Insurance news

• XL Catlin joins Lutine underwriting panel

  29-02-2016 20:59
  Lutine Assurance Services, the life and protection arm of Ryan
  Direct Group, has signed an agreement with XL Catlin to write
  specialty life cover.
  The specialty life offering will target non-standard short-tail
  individual, keyman and scheme business that requires a greater
  degree of underwriting expertise and broader risk appetite.
  Lutine's business director Andy Coles said the agreement
  would give the managing general agent (MGA) considerable added
  firepower to support its push for growth in th
  
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• MGAs need Tom to address regulatory and audit challenges

  29-02-2016 20:59
  Lloyd's head of delegated authorities Peter Montanaro has
  identified centralisation of key services, concerns surrounding
  regulatory changes and excessive auditing as three focus areas for
  managing general agents (MGAs) implementing the London market
  Target Operating Model (Tom) in 2016.
  Speaking at a Managing General Agents' Association briefing
  at Lloyd's today (29 February), Montanaro said that delegated
  authorities had been placed "front and centre" of the Tom
  in 2016, reflecting their impor
  
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• Cathedral hit by three more senior resignations

  29-02-2016 20:59
  Senior underwriters Mark Wilson, Simon King and Nicholas Destro
  have resigned from (re)insurer Lancashire\'s Lloyd\'s
  managing agent Cathedral, the company announced today (29
  February).
  The departures are the latest in a string of senior exits from
  the Cathedral management team in recent weeks.
  Active underwriter John Hamblin left last week amid market
  predictions reported by this publication that he, Wilson and King
  were poised to leave en masse when the last earn-out payment was
  made in Febru
  
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• Kipper Williams on Prodial's record fine for PPI mis-selling calls

  29-02-2016 20:53
  
  ICO issues £350,000 fine to Brighton firm for illegally selling personal information and making more than 46m automated calls about insurance claims Continue reading...
  
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• Swinton to close 130 branches

  29-02-2016 18:59
  
  Broker announces collective consultation with employees affected.
  
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• Swinton to close 130 high-street branches as part of restructure

  29-02-2016 18:26
  
  Broker will also create new Greater Manchester contact centre
  
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• Regulator issues record £350,000 fine over PPI mis-selling calls

  29-02-2016 14:31
  
  Brighton-based Prodial illegally sold on personal information and made more than 46m automated calls about insurance claims, says ICO A company that illegally sold on personal information and plagued members of the public with more than 46m automated nuisance calls relating to Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) mis-selling claims has received a record £350,000 fine.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the government’s data protection regulator, handed out the largest fi
  
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• XL Catlin to redomicile to Bermuda

  29-02-2016 14:13
  XL Group has today (29 February) announced its intention to move
  its domicile from Ireland to Bermuda, after the island was
  confirmed to be Solvency II-equivalent last year.
  CEO Mike McGavick said the decision was a "natural
  step" given a significant proportion of XL's business and
  its largest operating subsidiary were already located on the
  island.
  He also noted that the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA)'s
  regime was recently endorsed as being fully equivalent to Solvency
  II by the European Unio
  
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• Skuld gross tonnage up 10%

  29-02-2016 14:13
  Norwegian P&I club Skuld announced a net increase of 10
  percent protection and indemnity (P&I) gross tonnage after the
  mutual P&I renewals last week (20 February).
  Skuld confirmed the signing of an additional 9 million gross
  tonnes. It attributed the increase to its growing global offshore
  business and moderate growth on blue water contracts in the
  Nordics, Europe and Asia.
  The club said it expected its combined ratio for 2015-2016 to be
  an improvement on the proceeding three years.
  
