Insurance news

• Northwest track of Hermine to contain losses: KBW

  01-09-2016 23:14
  Tropical storm Hermine is forecast to hit the northwest part of
  Florida as a category one hurricane, which will keep gross losses
  lower than if it hit the more heavily populated south, KBW analyst
  Meyer Shields noted in a report today.
  Shields said he did not expect tropical storm Hermine to
  materially affect insurance pricing trends, given the storm's
  preliminary expected loss potential, as the insurance industry
  could easily absorb a $15bn cat loss without generating a negative
  quarterly retur
  
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• Everest Re appoints PartnerRe's Schaetti head of casualty

  01-09-2016 23:14
  Robert Schaetti has been appointed Everest Re's head of
  casualty underwriting, based in its Zurich branch, the reinsurer
  announced today.
  He joined the carrier from rival PartnerRe where he was head of
  liability and medical malpractice for Europe.
  He was at the reinsurer, which is now owned by Exor, for a total
  of 14 years, after starting as senior underwriter for specialty
  casualty.
  Schaetti began his career at Swiss carrier Helvetia and later
  left to join Axa as an underwriter....
  
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• SSP apologises to extremely frustrated customers

  01-09-2016 21:40
  
  Technology company confirms work undertaken with MIB and insurer partners to agree emergency processes.
  
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• Cargo market faces $300mn SpaceX loss

  01-09-2016 20:32
  The marine cargo market could be hit with a $200-$300mn loss from
  the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which exploded during a pre-launch
  static fire test at Cape Canaveral, Florida earlier today (1
  September) The Insurance Insider
  understands.
  Sources in the space market said that as the incident took place
  prior to launch, the loss would likely fall under marine cargo
  coverage.
  It is understood the pre-launch policy for SpaceX does not
  generally cover static fire tests, but that it could...
  
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• Pro Global promotes CFO to finance director

  01-09-2016 19:19
  Industry outsourcer and consultancy Pro Global Insurance
  Solutions has appointed chief financial officer Andrew Donnelly to
  its board and changed his role to finance director.
  Donnelly has held the CFO role since September last year, prior
  to which he served as group financial controller.
  Having initially been appointed CFO on an interim basis, in
  January he permanently succeeded Paul Mooney, who took on the role
  during the transition period that followed Pro's demerger from
  Tawa.
  He joined the
  
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• CNA Hardy expands cyber and tech team

  01-09-2016 19:19
  Lloyd's and company market carrier CNA Hardy has hired Joe
  Francescotti as an underwriter for cyber and technology.
  Francescotti joins the company from broker RK Harrison, where he
  previously held the position of account director in the
  professional risks division.
  Prior to that he spent more than two years at Marsh, first as a
  professional indemnity broker, then as head of the company's
  Finpro national division.
  He has held a variety of other roles within the cyber and
  professional indemnity...
  
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• Cathedral appoints active underwriters

  01-09-2016 19:19
  Lancashire's Lloyd's managing agent Cathedral has appointed
  John Spence and Jon Barnes as active underwriters for syndicates
  3010 and 2010, it announced today.
  Spence, a senior aviation underwriter at Syndicate 3010, will
  take up his new position with immediate effect.
  Barnes will join from Argenta Syndicate 2121, as previously
  reported in June. He will start his new role in early 2017.
  Both roles are subject to regulatory approvals.
  Cathedral also said Richard Williams would step down from the
  
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• Motorists could be without cover due to SSP outage - MIB

  01-09-2016 18:34
  
  Motorists may only become aware after police has stopped them for driving without insurance
  
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• Insurance drops out of top three worst customer experience sectors

  01-09-2016 15:45
  
  The Insurance sector is no longer one of the worst three sectors for customer service and experience.
  
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• Reinsurer profitability approaching tipping point: S&P

  01-09-2016 15:11
  Ongoing soft market conditions and stagnant investment yields
  are likely to drive reinsurers' profitability below their cost
  of capital, according to rating agency Standard & Poor's
  (S&P).
  In a report released today, S&P warned that the sector was
  approaching a tipping point that could see profitability fall below
  the cost of capital until underwriting or investment cycles
  turn.
  It predicted return on capital in the sector would drop to
  between 5.5 percent and 7.5 percent this year f
  
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• Liberty hires claims manager

  01-09-2016 15:11
  Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) has appointed Gion Caprez as claims
  manager, effective immediately, it announced today.
  Caprez will be responsible for the entire Swiss claims region,
  including the German-, French- and Italian-speaking areas.
  He will be based in Liberty's Swiss office in Zurich and
  will report to Mike Gillett, LSM's head of claims, and Felix
  Boeni, head of the Zurich office.
  Prior to this role Caprez was head of financial lines claims at
  Zurich for more than 12 years.
  Gillett...
  
