Insurance news

• Lancashire: Cathedral CEO won't be replaced

  18-02-2016 20:21
  London-listed carrier Lancashire has decided not to replace the
  outgoing CEO of its Lloyd's business Cathedral Capital, the
  group said today (18 February).
  Cathedral CEO Peter Scales was dismissed by Lancashire in
  December, along with CFO John Lynch.
  Speaking to The Insurance Insider
  today, Lancashire's head of investor relations Jonny
  Creagh-Coen said that there would be no like-for-like replacement
  when Scales leaves on 31 March.
  Lancashire is required to have a head of the managing agency for
  
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• EMEA D&O rates down around 10 percent: Marsh

  18-02-2016 20:21
  Directors' and officers' (D&O) rates have fallen by
  an average of 10 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa,
  according to global broker Marsh.
  In the broker's wide-ranging EMEA 2016 Insurance Market
  Report, Marsh said average reductions of up to 10 percent were
  reported in 12 countries in the region in 2015 as a result of
  overcapacity, a low level of claims and new entrants in the
  market.
  In some countries, such as France, insurers are more flexible
  with...
  
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• Theresa May visits Ifed officers as new fraud taskforce is launched

  18-02-2016 17:46
  
  Callum BrodiePostonline Home Secretary Theresa May MP visited officers and staff from the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department last week as she launched a new fraud taskforce geared towards achieving a more joined-up approach to tackling fraud.
  
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• ERS targets sub-90% COR

  18-02-2016 15:44 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  CEO Ian Parker says broker-only strategy to remain in place.
  
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• HDI Global builds engineering and construction team

  18-02-2016 15:27
  Talanx-owned industrial lines insurer HDI Global has hired two
  senior underwriters to its engineering, construction and energy
  division, it announced today (18 February).
  Sabine Knaus joins from Munich Re, where most recently she was a
  senior underwriter for engineering and property, with a focus on
  Nordic countries and central and eastern Europe.
  Knaus is also a specialist in metallurgical plants, oil and gas
  onshore and petrochemical risks.
  Richard Beeby will also join HDI. He was previously a
  
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• Fitch maintains negative reinsurance outlook for 2016

  18-02-2016 15:27
  Fitch has said it is maintaining a negative outlook for the
  reinsurance sector in 2016, highlighting concerns over
  reinsurers' ability to manage change, M&A and the impact of
  alternative capital.
  In its latest Global Reinsurance Dashboard, the ratings
  agency said that the January renewals season had demonstrated that
  no pricing floor had yet been reached for global P&C
  reinsurance.
  The agency added that it expected the recent rise in M&A
  activity among traditional reinsurers to have
  
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• First ruling on 'fundamentally dishonest' NIHL claim awards Allianz costs

  18-02-2016 15:20
  
  Peta Fuller Postonline The first “fundamental dishonesty” ruling has been made on a noise induced hearing loss claim, with the insurer behind the case, Allianz, able to recover costs as a result.
  
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• Former Davies chief Charles Crawford joins Gallagher

  18-02-2016 14:00
  
  Crawford joins in interim role to help with UK integration
  
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• United top line grows 25% in Q4

  18-02-2016 12:41
  Florida-based homeowners' insurer United Insurance Holdings
  reported top-line growth of 27.1 percent for the final quarter of
  last year.
  Gross written premium increased to $144.6mn from $113.8mn for
  the same period in 2014.
  However, the carrier's combined ratio deteriorated by 3.6
  percentage points to 85.2 percent.
  Investment income for the quarter increased to $2.5mn, up from
  $1.9mn for Q4 2014.
  Under its UPC Insurance brand the group currently writes in
  Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts,
  
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• Lancashire Q4 profit beats consensus by 20%

  18-02-2016 12:41
  Lancashire's pre-tax profit fell to $50.2mn in the fourth
  quarter of last year from $91.5mn in the same period of 2014, as it
  was impacted by lower premium income.
  But the Lloyd's carrier still beat the analyst consensus by
  20 percent in a quarter that CEO Alex Maloney described as
  "one of the most difficult trading environments during the
  last 20 years".
  The operating result also decreased by almost half to $53.2mn,
  compared to $97.8mn in the fourth quarter of...
  
