Insurance news

• Insurance Times launches second annual e-trading survey

  17-03-2016 18:13
  
  Brokers invited to take part in the largest ever survey; participants will receive a brief outline of results
  
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• NFU Mutual's profit falls 12% to £359m in 2015

  17-03-2016 18:09
  
  Provider's COR improves to 77.5% as general insurance income rises to £1.36bn.
  
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• XL Catlin restructures Southern European operations

  17-03-2016 18:08
  XL Catlin has reorganised its Southern European operations to align
  France alongside Italy and Iberia, the insurer announced.
  Southern regional manager Bruno Laval will take on the
  additional responsibilities as country manager for France,
  effective immediately.
  Laval was regional manager for the company's Iberian and
  Latin American business from 2010, before being appointed regional
  manager for Southern Europe and Latin America in 2015.
  He joined the company in 2001, after beginning his career
  
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• Ross approved by FCA after four-month wait

  17-03-2016 18:08
  Towergate CEO David Ross has been confirmed as a director on the
  Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)'s financial services
  register, almost four months after he first joined the broker from
  rival AJ Gallagher.
  The register shows that Ross became an active CF1 director from
  24 February, allowing him to carry out regulated activities at the
  broker as an executive director.
  Ross does not hold a CF3 designation or CEO-level approval - as
  has been customary at Towergate - but The Insurance...
  
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• Integro acquires Lloyd's broker

  17-03-2016 18:08
  Integro has purchased Lloyd's intermediary Croton Stokes Wilson
  Holden Ltd (CSWH), the New York-headquartered broker announced
  today (17 March).
  The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  CSWH's staff and management team will move to Integro to
  become part of the firm's London wholesale group.
  CSWH was founded in 1988 and specialises in placing North
  American property business into the Lloyd's market.
  John Sutton, president of Integro international operations, said
  the acquisition helped to stren
  
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• Howden appoints Middle East financial risks head

  17-03-2016 18:08
  Howden has appointed Mahan Bolourchi as regional head of financial
  risks for the Middle East from April, the international broker
  announced today (17 March).
  Based in Dubai, Bolourchi will establish Howden's financial
  risk business in the region, offering trade credit, structured
  credit, political risk and surety products.
  Bolourchi moves from credit insurance company Euler Hermes,
  where he was Middle East CEO for the Gulf Cooperation Council
  David Howden, CEO of Howden's parent company Hyperion
  
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• Harris Balcombe proposes Fema model for UK

  17-03-2016 18:08
  Claims consultant and loss assessment firm Harris Balcombe has
  called for the UK to adopt a system similar to the US Federal
  Emergency Management Agency (Fema) as part of an overhaul of flood
  prevention.
  The firm claimed the £700mn ($1bn) earmarked in the UK
  government budget yesterday (16 March) wasn't enough to tackle
  the problem.
  UK chancellor George Osborne said a 0.5 percent rise in
  insurance premium tax (IPT), bringing the overall levy to 10
  percent, would generate £700mn for..
  
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• Flood Re assigned A- S&P rating

  17-03-2016 18:08
  UK state-backed flood reinsurer Flood Re has been assigned a
  preliminary A- financial strength rating by Standard &
  Poor's (S&P).
  The company is set to go live on 4 April.
  S&P said it viewed the group's business risk profile as
  satisfactory and its financial strength profile as strong. The
  rating agency noted that Flood Re's business risk profile was
  limited by its dependence on significant amounts of reinsurance for
  its business model to operate successfully.
  In February, Flood Re s
  
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• Fidelis promotes Savill to group CUO

  17-03-2016 18:08
  Fidelis has appointed Ben Savill as group chief underwriting
  officer, the company said today (17 March).
  Savill will take on the role alongside his current
  responsibilities as CEO of the total return reinsurer's Bermuda
  operations.
  Founding CEO Richard Brindle had been fulfilling the role during
  the early days of the company, but a handover had always been
  envisaged.
  Savill, whose background is in property treaty, joined Fidelis
  shortly after its June 2015 launch from Amlin, where he ran the
  fir
  
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• Ecclesiastical reports 11% profit growth