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• Insurers helping brokers hit by SSP outage

  01-09-2016 14:14
  
  One broker spoken to said insurers had been understanding about the situation
  
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• Promotions at Channel Syndicate following Leathem departure

  01-09-2016 13:58
  Scor-backed Channel Syndicate 2015 has appointed Claudia Adkins
  as head of its property direct and facultative (D&F) division,
  it announced today.
  Adkins has more than 14 years of experience in the Lloyd's
  market and joined the syndicate shortly after its inception in 2010
  to develop the international property book.
  She started her career as an actuarial analyst with AJ Gallagher
  before joining Brit Syndicates in 2004 in the North American and
  international property divisions.
  Channel also a
  
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• Insurers rally to support SSP brokers

  01-09-2016 13:37
  
  Providers and wider industry confirm backing for troubled brokers affected by the outage.
  
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• One Insurance Solution picks i-Wonder service for taxi

  01-09-2016 13:30
  
  Company to utilise broker facing comparison platform.
  
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• MIB pledges support amid continuing SSP confusion

  01-09-2016 13:25
  
  The Motor Insurance Bureau has promised to work with insurers and brokers to support police in their roadside enquiries.
  
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• Broker calls for pragmatism from insurers as SSP outage continues

  01-09-2016 13:20
  
  Bollington advises that insurers are recognising the need to be practical and hold cover for brokers as SSP systems remain down.
  
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• UK unlikely to have a 'bonfire of regulation' following Brexit

  01-09-2016 13:06
  
  There will be no need for a ‘bonfire of regulation’ following Brexit and legal frameworks are unlikely to be disrupted, a report has suggested.
  
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• Brokers must face up to Brexit risks, says law firm

  01-09-2016 13:04
  
  DAC Beachcroft warns brokers not to focus on Brexit only at the expense of other challenges.
  
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• SSP to pass details of brokers hit by outage to FCA and MIB

  01-09-2016 12:50
  
  Firms are demanding answers from software house
  
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• WR Berkley expands Douglas role

  01-09-2016 12:23
  WR Berkley has widened the scope of Berkley Re Direct president
  Gregory Douglas's duties to include the role of president of
  Berkley Program Specialists, effective immediately.
  Berkley Program Specialists is the carrier's programme
  management arm for commercial casualty and inland marine
  administrators, and is based in Illinois.
  Douglas joined the company as chief operating officer of Berkley
  Re Direct in 2010.
  He was appointed president of the unit in 2013.
  Prior to joining WR Berkley Douglas s
  
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• Fosun tops up Peak Re funds by $100mn

  01-09-2016 12:23
  Hong Kong-based reinsurer Peak Re has increased its shareholder
  funds by $100mn to $816.9mn.
  The capital increase was provided by the company's largest
  shareholder Fosun International, which holds an 85 percent stake in
  the reinsurer.
  The carrier added its other shareholder, World Bank institution
  the International Finance Corporation, may participate at a later
  date.
  The company said that in the first half of 2016 it had grown
  gross written premiums (GWP) by 54 percent year-on-year to
  $274.4mn.
  
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• Amtrak Sandy losses ruling partially overturned

  01-09-2016 12:23
  US railroad operator Amtrak has won a partial victory against
  insurers in a dispute over coverage related to Superstorm Sandy in
  2012.
  The Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2015 lower
  court ruling which prevented Amtrak from recouping up to $125mn in
  coverage for replacing undamaged portions of rail tunnels in the
  aftermath of the storm.
  A panel of three judges argued the initial ruling was granted
  prematurely, agreeing with Amtrak's claim that it did not know
  which portions...
  
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• Less than a third of millennials deem insurance necessary, research finds

  01-09-2016 11:53
  
  Less than a third of millennials deem insurance as 'necessary', with 34% saying that it is 'overpriced' and just 12% believing insurance is 'good value'.
  
