Lockton has announced the establishment of its first foothold in the Nordic region, with the opening of a new office in Norway. The new Norway operation is to be led by Cato Aamodt, who brings more than a quarter of a century of experience to the role, including 13 years at Marsh. Stephen Reid, COO [...]
Howden Broking Group has announced the establishment of a new wholesale and retail operation in Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda. The new operation will be led by Kari Minugh, who brings over a decade of experience in Bermudan wholesale and retail broking to Howden. Chief Executive Officer Tim Coles described a permanent presence in Bermuda [...]
New research from LV= car insurance has found that 6% of British drivers would take penalty points for someone else. Many UK licence holders (3,823,544) already have points, with 82% of points being handed out for speeding. Speeding warrants between three and 12 points, and should 12 be accumulated by a driver then they are [...]
The gender pay gap is in the news again with junior female executives having overtaken their male counterparts by a small margin (£21,969 verses £21,367) in 2011. However, average figures across the 34,158 UK executives surveyed on behalf of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) suggest that pay levels are £10,546 adrift, with men continuing to [...]
Car insurer AXA has warned that as many as twenty thousand British motorists may be the victims of so-called ghost insurance brokers, and therefore have invalid car insurance. The last few years have seen AXA observe increasing numbers of customers whose alleged broker has submitted false information (accurate information would have caused a higher premium [...]
New data released by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has revealed that an increasing amount is being paid out to those who hold critical illness and life insurance policies. Last year 40,000 families and individuals received a total of £1.9bn, with an average payout of £47,166, roughly twice the average salary in the United [...]
Guy Carpenter has published its first Industry Risk Benchmarks report for insurers, which provides risk benchmarks for loss ratios and reserves, by line of business, for coefficient of variation (standard deviation/mean), correlation and cycles. The benchmarks are based on a database of industry information that includes the reported financial results of hundreds of insurance companies [...]
Insurer Direct Line and road safety charity Brake are urging drivers not to succumb to distraction or stress whilst driving during the forthcoming bank holiday. The call comes as new research reveals that 71% of drivers in the last year have lost concentration whilst driving due to stress induced by inconsiderate road users or other [...]
Willis has launched a product for companies with key locations, suppliers or customers located in the vicinity of a nuclear power station. The new offering covers business interruption costs should a plant’s safety be compromised and an exclusion zone be put in place, having been developed in response to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that [...]
Aviva has launched “Quote me happy” a new motor insurance brand for those who prefer to deal with their car insurance online. With research showing that 75% of people now shop for car insurance on price comparison sites, the insurer says it is responding to changing customer buying habits in a move that should also [...]
Specialist insurer Ecclesiastical has reported its financial results for the first six months of 2011, during which the firm recorded a pre-tax profit of £15.6m. This compares favourably with a £7.6m pre-tax loss in H1 2010, and turnover was precisely the same as in the corresponding period last year (£254m). The firm’s biannual investment return [...]
A new survey from Standard Life has revealed that Spain is the top hotspot for retirement overseas, followed by Australia and the US, with nearby France and Ireland in 4th and 5th. Head of Pensions Policy John Lawson said that whilst retiring abroad is a dream for many it pays dividends to research potential locations. [...]
Ageas UK has reported its financial results for the first half of the year, including pre-tax profits of £35.4m. This is a fourfold increase on H1 2010, and shows a remarkably strong second quarter after pre-tax profits of £3.8m in Q1. Total income rose by 84.5% to £882m, with non-life gross written premiums up 84.2% [...]
ACE has appointed Marie Biggas to the position of terrorism & political violence underwriter for ACE Overseas General (AOG). Ms Biggas, who joins from Chaucer Syndicate, will be based in London and report to Piers Gregory, terrorism underwriting manager for AOG. Commenting on the expansion, Mr Gregory says: “Terrorism and political related risk is an [...]
Towergate Insurance has appointed Scott Brown to its Perth management team, as head of corporate. Mr Brown joins from Giles having spent 27 years in the insurance industry, mainly within the corporate market at Willis and Marsh, and having developed significant relationships with many of Scotland’s top 500 companies. Towergate commercial director, Iain Murray, comments: [...]
ACE has appointed two environmental risk underwriters to its London-based environmental liability team. Robert Wade and Hayley Dixon are experienced professionals with strong scientific backgrounds and the expanded team will focus on working with brokers to develop new environmental liability programmes. Mr Wade joins from Chartis, where he acted as an underwriter in the insurer’s [...]
In a snapshot survey of retailers hit by the riots two weeks ago, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found that shop owners lost over 7,500 hours of trading and reported 11,088 members of staff affected by the violence. The BRC carried out its email survey of members in the week commencing Monday 15th August and [...]
Admiral has posted another record half-year profit and reported continued strong growth. Pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of June 2011 stood at £160.6 million, up 27% on the same period of 2010, while turnover rose 53%, to £1.1 billion. The insurer’s group vehicle count rose 33%, to 3.15 million, and international [...]
The motor insurance sector has given the green light to volunteers who want to use their cars to help local communities by promising not to charge extra premiums. The commitment to supporting the Big Society comes from 85% of the car insurance sector, and includes 54 insurance brands. The announcement follows discussions with volunteers who [...]
