Insurance news

• Penny Black's Social World - 12 November 2015

  10-11-2015 21:16
  
  James Verrinder Postonline All the latest online news
  
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• Penny Black's Insurance Week - 12 November 2015

  10-11-2015 21:05
  
  James Verrinder Postonline A policy renewal letter ‘sent in error’ has given national newspapers the opportunity to partake in one of their favourite activities – bashing insurance companies.
  
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• Legal Update: A more level playing field?

  10-11-2015 21:02
  
  Alastair Gillespie Postonline Recent cases indicate a more robust court approach to vicarious liability, says Alastair Gillespie.
  
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• Asia Listings: A closer look at Asia-Pacific

  10-11-2015 20:17
  
  Moungmo Lee Postonline The general insurance market is not uniform in the Asia-Pacific region. From consolidation in Japan to potential in China to sophistication in Australia, movers and shakers face a variety of situations and opportunities.
  
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• Interview: Duncan Rutter: A busy year coming

  10-11-2015 18:41
  
  James Verrinder Postonline High-profile reviews impacting the legal sector and the ongoing fight against fraud promise to keep incoming Forum of Insurance Lawyers president Duncan Rutter busy during his year in office. Post caught up with him to discuss his plan of action.
  
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• Zurich's commercial broker business admits it was 'difficult to trade with'

  10-11-2015 18:39
  
  James Verrinder Postonline Zurich's commercial broker division has admitted it was previously "difficult to trade with" with too many contact points and hand offs around its specialist teams.
  
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• C-Suite - Insurer: The devil in the details

  10-11-2015 18:27
  
  Rob Townend Postonline Urgent changes need to be made to remove the financial incentives at the heart of injury claims.
  
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• Editor's comment: Man on the moon

  10-11-2015 17:55
  
  Stephanie Denton Postonline This week John Lewis released its Christmas advertisement – the Man on the Moon – causing even the most stiff-upper-lipped Brit to shed a tear.
  
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• Brokers vote Sterling number one insurer for service

  10-11-2015 17:32
  
  Covéa-owned insurer tops Insurance Times Broker Service Survey rankings again 
  
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• HomeServe deal will bring Aviva 'exciting' opportunities - Phil Bayles

  10-11-2015 16:40
  
  Agreement will enable Aviva to provide new products and services to its customer base
  
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• Brokers expect to benefit from Zurich's cost-cutting programme

  10-11-2015 15:43
  
  James Verrinder Postonline Zurich’s decision to implement a cost-cutting initiative that will result in up to 440 UK redundancies has been welcomed by brokers who believe that removing a layer of management will produce tighter relationships with regional branches.
  
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• FCA approves Osprey takeover

  10-11-2015 15:24
  
  James Verrinder Postonline The Financial Conduct Authority has approved Thomas Miller's proposed acquisition of Osprey Holdings, the parent company of Osprey Underwriting Agency.
  
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• FCA may get power to access brokers' internet records

  10-11-2015 14:34
  
  The government's Investigatory Powers Bill - dubbed The Snoopers' Charter - contains the measure.
  
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• Treloar tipped to succeed at LV as O'Roarke predicts future PL and CL growth

  10-11-2015 13:29
  
  Peta Fuller Postonline Steve Treloar’s experience of both the direct and broker channels will help him fill John O’Roarke’s “big shoes” once he takes over as LV general insurance managing director next year, according to market commentators.
  
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• Kingstone secures New Jersey licence

  10-11-2015 13:22
  Northeast-focused regional P&C carrier Kingstone, has
  expanded its geographic reach to five states with the addition of
  New Jersey after it received approval to write admitted business in
  the jurisdiction.
  The carrier already has licences to write business in New York,
  Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Texas.
  It also has an application pending for another state, which it
  said "shares similar catastrophe exposure and opportunities as
  New York", without saying where.
  Kingstone's chairman and CEO,
  
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• Anbang Insurance buys Fidelity & Guaranty Life for $1.6bn

  10-11-2015 13:22
  China's Anbang Insurance Group has acquired US life insurer
  Fidelity & Guaranty Life (FGL) for around $1.6bn in cash, it
  announced yesterday (9 November).
  The pair have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby
  Anbang will acquire the HRG Group subsidiary for $26.80 per
  share.
  The transaction represents a 28.9 percent premium to $20.79 per
  share - FGL's unaffected closing stock price before the public
  announcement of the strategic review process on 6 April 2015.
  The transaction will
  
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• RSA launches online PI product

  10-11-2015 13:04
  
  Product is sold exclusively through its commercial broker partners.
  