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• James River profits flat in Q4

  18-02-2016 12:41
  US P&C (re)insurer James River reported relatively flat
  profits for the final quarter of 2015 despite a "poor
  result" from its reinsurance division.
  The Bermuda-domiciled carrier reported net operating income of
  $17.9mn in Q4, down from $18.8mn for the same period in 2014.
  The group posted a combined ratio of 92.3 percent, a slight
  deterioration from the 90.1 percent it generated for the fourth
  quarter the year before.
  The narrowing of underwriting margins stemmed from a reduction
  in reserve
  
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• Enstar reinsures $1.1bn Allianz US legacy book

  18-02-2016 12:41
  Run-off specialist Enstar has agreed a legacy reinsurance
  transaction with Allianz to cover the global insurer's $1.1bn
  US run-off portfolio.
  The announcement made by Enstar yesterday (17 February)confirmed earlier reports by The Insurance
  Insider that the companies were working together to
  bring to finality a portfolio of legacy Fireman's Fund business
  containing workers' compensation and asbestos exposures.Enstar will write a quota share of the portfolio, while Allianz
  reinsurance unit Allianz
  
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• BHSI launches US contractor offering

  18-02-2016 12:41
  Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has launched a new
  contractors' protective, professional and pollution liability
  policy in the US.
  The policy will be available on a primary and excess basis with
  limits of up to $50mn and will cover practice or project-specific
  risks.
  It will provide construction practices and projects with
  coverage spanning professional liability, protective indemnity,
  pollution liability, rectification of design defects, and
  mitigation of pollution.
  In January, Be
  
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• Aon appoints new chief risk officer

  18-02-2016 12:41
  Global broker Aon Risk Solutions (ARS) has announced the
  appointment of Keith Jackson as its new chief risk officer (CRO).
  He will head up a 40-strong team focused on central risk and
  compliance and will be based in the UK.
  Jackson takes up the position after a short sabbatical, prior to
  which he served as CRO at UK retail broker Towergate for three
  years until August 2015.
  Simon Jeffreys, non-executive chairman of Aon UK Ltd, said:
  "We are delighted to...
  
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• Judge throws out ‘dishonest’ deafness claim against Allianz

  18-02-2016 12:25
  
  Claimant argued that use of personal protective equipment was not enforced at diamond drilling firm
  
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• Allianz owned Euler Hermes reports £324m profit in 2015

  18-02-2016 11:32
  
  Jonathan Swift Postonline Allianz trade credit subsidiary Euler Hermes today revealed an operating profit of €417m(£324m)in 2015 on revenue of €2.64bn.
  
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• Blog: Does the idea of Google parent Alphabet buying AIG have legs?

  18-02-2016 11:07
  
  Jonathan Swift Postonline Earlier this week Citigroup analyst Todd Bault triggered a number of headlines and healthy amount of debate by suggesting that AIG should be acquired by Google’s parent company Alphabet.
  
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• Revamped MGA and e-trade to drive Broker Network's growth

  18-02-2016 10:50
  
  Broker Network unveils 2016 batteplan with ex-RSA chief as new insurer boss 
  
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• Aon hires former Towergate risk head Keith Jackson

  18-02-2016 10:42
  
  Jackson takes chief risk officer role at Aon’s broking unit
  
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• ERS COR falls below 100%

  18-02-2016 10:28 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Insurer achieves 99.8% COR in 2015 but profits slip to £6m.
  
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• Ageas extends partnership with Keychoice

  18-02-2016 10:24
  
  Deal covers Ageas' car, home,van, bike and commercial SME product lines.
  
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• ERS to align broker commissions with business profitability

  18-02-2016 10:00
  
  Chief executive Ian Parker insists that insurer’s broker service woes are behind it
  
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• ERS COR still ‘not acceptable’ despite falling to 99.8% in 2015

  18-02-2016 10:00
  Chief executive Ian Parker says motor insurer’s turnaround not complete until COR hits 90%
  
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• ERS COR dips below 100% but profit declines

  18-02-2016 10:00
  
  Katie Marriner Postonline Motor insurer ERS has reported a combined operating ratio below 100% - 99.8% - for the first time since 2009.
  
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• ERS COR dips below 100% as profit declines

  18-02-2016 10:00
  
  Katie Marriner Postonline Motor insurer ERS has reported a combined operating ratio below 100% - 99.8% - for the first time since 2009.
  
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• Lancashire 2015 pre-tax profit falls 24% to $171m

  18-02-2016 09:14
  
  GWP falls to $641m from $908m, as company says it won’t chase top line premium growth
  
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• Lancashire names Peter Clarke as chairman

  18-02-2016 08:47
  
  Current chairman Martin Thomas will step down in May
  
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• XL Catlin hires from Asia Capital Re for political risk role

  18-02-2016 03:11
  
  Andrew Tjaardstra Postonline XL Catlin has appointed Lim Mei Yean as an underwriter in its political risk and trade credit team based in Singapore.
  
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