  17-03-2016 18:08
  Specialist UK insurance group Ecclesiastical lifted its pre-tax
  profit by 11 percent in 2015 to £53.6mn ($75.8mn), it
  announced today (17 March).
  The firm said the growth in profits was due to strong
  underwriting performance and investment returns.
  The combined ratio improved 3.2 points to 92 percent, despite an
  undisclosed hit from the UK floods in December.
  The company's full-year underwriting profit of £15.9mn
  was its best result for six years.
  Ecclesiastical said a focus on maint
  
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• Deloitte: ECJ ruling could mean higher tax costs for UK insurers

  17-03-2016 18:08
  A recent ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could
  result in increased tax costs for UK insurers, consultancy firm
  Deloitte has claimed.
  The case involving Polish claims handling firm Aspiro questioned
  whether the company's service qualified for value-added tax
  (VAT) exemption.
  A previous consideration by Advocate General Juliane Kokott
  concluded that Aspiro does not provide insurance, nor are its
  activities similar to providing insurance. Hence, the VAT exemption
  for the provision of
  
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• CNA Hardy makes two marine and energy hires

  17-03-2016 18:08
  CNA Hardy has expanded its marine and energy team with the
  appointments of Stephen Barr and Camilla Hendry.
  Barr, who joins from Marketform, will take up the role of senior
  underwriter for marine and energy liability. He is a member of the
  joint liability committee at the International Union of Marine
  Insurance and was formerly chairman of the organisation's legal
  and liability committee.
  Hendry will take up the role of marine energy underwriter at CNA
  Hardy. She previously worked at...
  
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• Citizens approves measures against skyrocketing claims

  17-03-2016 18:08
  Florida state-backed insurer Citizens has approved a set of
  recommendations to counteract the effect of increasing water loss
  claims in the state.
  Citizens said that the water loss trends connected to assignment
  of benefits (AOB)-based litigation threatened to reverse its
  depopulation efforts.
  AOB claims refer to cases where homeowners assign their rights
  for insurance recoveries to a contractor that repairs water
  damage.
  Citizens said that as private insurance companies began raising
  rates or d
  
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• AIR warns of record flooding in southern US

  17-03-2016 18:08
  Catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide has warned that
  residents of several southern US states are facing historic flood
  levels following days of intense rainfall.
  An "anomalously strong" upper-level low pressure
  system located over Mexico and the southern US has brought severe
  rainfall to Louisiana, Texas and the surrounding areas of the Gulf
  of Mexico.
  Although the firm did not give a loss estimate, it said flood
  level records had already been broken in Texas, Louisiana and
  Mississippi, and
  
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• Pressure tipped to rise on insurers' use of price optimisation

  17-03-2016 17:42
  
  Insurers should think about the possibility of price optimisation being curtailed, a leading insurance ethicist has outlined in a Chartered Insurance Institute think piece.
  
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• NFU Mutual shrugs off £50m flood loss to post 83% 2015 underwriting profit

  17-03-2016 17:16
  
  Rural insurer NFU Mutual delivered an 83.7% increase in underwriting profit to £281m in 2015 (FY 2014: £153m) despite suffering a £50m loss caused by flood claims at the tail end of last year.
  
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• Is there a talent crisis in broking?

  17-03-2016 17:01
  
  Jeremy Tipper questions if the sector is doing enough to attract new talent.
  
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• Budget 2016: Insurers could be hit with higher tax under losses restriction

  17-03-2016 16:38
  
  Firms with profits over £5m will be restricted in the amount of taxable profits they can offset as losses carried forward, according to an announcement in yesterday’s (16 March) Budget.
  
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• Markel launches fintech protection

  17-03-2016 15:41
  
  Markel International has launched a policy that offers protection for businesses operating in the fintech sector.
  
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• Page joins Aon from Marsh

  17-03-2016 15:40
  
  Former Marsh boss edged out by Jelf merger to head Aon’s UK risk management business
  
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• Flood Re gets A- rating from S&P

  17-03-2016 15:26
  
  Ratings agency will downgrade scheme if UK insurers do not use it sufficiently
  
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• Julie Page to lead UK national business at Aon Risk Solutions

  17-03-2016 15:20
  
  Page left Marsh at the start of the year.
  