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• Florida on watch for Hermine hurricane landfall

  01-09-2016 11:18
  Tropical Storm Hermine is on course to be the first hurricane to
  threaten landfall in Florida since 2005, after the National
  Hurricane Center (NHC) upgraded warnings in place for the
  peninsula.
  The tropical storm is expected to intensify over the next 24 to
  36 hours into a Category 1 hurricane.
  The NHC issued a hurricane warning to indicate that hurricane
  conditions are expected to affect the northwest part of the Florida
  peninsula, from Mexico Beach to the Suwannee River.
  Hurricane...
  
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• AIG concludes Taiwan SME sale

  01-09-2016 11:18
  AIG has completed the sale of its Taiwanese small and medium-sized
  enterprise business to local carrier Nan Shan for $158mn.
  The company has been renamed Nan Shan General Insurance and is
  fully owned by Nan Shan Life.
  AIG said the local carrier would remain a partner for
  multinational consumer clients in the country, while it would
  continue to support its commercial insurance business in Taiwan
  through new subsidiary AIG Asia Pacific Insurance (API).
  Earlier this year AIG announced its return...
  
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• ABI and Access to Justice go to war over motor premium rises

  01-09-2016 11:07
  
  Access to Justice has called out the Association of British Insurers over its defence of motor premium rises in the face of falling whiplash claims.
  
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• Broker Apprentice 2016: Contestant line-up revealed

  01-09-2016 10:33
  
  Six new hopefuls set to battle for the crown.
  
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• Brexit means Brexit

  01-09-2016 10:30
  
  It’s time to put the unpleasant campaigning behind us and work towards making the break with the EU work for all parties, says Paul Upton
  
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• SSP outage unlikely to be solved today

  01-09-2016 10:14
  
  Software provider says it has informed the FCA and MIB about the service interruption.
  
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• Swiss Re subsidiary begins Hong Kong operations

  01-09-2016 10:09
  Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has received the go-ahead from Hong
  Kong authorities to commence general insurance business in the
  region, it announced today.
  The carrier's Luxembourg subsidiary, Swiss Re International,
  received authorisation from the Office of the Commissioner of
  Insurance Hong Kong for the newly licensed entity, Swiss Re
  International Hong Kong Branch, and will begin operations
  immediately.
  Dylan Bryant, who joined the business in February 2016, has been
  appointed as branch manag
  
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• Products round-up: Travel and terror top the products

  01-09-2016 09:41
  
  In recent weeks we’ve seen the emergence of new terror, risk and travel cover or at least a new shared language among innovative insurers.
  
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• Review: Going digital

  01-09-2016 09:30
  
  Markel Technology and communications.
  
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• InsurTech startup launches connected home insurance service

  01-09-2016 09:09
  
  The service aims to prevent major claims and put the customer in control
  
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• CII forms committee for women’s risk

  01-09-2016 08:59
  
  CII appointments include senior roles from across the industry
  
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• Europe: Bermuda and its Solvency II equivalent meet the highest standards

  01-09-2016 08:01
  
  Bermuda has been granted equivalent status under the Solvency II directive, besides being approved as a qualified jurisdiction by the US National Association of Insurance commissioners.
  
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• Spotlight: Solving pet fraud through data sharing

  01-09-2016 08:00
  
  Pet insurance is a promising market – and one that is as exposed to fraud as other sectors
  
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• Blog: 10 years of collaboration with the Insurance Fraud Bureau

  01-09-2016 08:00
  
  In 2006, insurers were alert to the threat of organised criminal groups targeting them in an attempt to defraud millions of pounds.
  
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• Appeal court rules price trumps distance for credit hire rates

  01-09-2016 07:30
  
  Insurers can use ruling to challenge credit hire rates from claimants or companies
  
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• Tardy leaves Paris for Axa Asia marketing and digital role

  01-09-2016 05:11
  
  Global insurer Axa has appointed Frederic Tardy as its Asia chief marketing, digital, data and customer officer.
  
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• Swiss Re Corporate Solutions gains Hong Kong license

  01-09-2016 04:56
  
  Swiss Re's general insurance arm Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has been authorised to place general insurance business in or from Hong Kong.
  
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• Fosun's insurance profits fall as revenues more than double in first half

  01-09-2016 04:22
  
  Chinese conglomerate Fosun's insurance division saw mixed fortunes in the first half of 2016.
  
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