The cost of comprehensive motor insurance cover rose by an average 12.3% in the 12 months to the end of September, according to the latest Confused.com/Towers Watson Car Insurance Price Index. However, the rate of increase compares with 38% over the whole of 2010, and the average cost of a comprehensive policy now stands at [...]
Beazley has been chosen by UHC to be the firm’s preferred cyber liability insurer for its 114 academic medical centres and 255 affiliate hospitals. UHC is to offer the insurer’s flagship product Beazley Breach Response, a comprehensive privacy breach response management and information security insurance solution. The product is tailored to cater to the precise [...]
Aviva has completed a £150 million pension buy-in with the Trustee Board of the Meat and Livestock Commission Pension Scheme. The agreement involves Aviva making payments to the scheme equivalent to pensions for over 900 pensioner and dependant members of the scheme, under a bulk-annuity deal. Towers Watson, which advised the Trustee Board, explains: “Under [...]
Willis has joined forces with Lloyd’s insurer, Kiln, to launch a policy aimed at reducing the risks faced by hoteliers, given that bad news travels fast in the world of new media. According to the broker, illnesses such as Norovirus, which is responsible for about 90% of serious stomach upsets, and Legionnaire’s disease, a lung [...]
A recent call by the Association of British Insurers for more women on the boards of the UK listed companies in which its members invest looks likely to fall on deaf ears. Lord Davies’ review into women on boards was published in February but according to new research from Cranfield Business School, only 33 FTSE [...]
Miller Insurance Services Limited has announced the appointment of Seema Bradbury as the firm’s new head of risk. Bradbury will assume responsibility of identifying and handling risks, particularly those pertaining to the operational, legal, regulatory, financial and strategic spheres. In addition to this she will be tasked with providing Miller governance committees with risk management [...]
Today has seen the launch of “Fighting Fraud Together” a new initiative made possible by 34 organisations (including the Insurance Fraud Bureau) joining forces to address fraud in the UK. The Government, industry representatives, voluntary groups and law enforcement agencies have sign up to a joint commitment to tackle fraud by: 1. Expanding and extending [...]
Pleural plaques are in the news again, Scotland’s supreme court having today ruled that the Scottish Parliament acted within its powers in passing the Damages (Asbestos Related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009. The Act includes pleural plaques as a condition for which compensation is payable in Scotland. However, insurers have long argued that the plaques, which [...]
The Navigators Group, Inc. has announced that Francis W. McDonnell has retired as the firm’s senior vice president and chief financial officer. McDonnell, whose retirement is made with effect from 31 October 2011, will be replaced as chief financial officer on an interim basis by Ciro DeFalco, senior vice president (finance). Chief Executive Officer and [...]
Atradius N.V. has announced the nomination of Andreas Tesch for the position of chief markets officer. In his new role Tesch will assume responsibility for Atradius Credit Insurance’s development in North-western and Central Europe including Greece and Turkey, NAFTA, and Asia Pacific, in addition to the units Dutch State Business, Global, and Special Products. David [...]
LV= has reduced the amount of time it takes to complete protection business sold through IFAs by over 20%. According to the mutual, critical illness, income protection and life cover can now be in place within 13 days from receipt of application, with over half of all protection applications from IFAs actually completed in five [...]
RSA Insurance Group plc has announced the appointment of Alastair Barbour to the board as a non-executive director. Barbour, whose appointment is effective from today, retired from KPMG in March after spending 36 years with the firm, during which time he led the financial services team in Scotland. He also serves as a non-executive director [...]
Global general and reinsurance provider Brit Insurance has joined the US-based cargo theft prevention and recovery network CargoNet. As part of CargoNet, Brit Insurance can offer its policyholders enhanced protection when a victim of cargo theft needs urgent help. Reported US cargo thefts exceed $30bn annually, which law enforcement experts consider to be significantly less [...]
Lightning strikes twice for nearly one in 10 people who make a related insurance claim, with property owners in Wales and West of the UK 89% more likely to suffer lightening damage than elsewhere. New research from Confused.com, based on the firm’s home insurance quotes data, also indicates that: Insurers have seen a 68% rise [...]
A heritage claim received by charities insurer, Ecclesiastical, has had an unusual but welcome outcome with the return of an amethyst that once belonged in a ring stolen from the Helensborough home of the Moderator of the Church of Scotland. The theft took place on Christmas Eve 2010, with the thief undeterred by the fact [...]
Willis is intending to attract more institutional shareholders and generally improve its position in the investor community, having appointed Peter Poillon as director of investor relations. The broker’s net income was more than halved in the first six months of 2011, compared with a year earlier, having been hit by a £7 million fine in [...]
An increase in criminal activity on farms has led farmers to take extreme measures to protect themselves, according to Bluefin Insurance Services. Last year the farming sector lost £47.9m to theft, up from £41m in the previous year. Farms contain many expensive goods that attract the attention of thieves, with tools, tractors, heating oil and [...]
Zurich Financial Services Group has announced a quartet of senior appointments to Zurich’s and Santander’s Madrid-based joint-venture holding company. The appointments to the company, which will be named Zurich Santander Insurance America, S.L., are made in the light of the Zurich-Santander Latin American alliance announced earlier in 2011. Javier Lorenzo is named as general manager, [...]
Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe Limited’s commercial lines division Liberty Mutual Insurance (LMI) has announced plans to open a new office in Leeds, adding to the firm’s current locations in Birmingham, London, Bristol, Cheltenham and Manchester. The new office would help LMI to bolster its presence in the north of England and reinforce the success it [...]