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• Crawford names new UK MD for Broadspire TPA unit

  17-03-2016 15:05
  
  Ian Sutcliffe replaces departed Margaret Clubley
  
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• VIG plans for growth as €172m preliminary profit announced for 2015

  17-03-2016 14:37
  
  Vienna Insurance Group has targeted at least 10% growth in Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia over the medium term as the company announced a €172m (£134m) preliminary profit before tax for 2015.
  
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• ICB Group posts 10% profit rise

  17-03-2016 14:04
  
  Broker's turnover up by 4.3%.
  
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• Admiral’s Engelhardt says 'thank you' to employees with £7m in cash

  17-03-2016 13:39
  
  Admiral CEO Henry Engelhardt will mark his retirement in May by giving away £7m of his own money to employees.
  
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• ECJ decides claims handling should be subject to VAT

  17-03-2016 12:59
  
  Insurers and policyholders could be facing increased costs following a European Court of Justice decision that claims handling was not within the scope of the VAT exemption for insurance-related services.
  
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• One Commercial launches unoccupied property cover

  17-03-2016 12:18
  
  The new product will be provided to a limited number of independent brokers as One Commercial plans a range of new products.
  
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• Henry Engelhardt in £7m parting gift to Admiral staff

  17-03-2016 12:16
  
  Retiring chief executive gives £1,000 cash gift to employees with at least one year’s service
  
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• Cheltenham charity bets: Day three – World Hurdle

  17-03-2016 11:59
  
  Thistlecrack seems bound for glory as we hit day three at Cheltenham.
  
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• Markel unveils policy to protect firms against technological risks

  17-03-2016 11:58
  
  Fintech built around professional liability, directors and officers, and theft and cyber.
  
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• QBE to move on from England sponsorship with new sporting deal

  17-03-2016 11:30
  
  QBE will unveil a new sporting sponsorship deal next month following the expiry of its partnership with England Rugby last year, Post can reveal.
  
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• S&P: Too-big-to-fail insurer rules face delays

  17-03-2016 11:20
  
  2019 deadline for new capital standards is ‘overly aggressive’, said ratings agency
  
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• Integro buys Croton Stokes Wilson Holden

  17-03-2016 10:51
  
  Specialist broker joins Integro’s London wholesale group.
  
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• Ecclesiastical delivers pre-tax profit rise for 2015

  17-03-2016 10:33 via insuranceage.co.uk
  
  Ecclesiastical has reported an 11% jump in pre-tax profits to £53.6m for 2015, from £48.2m the year before.The insurer highlighted that its underwriting profit of £15.9m (2014: £10.7m) was the best...
  
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• Integro buys Lloyd’s broker CSWH

  17-03-2016 10:27
  
  US group continues on path of acquiring specialist UK brokers
  
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• Budget 2016: Flood defences spend 'too little, too late'

  17-03-2016 10:07
  
  The insurance premium tax rise and resulting £700m spend on flood defences could be "too little, too late" according to loss assessment firm Harris Balcombe.
  
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• New £700m flood spending could be ‘too little too late’

  17-03-2016 09:20
  
  Current flood mitigation system ‘simply isn’t working’, says Harris Balcombe director
  
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• The Hartford to buy E&S carrier Maxum for $170mn

  17-03-2016 09:04
  The Hartford has agreed a deal to buy excess and surplus lines
  (E&S) carrier Maxum Specialty Insurance Group for $170mn in
  cash.
  The Insurance Insider revealed in
  December last year that Atlanta-based Maxum had been put up for
  sale, with financial adviser Evercore running the process.
  And in a statement after markets closed in New York today (16
  March), US insurance giant The Hartford said it had entered into an
  agreement to buy the carrier's parent, Northern Homelands
  Company.
  The...
  
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• Ecclesiastical profit rises 11% after strong underwriting results

  17-03-2016 08:57
  
  UK and Ireland COR drops 3.6 points to 90.4%
  
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• Cheltenham 2016: Our insider gives his tips for day three

  17-03-2016 08:34
  
  The Horse Whisperer reviews Wednesday’s racing and gives his recommendations for St Patrick’s Day
  
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• QBE signs analytics partnership with WNS

  17-03-2016 03:37
  
  India-based global business process management company WNS has signed a worldwide deal with Sydney-based insurance giant QBE.
  
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