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• Vulnerable customers code gains industry backing despite commercial concerns

  10-11-2015 12:29
  
  Katie Marriner Postonline The joint code of conduct for vulnerable customers established by the Association of British Insurers and the British Insurance Brokers' Association has been broadly welcomed by the industry, despite concerns about the commercial viability of serving such a group.
  
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• FCA plans test lab for new financial products

  10-11-2015 12:14
  
  ‘Regulatory sandbox’ will allow companies to try ideas without fear of regulatory consequences
  
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• European Windstorm Hazard Maps unveiled by Met Office

  10-11-2015 11:50
  
  Callum BrodiePostonline The Met Office has launched its European Windstorm Hazard Maps to show the location and severity of damaging winds for a variety of return periods at high resolution.
  
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• Circle's pre-tax profit doubles to £60,851

  10-11-2015 11:03
  
  Broker says client retention remained above 95%.
  
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• Cyber security held back by insurance and regulation - spy chief

  10-11-2015 09:54
  
  The normal drivers of change; regulation, incentivisation, insurance cover and legal liability, are still immature
  
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• Russian plane crash unlikely to impact aviation or travel rates

  10-11-2015 09:48
  
  James Verrinder Postonline Aviation rates are expected to withstand the aftermath of the downed Russian airliner in Sinai, market experts have claimed, while the cost of travel insurance to Egypt is also unlikely to rise.
  
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• El Niño brings risk of storms to UK over next three months

  10-11-2015 09:34
  
  The Met Office has warned that that this year’s El Niño is more than likely to become the strongest on record
  
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• El Nino brings risk of storm to UK over next three months

  10-11-2015 09:34
  
  The Met Office has warned that that this year’s El Nino is more than likely to become the strongest on record
  
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• Bollington hires mid-market director from Aon

  10-11-2015 08:53
  
  Karen Adegoke will be responsible for leading the mid-market and corporate teams at Bollington
  
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• Marsh/Jelf deal will cause 'ripple effect' of brokers wanting to sell - Brokerbility MD

  10-11-2015 08:52
  
  But Ian Stutz says any possible departure of broker members through acquisition will not affect quality of network’s book
  
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• Marsh/Jelf deal will cause 'ripple effect' of brokers selling - Ian Stutz

  10-11-2015 08:52
  
  But Ian Stutz says any possible departure of broker members through acquisition will not affect quality of network’s book
  
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• S&P upgrades Ageas Insurance to 'A'

  10-11-2015 08:44
  
  Rating reflects Standard and Poor’s confidence in the financial strength of the business
  
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• Crawford announces further restructuring as nine month profit down

  10-11-2015 08:44
  
  Separately the third quarter results show improved performance
  
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• Crawford announces further restructure as operating profit falls

  10-11-2015 08:44
  
  Nine-month result sees fall in operating profit but separately third quarter shows improvement
  
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• Zurich appoints Japan CEO

  10-11-2015 04:11
  
  Andrew Tjaardstra Postonline Zurich has appointed Maschika Nishiura as CEO and representative for Japan.
  
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• China's Anbang buys first US insurer

  10-11-2015 03:31
  
  Andrew Tjaardstra Postonline China's Anbang Insurance Group has bought US life insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life for $1.57bn (£1.04bn).
  
