Guy Carpenter has announced a number of changes to its global management structure, as follows: Chris McKeown has been appointed vice chairman and will in future focus on implementing key strategic initiatives (including capital creation), having previously served as president and chief executive officer of the group’s North American broking operations. In addition, the firm’s [...]
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has relaunched its website as a central resource for members and included a new “Find a Broker” search facility aimed at promoting insurance brokers to customers. “Find a Broker” previously received around 30,000 hits per month and the upgrade includes a prominent “quick search” tab on the BIBA homepage, [...]
RSA Insurance Group plc has announced the appointment of Jos Streppel to its board as a non-executive director. Streppel, whose appointment is made with effect from 3 October 2011, is presently chairman of KPN, the former incumbent telecom carrier of The Netherlands. In addition to this he is deputy chairman of Van Lanschot, a Dutch [...]
Over 60% of (re)insurers believe Solvency II will increase focus on underperforming lines of business, according PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) fifth annual survey, “Unlocking value in run-off”. A third of respondents said they are expecting a significant level of restructuring activity in the next three years, with medical malpractice, credit and surety and employers’ liability lines of [...]
ACE Limited has announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Penn Millers Holding Corporation (PMHC) for $107m in cash. PMHC’s subsidiary Penn Millers Insurance Company is an underwriter of agricultural insurance in the US, offering manufacturing, processing and distributing firms specialty property and casualty insurance coverage. The firm was established over a [...]
Only 55% of Britons with Defined Contribution (DC) pension schemes know what they are contributing, while the other 45% are either contributing nothing at all, or have no idea how much they are putting towards their retirement income. New figures from Scottish Widows also suggest that 38% of DC members don’t know how much their [...]
Reinsurers and investors are not capitalising on the potential attractiveness of the sector, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), with the issue compounded by a lack of confidence in reinsurers’ business models and little distinction within the sector. In a new report, the accountancy firm suggests companies need to move away from the diversified business model to [...]
Aon Benfield has released its 2011 Insurance Risk Study, which sets out latest parameters for modelling and benchmarking underwriting risk. The data span 47 countries and key business lines, representing more than 90% of global property-casualty insurance premium. According to this year’s figures, property remains substantially more volatile than other major lines. In Germany and [...]
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has welcomed the decision by the Ministry of Justice to ban referral fees relating to personal injury claims. ABI Director General Otto Thoresen has said that the organisation is very pleased that the campaign by the insurance sector for such a measure has been heard and acted upon. Thoresen [...]
AXA UK has welcomed the Government’s decision to ban personal injury referral fees but warned that the move may not achieve all that is hope for. The fees, which have been blamed for inflating motor insurance premiums, are the “tip of the iceberg” so far as AXA is concerned, and the insurer is demanding a [...]
Referral fees in personal injury claims are to be banned by the Government, the BBC has reported. The fees have been blamed for encouraging a compensation culture and for sharp rises in motor insurance premiums alongside an explosion of law firms offering no-win-no-fee services and pestering potential claimants with unsolicited approaches. According to the Association [...]
Munich Re and Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance Company Ltd. have signed a co-operation agreement to jointly develop and provide insurance for the renewable energy industry in China. Insurance solutions created by Ping An and a special project team from Munich Re will help reduce risk for large and capital-intensive projects in the Eastern [...]
Otto Thoresen, Director General of the ABI, has responded to the OFT’s (Office of Fair Trading) call for evidence into the cost of motor insurance. Thoresen stated that a new opportunity was presented for the industry to explain the cost pressures motor insurers are faced with, how these can be reduced and how to ensure [...]
Select & Protect have announced a 20% reduction in rates for their Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI) product. The reduced rates, which came into effect on Thursday 1st September apply to the Accident, Sickness and Unemployment (ASU) and Accident and Sickness (AS) options of the policy. The GI provider also published an MPPI Claims Statistics [...]
Acting on reports that comprehensive car insurance premiums have risen by as much as 40% in a year, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has issued a call for evidence. The watchdog wants to establish the background to accounts of soaring private motor premiums, so it can consider whether further work is needed to improve [...]
The number of Britons actively saving into private sector occupational pension schemes fell from 6.3 million in 1991 to 3.2 million in 2009, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. In 1999, 30% of active members were in the 5% to 6% contribution band and 21% in the 6%-and-over band, but by 2009 [...]
Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. has announced the appointment of Stephen Young as head of the Global Catastrophe Reinsurance business. In his new role Young, who succeeds Christopher Schaper (who has parted ways with the firm), will be directly responsible to President William Jewett. Young joined [...]
Insurance broker Lockton has announced that it is expanding its risk management and insurance presence in the United States with the establishment of a new office in Omaha, Nebraska. The new office will bed led by Jack Struyk, who has been appointed by the firm to lead its Nebraskan operations. Struyk is a native of [...]
Towergate Insurance has declared that it is to be the only provider of business insurance for Confused.com, the price comparison website. Business insurance customers will be provided with a broad range of insurance by Towergate under the Confused.com brand, including restaurants, surgeries and liability, amongst others. The Guildford specialist commercial contact centre operation of Your [...]
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC) has announced the appointment of Ben Allen as the firm’s new chief information officer. Allen already holds the positions of chief innovation officer and senior vice president and will assume his new role with immediate effect. In his new position he will oversee the global technology infrastructure group and [...]