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• Plum expands with acquisition of high net worth MGA

  29-02-2016 14:13
  Plum Underwriting, the managing general agent (MGA) owned by UK
  intermediary investor Global Risk Partners (GRP), has acquired
  specialist high net worth (HNW) MGA Synergy Insurance Services.
  Synergy, part of Randall & Quilter, provides a range of HNW
  household and lifestyle products to UK brokers. The Synergy team
  will join Plum in its London office, with Emma Bennett becoming
  head of private clients for Plum.
  Plum will also retain the Synergy brand for the HNW home,
  contents, travel, fine a
  
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• Marketform confirms Lednor as CUO

  29-02-2016 14:13
  Darren Lednor has been confirmed as chief underwriting officer
  for American Financial Group's Lloyd's operation
  Marketform, the carrier announced today (29 February).
  He replaces Simon Lotter, who left the carrier in November last
  year. The Insurance Insider first
  revealed Lednor's appointment on 19 January, among a slew of
  other hires.
  Lednor has joined from Ariel, where he was active underwriter
  for Syndicate 1910 and Special Purpose Syndicate 6117. He was also
  chief risk officer across Ariel
  
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• Indian government increases FDI limit to 49%

  29-02-2016 14:13
  The Indian government has announced that it will increase the
  automatic limit for foreign direct investment (FDI) in insurance
  companies to 49 percent from 26 percent.
  The move will ease trading conditions for foreign insurers in
  the country, and ensures they will not require the Foreign
  Investment Promotion Board to approve increases in stakes.
  Finance minister Arun Jaitley announced the changes in his third
  Union Budget this morning (29 February).
  However, the existing guidelines on Indian man
  
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• Hiscox will not follow Beazley in redomiciling

  29-02-2016 14:13
  Hiscox has said that it has no plans to redomicile to the UK,
  weeks after peer Beazley announced its intention to move its tax
  residency back to the UK from Ireland.
  "It's not even on the agenda," CEO Bronek Masojada
  told The Insurance Insider.
  "We're very committed to Bermuda - it works well for us.
  It's a fantastic jurisdiction."
  Masojada explained that Bermuda was strategically useful given
  its proximity to the US and its status as a centre for the...
  
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• Hiscox Syndicate 33 beats 2013 YoA forecasts

  29-02-2016 14:13
  Lloyd's carrier Hiscox has beaten its profit forecast for
  the 2013 year of account (YoA) at its flagship Syndicate 33 with a
  profit of 17.2 percent of capacity.
  The result equates to a profit of £163.4mn ($226.6mn) for
  the 2013 YoA.
  Hiscox had estimated 2013 YoA profits at between 5 percent and
  15 percent of capacity, which stood at £950mn for the
  year.
  Hiscox holds a 73 percent share of Syndicate 33, with the
  balance held by individual Names.
  Meanwhile,...
  
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• Hiscox premium up 11% in 2015, but profits slide

  29-02-2016 14:13
  London-listed Lloyd's insurer Hiscox has recorded another
  year of premium growth, with gross written premium increasing 10.7
  percent in 2015 to £1.9bn.However, the full-year results released this morning (29
  February) also revealed pre-tax profits had fallen by 6.5 percent
  to £216.1mn, following a challenging 12 months for investments
  and exchange rate fluctuations.The total investment result for the group fell by 37 percent to
  £35.3mn, impacted by a lower return from equities
  
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• Buffett: Berkshire could survive $250bn market cat loss

  29-02-2016 14:13
  Berkshire Hathaway could survive a $250bn industry loss from a
  mega catastrophe and still be able to capitalise upon underwriting
  opportunities in its aftermath, CEO Warren Buffett has claimed in
  his annual letter to shareholders.
  Berkshire is far more conservative in avoiding risk than most
  large insurers, Buffett explained.
  If the (re)insurance industry were to experience a $250bn loss -
  which would be around triple anything it has ever seen before -
  Berkshire as a whole "would likely record a
  
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• BTG Pactual remains on Fitch negative watch

  29-02-2016 14:13
  Ratings agency Fitch has maintained its negative rating watch on
  under-fire Brazilian bank BTG Pactual, despite efforts made by the
  company to shore up its balance sheet.
  Fitch said it estimated that the bank's liquidity position
  had stabilised after its funding franchise experienced severe
  stress following the arrest of its CEO and main shareholder
  André Esteves last year.
  Prosecutors have accused Esteves of obstructing a long-running
  investigation into graft at Brazilian state-owned oil
  
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• Berkshire UW profits climb in Q4 but fall in full year

  29-02-2016 14:13
  A strong fourth quarter showing from Berkshire Hathaway's
  underwriting operations helped operating profits at the investment
  conglomerate climb 18 percent to $4.67bn for the period.
  Net profits were up even more, rising 32 percent to $5.48bn on
  the back of higher investment and derivative gains.
  Investment gains jumped from $285mn to $399mn and the Warren
  Buffett-headed group benefited from a $406mn derivative gain,
  compared to a $93mn loss in the prior-year period.
  For the full year, operating
  
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• Insurers face reserve increases after Supreme Court Knauer ruling

  29-02-2016 13:48
  
  Marcus Alcock Postonline A seminal ruling by the Supreme Court last week means insurers potentially face substantive increases in claims costs on fatal accident claims.
  