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• XL Catlin bolsters equipment breakdown team with Zurich hires

  10-11-2015 01:25
  XL Catlin has taken advantage of Zurich's recent exit from
  the standalone boiler and equipment breakdown business by taking on
  a duo of underwriting executives from its larger rival to expand
  its own presence in the space.
  The company said it had boosted its monoline equipment breakdown
  insurance capabilities with the hire of Amanda Hernandez and Amy
  Fox, who move over from Zurich.
  Hernandez, based in San Francisco, was most recently regional
  manager for Zurich's global corporate property divisi
  
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• Travelers accuses R&Q of delay tactics in $9mn claim

  10-11-2015 01:25
  US insurer Travelers has accused Randall & Quilter (R&Q) of
  using delaying tactics and of refusing to pay in a dispute over two
  asbestos claims worth almost $9mn.
  The claims were laid bare in a legal battle between the US
  insurer and R&Q's American subsidiary.
  Travelers said it had told R&Q about the loss in April 2013,
  but sued the legacy carrier when it struggled to recover $4.4mn
  under a reinsurance policy after paying out more than $10mn in
  asbestos...
  
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• Tom and regulation dominate discussion at Xchanging London Market conference

  10-11-2015 01:25
  The London market came together at the Xchanging London Market
  conference on 5 November to discuss what can be expected in future,
  as a wave of change fast approaches.
  A hot topic on the agenda was the challenges facing the
  implementation of the Target Operating Model (Tom) - the programme
  of work designed to deliver modernisation to the market.
  Meanwhile, panellists also discussed the burden of regulation,
  and how it may change as the UK Prudential Regulation Authority
  (PRA) and...
  
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• Talbot becomes first to go live with Write Back

  10-11-2015 01:25
  Validus subsidiary Talbot will today (9 November) become the first
  managing agent to go live with claims initiative Write Back across
  all of its lines.
  Working with claims management firm Docosoft, Talbot is the
  first of eight early adopters. The others are Ark, Berkley
  Offshore, Brit, Faraday, Liberty Syndicates, Mitsui Sumitomo and
  Endurance.
  Write Back is billed as a one-stop-shop claims management system
  that will allow adjusters and claims handlers to interact with
  managing agents in real t
  
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• MAS announces cyber data platform

  10-11-2015 01:25
  The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced its support
  for a new cyber data-sharing platform aimed at stimulating demand
  and generating better understanding of cyber risks.
  The Cyber Risk Test Bed Alliance is designed to promote both the
  demand for and supply of insurance coverage, as well as tackle the
  difficulties that arise when nurturing new and emerging lines.
  Global reinsurance giant Scor has been revealed as the first
  founding member, with other players understood to be in di
  
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• Mapfre shares slide on lower profits

  10-11-2015 01:25
  Mapfre shares closed down 7.13 percent last week
  after the insurance giant reported a downturn in earnings.
  Profits dropped 24.6 percent at the Spanish carrier, driven by
  higher frequency and severity in Turkish motor claims and a large
  claim in Iberian commercial insurance.
  At the other end of the spectrum, Heritage and United Insurance
  maintained the run of outperformance among Floridians.
  Heritage last week reported strong top- and bottom-line growth,
  while at the end of October United beat e
  
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• London's distribution model still poses challenges

  10-11-2015 01:25
  The London market's inefficiency in distribution was a major
  subject at the Xchanging London Market Conference last week (5
  November).
  In a rousing speech, Hyperion CEO David Howden made an
  impassioned plea for improved distribution and processing after
  saying that the insurance market was "rubbish" at
  efficiently delivering its product to customers.
  "We whinge when the banks take 0.05 percent as a
  transaction charge, but as insurers we often end up taking 50
  percent," he said.
  "If our clients k
  
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• Kingstone secures New Jersey license

  10-11-2015 01:25
  Northeast-focused regional P&C carrier Kingstone, has expanded
  its geographic reach to five states with the addition of New Jersey
  after it received approval to write admitted business in the
  jurisdiction.
  The carrier already has licenses to write business in New York,
  Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Texas.
  It also has an application pending for another state, which it
  said "shares similar catastrophe exposure and opportunities as
  New York", without saying where.
  Kingstone's chairman and CEO,
  
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• Insurers tarred with $61mn bitumen theft

  10-11-2015 01:25
  Axa, Great American and a handful of international insurers have
  found themselves in a sticky situation after failing to pay out
  following the theft of nearly 2,000 truckloads of bitumen from a
  plant in China.
  The 87,400 metric tons of bitumen belonged to US-based energy
  trader Castleton Commodities.
  In January last year the energy exchange firm arranged for the
  first of 22 tanker journeys to take the tar-like substance to China
  for two buyers that had agreed to purchase the...
  
