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 [...]
The CEA (European insurance and reinsurance federation) has welcomed a decision by the European Commission not to propose an EU-wide compulsory liability scheme to cover environmental damage, or imminent threat of environmental damage, under the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD). According to CEA director general, Michaela Koller, the EC has recognised that “insurers are steadily developing [...]
The CEA (the European insurance and reinsurance federation) is calling for European Commission (EC) tax proposals to differentiate between insurers and the banks. The body believes that the proposed Financial Activities Tax (FAT), which would target the profits and remunerations of the financial sector, is not justified in the case of insurers. In addition, the [...]
The Law Society has launched a new scheme to help law firms struggling to secure professional indemnity insurance (PII) renewal terms. SafetyNet will provide assistance to “distressed” firms, or firms seeking to avoid entering the Society’s assigned risks pool (ARP) or attempting to exit the ARP. The scheme, which is managed by Lloyd’s broker PYV [...]
Guy Carpenter & Company has released a report on the recent developments and trends in the Continental European legal environment that impact on the casualty insurance industry. The study has been developed in conjunction with law firm, Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, and its network of insurance law practitioners in jurisdictions across Continental Europe. It highlights [...]
Greater Manchester Police have reported that two brothers who masterminded one of the country’s biggest ever “crash for cash” scams have been convicted. Rezwan Javed and Rehan Javed, both of Dovedale Close, Burnley, Lancashire, have been found guilty after a trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court of conspiracy to defraud and possession of an [...]
Former pleural plaques claimants have until 1st August 2011 to lodge their claims with a new government scheme. Insurers have long argued that the plaques, which are areas of fibrosis on the inner surface of the ribcage and the diaphragm, do not impact on health or lead to asbestos-related diseases. However, following a Law Lords’ [...]
American International Group (AIG) is to pay $725 million to settle accusations of fraud brought by three Ohio pension funds. In a class action law suit, the funds allege that between 1999 and 2005 AIG engaged in share price manipulation, anti-competitive behaviour and accounting fraud that resulted in millions in losses for shareholders. Ohio Attorney [...]
The Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission, which are conducting a joint review of insurance contract law, are currently considering the insured’s post-contract duty of Good Faith. As insurance contracts are said to be based on mutual duties of good faith, commissioners have been looking at how these duties work after the contract has been [...]
Research regarding a new process introduced by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for personal injury road traffic accident claims has produced some significant results. According to Berrymans Lace Mawer LLP (BLM), a survey of insurance industry representatives found only 53% in favour of the reform, which comes into force tomorrow (30th April) for claims of [...]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has failed in its appeal against a High Court ruling which established that the commission received by online businesses that introduce customers to insurers is exempt from VAT. The long-running case involves Insurancewide.com and Trader Media Group, which receive commission for aggregating potential clients for insurance companies. As a website [...]
The Law Commission has reported that the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 has received the Royal Assent. The act reforms the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930 under which, if an insured became insolvent, a third party could not proceed against them but had to join the group of general creditors in [...]
Zurich Insurance has been obliged to sign an undertaking with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) agreeing to improve security. The insurer lost an unencrypted back-up tape containing personal financial information belonging to over 46,000 of its policyholders, and has been found breach of the Data Protection Act. Customers of Zurich Private Client, Zurich Special Risk [...]
Royal London Mutual Insurance Society has been rapped over the knuckles by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after breaching the Data Protection Act. The reprimand comes after eight of the firm’s laptops, two of which contained details of 2,135 people who had sought pension scheme illustrations, were stolen from the company’s Edinburgh offices. The data [...]
The Government has abandoned the idea of mandatory third-party insurance for dogs, the BBC has reported. Concerns that dogs are being bred solely for the purpose of intimidating others have led ministers to review the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and a week ago, Home Secretary Alan Johnson announced that plans were under consideration for legislation [...]
Furious Equitable Life policyholders are rejecting the latest proposed offer of compensation, as set out in a new report by Sir John Chadwick. In 2008, Parliamentary Ombudsman Ann Abraham recommended the establishment of a scheme that would consider individual claims for compensation from those who lost money when the failed mutual came close to collapse [...]
The Government is considering plans for legislation that will demand every dog owner in the UK carries third-party insurance against their pet causing injury to a person. Concerns that dogs are being bred solely for the purpose of intimidating others have led ministers to review the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. According to Home Secretary Alan [...]
EMB has published a study on the latest version of the proposed European Solvency II rules in which the consultancy firm concludes that UK property and casualty insurers face a combined £13 billion jump in capital requirements. The new rules are due to come into force in 2012 and EMB warns that they could “seriously [...]
A civil action brought by a consortium of seven UK motor insurers over a “crash for cash” scam has been successful. The High Court case relates to a major criminal ring involving 57 fraudsters in the Greater Manchester area, who used ordinary members of the public to stage their accidents. Last week, Mr Justice Holman [...]
