Europ Assistance has launched a new “signature”, which is being rolled out today across the group’s 36 companies worldwide. “you live we care” is intended to reflect a positioning that highlights support for customers in all of life’s circumstances “from the most routine to the most exceptional”, while the concept of “care” is intended to [...]
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) will shortly be publishing an updated Statement of Best Practice for critical illness insurance. The move is aimed at improving clarity and understanding of Total Permanent Disability (TPD) cover, the industry having already developed a set of standard definitions that will be supporting an education plan that should reduce [...]
The European insurance sector remained stable in 2009, according to figures released today by the CEA (the European insurance and reinsurance federation). Provisional data show gross written premiums in Europe totalling €1,057 billion, having grown 2.9% (at constant exchange rates), compared with 2008. Life insurance premiums, which accounted for more than 60% of all premiums, [...]
Britain’s GPs are apparently too polite to raise sensitive issues with patients, such as obesity and alcohol misuse. According to Aviva’s latest Health of the Workplace study, personal hygiene tops the list of subjects to be avoided, with more than half of GPs surveyed unprepared to raise the topic with patients. The study also indicates [...]
Chubb has established a Healthcare Information Technology Program in the US, aimed at addressing the industry’s liability needs in the light of healthcare reform. Currently, over 1,000 companies supply information technology products and services to the healthcare and medical research industries in the US and Canada, and the sector is poised for additional growth. The [...]
Allianz’s head of microinsurance has concluded that “conventional thinking won’t work if microinsurance is to succeed during the next decade”. Answering questions on microinsurance markets in India, Indonesia and Africa, Michael Anthony said the tsunami of December 2004 brought with it the realisation that the poorest people, who have no access to insurance services, are [...]
Health Insurance magazine has awarded Heath Lambert Employee Benefits (HLEB) the Best Healthcare Trust Intermediary Award 2010. The award was given in recognition of HLEB’s pioneering endeavours with a global drinks giant. The ceremony was held at London’s Grosvenor House and was attended by 800 insurance and intermediary professionals. HLEB Wellbeing Director Karen Gamble was [...]
Aviva has launched an online resource for advisers, aimed at making the application process for life, critical illness and income protection insurance smoother. The Adviser Underwriting Centre is available through the “Aviva for Advisers” site and apparently contains everything that intermediaries need to know when helping a client complete a protection proposal. It includes a [...]
The Healthcare Focus Group of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) is to set up a working group to examine the issue of personal taxation and Private Medical Insurance (PMI). Tax concessions for the over 60s and how the removal of concessions have impacted on PMI sales will be included in the review and the [...]
Munich Re has agreed terms for the acquisition of Windsor Health Group, Inc. in line with its strategic goal of bolstering its presence in the US Medicare market. Munich Re provides global insurance, reinsurance and risk management expertise in the field of healthcare under the brand name of Munich Health. Windsor provides government-sponsored health plans [...]
Bupa has responded to the Comprehensive Spending Review, delivered by the Chancellor George Osborne earlier today. Bupa Care Services Managing Director Mark Ellerby welcomed the new funding for social care, and described the move, which will bring the NHS and local councils closer together, as a step in the right direction. However, he warned that [...]
Bupa Care Services has entered into a partnership with the University of Bradford’s internationally recognised centre for excellence, Bradford Dementia Group, to enable its care home to staff to benefit from specialist dementia care training. The ‘Person First, Dementia Second’ training is being taken up by every member of Bupa’s specialist dementia care home staff, [...]
Bupa has announced that it is selling its UK protection and risk business, Bupa Health Assurance, to consolidator Resolution Ltd, for £165.15 million. The move reflects the group’s intention to focus on its healthcare businesses, including its health insurance products and services in the UK. Bupa Health & Wellbeing manging director, Dr Natalie-Jane Macdonald, comments: [...]
The Competition Commission (CC) has confirmed that it will introduce a ban on the sale of payment protection insurance (PPI) alongside an associated credit product, such as a personal loan. The restriction, which excludes retail PPI, should have been introduced last year but an appeal by Barclays resulted in a postponement. The Commission has since [...]
Consumers who have brought legitimate complaints about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) sold by banks could face delays of many months in receiving compensation. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has recently requested a judicial review of some decisions made by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service, in relation to PPI. The move [...]
New rules from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on complaints handling for Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) have prompted the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) to ask for a judicial review of some of the decisions made by the regulator and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The package of new measures is due to come into force [...]
Bupa has introduced a new comprehensive cash plan for businesses, costing from just £1 per employee per week. Bupa Cash Plan Fundamentals offers three levels of coverage, and allows employees to claim up to £2,295 back towards the cost of typical healthcare expenses. On an annual basis, up to £200 is provided for optical and [...]
Rehabilitation service providers, IPRS and Moving Minds, are joining forces to provide programmes that could improve treatments for the victims of accidents and ill health, and reduce insurers’ costs. IPRS specialises in musculoskeletal injury management and Moving Minds in psychological rehabilitation. The partners suggest that all too often in the past, psychological needs have gone [...]