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• ILS taskforce considers Lloyd's cooperation

  10-11-2015 01:25
  The London taskforce established to attract insurance-linked
  securities (ILS) business to London is considering how the
  Lloyd's market could play a regulatory role in helping business
  to be done locally.
  It is understood that during the last taskforce meeting at the
  end of September, participants discussed whether it would be
  desirable for Lloyd's to play a regulatory role.
  The view was that ideally participants would prefer supervision
  from both the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and
  Llo
  
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• Expansive Western World hires Tiepelman to launch Scottsdale office

  10-11-2015 01:25
  Validus' US insurance platform Western World has hired Gary
  Tiepelman to open and run a new Scottsdale, Arizona office as it
  looks to expand in the E&S market.
  Tiepelman has been appointed senior vice president (SVP) of
  Western World and is tasked with building an underwriting team for
  the new office, working closely with Tim Hochkeppel, SVP of
  underwriting and marketing in the insurer's contract
  division.
  Tiepelman was most recently at Nationwide's giant E&S
  platform Scottsdale Insuranc
  
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• Enstar profits double as live underwriting improves

  10-11-2015 01:25
  Legacy-to-live carrier Enstar has seen profits more than double
  in the third quarter after it reported significant improvement in
  its newly-integrated live underwriting operations.
  Net earnings increased to $46mn in the third quarter of 2015
  from $21.2mn in the same period last year.
  Enstar said the improvements in the results had been largely
  driven by strong underwriting performance from its Lloyd's
  carrier Atrium.
  The group said it had also seen "significant
  improvement" in the underwriting p
  
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• Aviation rates fall 19% in October: JLT

  10-11-2015 01:25
  The aviation market recorded a 19 percent decline in the
  combined rate for airline hull and liability aviation insurance in
  the first month of the most significant renewal quarter of the
  year, according to JLT's latest Plane Talking report.
  October's combined rate decline of 19 percent was larger
  than the year-to-date decrease of 15 percent, and the early results
  from some of the November and December inceptions offer little sign
  of a change in market conditions, JLT noted.
  Combined hull...
  
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• Asbestos lawyers paying $390 per Google click

  10-11-2015 01:25
  Plaintiff law firms harvesting asbestos victims through online
  advertising are paying up to $390 for each and every click they
  receive on Google, a new study by the US Chamber Institute for
  Legal Reform (ILR) has revealed.
  Ads on Google are purchased through an online auction process in
  which advertisers bid to top the sponsored search results for a
  particular keyword.
  The new study revealed that the term "mesothelioma
  claim" is one of the 20 most expensive keywords in the...
  
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• Antares targets China and Dubai

  10-11-2015 01:25
  Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) subsidiary Antares is considering
  further expanding its international footprint by joining the
  Lloyd's platforms in China and Dubai.
  Speaking to The Insurance Insider at
  the Singapore International Reinsurance Conference, managing
  director Steve Redmond confirmed that Antares is seriously
  considering joining the Lloyd's China platform.
  "We wanted to see how the China Risk Oriented Solvency
  System regime worked out first, and to evaluate the cost, but we
  are definite
  
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• Allianz launches North America transportation unit

  10-11-2015 01:25
  Allianz has announced the addition of a dedicated unit to write
  North American transport and logistics risks.
  The new division will write rail, motor truck cargo, warehouse
  and related property business.
  The unit will fall under the inland marine division of the
  German insurer's Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
  division, which already services clients ranging from local haulers
  and warehouse operations to logistics firms and large international
  carriers
  That team will now be expanded thr
  
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