked for Sainsbury’s Bank where he was responsible for developing family protection, pet insurance and travel insurance products. In his new role with the firm he will be tasked with the realisation of [...]
KPMG has welcomed proposed concessions for the insurance run-off sector under Solvency II. Referring to a revised draft of the Omnibus II Directive issued on 14th June, the firm highlights specific transitional arrangements for (re)insurance companies in run-off that should lead to a significant proportion of the run-off sector being exempt from Solvency II, for [...]
The Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have published a joint paper on the Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA’s) approach to insurance supervision. The PRA will be responsible for the prudential supervision of over 2,000 firms, of which around half will be insurers. On current data, it will regulate 636 general insurers (around [...]
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has welcomed the new warning letters being sent from today to registered keepers identified as having an uninsured vehicle under Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) legislation. CIE makes it an offence to keep an uninsured vehicle unless it has a Statutory Off Road Notification or is exempt, and it comes [...]
Company bosses, including chief executives and managing directors, are increasingly committing fraud. According to a global survey from KPMG, board members at divisional, subsidiary and corporate level are currently committing 18% of fraud, up from 11% in 2007. Employees accepting bribes to sign off inflated project costs and supplier/employee collusion leading to overbilling are two [...]
Zurich has reduced its stake in New China Life Insurance Co Ltd (NCL) from 20% to 15%, having sold 5% of its holding to undisclosed buyers. NCL has almost a 9% share of the Chinese life insurance market, and Zurich first invested in the firm over 10 years ago. Last week, the group sold Zurich [...]
Results delivered by UK motor insurers in 2010 will act as another spur to keep upward pressure on premiums, Deloitte has suggested. Research from the business advisory firm indicates that in 2010, motor insurers lost 20p for every pound of premium earned, posting a net combined ratio of 120% compared with 119% in 2009. On [...]
Over the next two decades the addition of 2 billion people in the booming economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) to the global middle class will present the insurance industry with a golden opportunity. The prediction was made by Joe Plumeri, chairman and chief executive officer of Willis Group Holdings, at the Insurance [...]
Equity Direct Broking Limited has announced that it is seeking to raise funds to support a new residential recovery centre in Colchester. The new centre will cater to the needs of injured soldiers, and Equity is supporting it by the promotion of a Royal British Legion home insurance scheme to help generate donations to the [...]
The financial crisis has resulted in more people rethinking their retirement plans, Aviva reports. In a survey of over 300 pension advisers, the insurer found that 61% of clients questioned are more likely to ask for advice than in 2006, while 22% reported greater levels of trust in advisers than before the financial crisis. Seventy [...]