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• Hiscox’s Watson sees further room for growth in SME

  29-02-2016 13:36 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  SME is now the provider’s biggest single line of business.
  
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• New Hiscox MGA to focus on professional indemnity and motor

  29-02-2016 13:35
  
  Katie Marriner Postonline Hiscox will this year set up a managing general agent in the UK focusing on areas outside its underwriting appetite, including some classes of professional indemnity and motor insurance.
  
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• Hiscox CUO: ‘We are absolutely committed to the broker channel’

  29-02-2016 13:07
  
  Richard Watson responds to complaints that insurer is favouring its direct arm for HNW business
  
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• Allianz writes 23% more policies

  29-02-2016 13:03 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  SME director David Martin says the provider received 40% more inquiries as well in February.
  
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• Malago sets up in South West

  29-02-2016 12:28
  
  Newly-established broker teams up with Momentum to offer local, personal service.
  
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• Hiscox sets up MGA for UK business outside its appetite

  29-02-2016 12:14
  
  Lloyd’s insurer grew UK and Ireland GWP by 1.9% in 2015
  
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• CLS merges with Conveyancing Risk Solutions

  29-02-2016 11:55 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Property specialists Conveyancing Liability Solutions (CLS) will move to CRS offices.
  
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• Hiscox reports 6.5% pre-tax profit fall as GWP rises

  29-02-2016 10:53
  
  Peta Fuller Postonline Hiscox’s pre-tax profit dropped by £14.9m to £216.1m in 2015 as the company reported increased gross written premiums of £1.94bn (2014: £1.75bn).
  
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• Hiscox UK and Ireland GWP up 2%

  29-02-2016 10:51 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Provider reveals six-fold increase in demand for cyber and data insurance.
  
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• Plum Underwriting buys R&Q MGA Synergy

  29-02-2016 10:39
  
  Katie Marriner Postonline Plum Underwriting has acquired specialist high-net-worth managing general agent Synergy Insurance Service from Randall & Quilter.
  
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• Plum Underwriting buys Synergy

  29-02-2016 10:29 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  GRP-owned Plum Underwriting has bought HNW specialist MGA Synergy Insurance Services for an undisclosed sum.
  
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• Hiscox grows group GWP but profit slips

  29-02-2016 10:24 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Group delivers an 85% COR.
  
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• AA urges Osborne not to raise IPT again in March Budget

  29-02-2016 09:40
  
  November’s IPT hike added an average £18 to motor premiums, AA says
  
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• Blog: How designers will take over the insurance industry

  29-02-2016 09:37
  
  Kate Greenstock Postonline
  
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• #Insagepeople: 29 February - 5 March 2016

  29-02-2016 09:23 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Get your fix of the market movers each week in one place with our new way of bringing you the latest recruitment changes.
  
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• Cooper Gay credit rating boost after US disposal announcement

  29-02-2016 09:12
  
  Standard & Poor’s removes broking group from creditwatch and raised ratings
  
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• C-Suite: The potential of telematics in Asia

  29-02-2016 08:58
  
  Andrew Tjaardstra Postonline Telematics is a great opportunity for Asia's motor insurers as competition intensifies in the region writes Pravar Gautam.
  
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• Hiscox 2015 GWP up strongly, but profits slide

  29-02-2016 08:52
  
  Retail business now generates 50% of revenue
  
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• GRP-backed Plum buys Synergy from Randall & Quilter

  29-02-2016 08:36
  
  Synergy team to join Plum’s newly-expanded London office
  
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• Markel appoints industry veteran Spencer as NED

  29-02-2016 01:05
  
  Katie Marriner Postonline Markel International has appointed former BMS CEO John Spencer as a non-executive director.
  
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