Insurance news

• Spinnaker and Encore launch Texas homeowners' programme

  31-01-2017 23:37
  Spinnaker Insurance Company has added a Texas homeonwers'
  programme in a move first flagged by The Insurance
  Insider last summer.
  The specialist programme carrier has teamed up with MGA Encore
  Special Risks to launch the Texas Preferred Homeowners HO-B
  programme as it continues to build out its underwriting and
  distribution platform in the Southeast of the US.
  HO-B policies offer hybrid coverage where typically homes are
  covered on an open perils basis, with contents insured for named
  perils onl
  
  Read more

• S&P downgrades AIG as earnings profile weakens

  31-01-2017 23:37
  Standard & Poor's (S&P) has downgraded AIG as it
  cited the insurer's previously flagged "material"
  fourth-quarter reserve charge and what the ratings agency described
  as a lower earnings profile going forward.
  The holding company's long-term counterparty credit and
  senior unsecured debt ratings were lowered one level to BBB+ from
  A-, S&P said in a statement today. Ratings on AIG's core
  subsidiaries remained unchanged.
  The move takes the rating of the parent company one notch
  further
  
  Read more

• Connecticut may cut premium taxes to help insurers

  31-01-2017 23:37
  Travelers, The Hartford and other insurers based in Connecticut
  would get a tax break worth an estimated $22mn to the industry each
  year under a proposal put forward by Governor Dan Malloy.
  The plan would lower the state's premium tax rate to 1.5
  percent from 1.75 percent, effectively reducing taxes on premiums
  paid to Connecticut-based companies in states such as Iowa that
  have lower rates or in Oregon, which doesn't tax the
  transactions at all. Rates range from 0.5 percent...
  
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• Burns & Wilcox Canada enters Quebec with XN deal

  31-01-2017 23:37
  Burns & Wilcox Canada has bought the high-value homeowners'
  insurance practice of Quebec-based XN Financial Services for
  undisclosed terms.
  The Kaufman Financial Group (KFG)-owned MGA has expanded into
  Quebec with the acquisition bringing a new office to the firm in
  Montreal.
  XN is an MGA subsidiary of French firm The Henner Group, which
  provides insurance solutions for individuals and companies.
  Employees of its XN Canada Private Client Services' (XN PCS)
  practice and the products they writ
  
  Read more

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• Wade calls for cross-border industry action on Brexit

  31-01-2017 21:07
  London market protagonists and European reinsurers should
  together lobby to secure an "equivalence" regime for the
  UK with the EU so that the industry isn't burdened with
  individual regulators' collateral requirements after Brexit,
  said insurance industry veteran Michael Wade.
  Wade, a senior adviser to the Cabinet Office and to Swiss Re,
  was speaking in a personal capacity at an event to discuss Brexit
  organised by insurance software maker Sequel.
  The former Besso chairman noted that EU reinsure
  
  Read more

• Hyperion teams up with Manchester City

  31-01-2017 21:07
  Distribution group Hyperion has forged a commercial tie-up with
  Manchester City in the UK and the United Arab Emirates, and become
  the regional partner for the US of Major League team New York City
  Football Club.
  Both clubs are owned by City Football Group, whose ultimate
  parent is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Abu Dhabi United
  Group.
  In a statement, City Football Group's Damian Willoughby, who
  is senior vice-president for partnerships, noted that the football
  club owner has been...
  
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• QBE denies Allianz takeover bid

  31-01-2017 16:57
  
  Rumour mill heats up as Allianz eyes acquisitions
  
  Read more

• Allianz claims restructure puts 150 people at risk of redundancy

  31-01-2017 16:46
  
  Insurer proposes changes to its claims and corporate partner operations.
  
  Read more

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• 150 Allianz staff may lose their jobs under new proposals

  31-01-2017 16:40
  
  Up to 150 Allianz staff may lose their jobs as a result of proposed changes to the company's claims and corporate partner operations.
  
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• Allianz puts jobs at risk as it proposes claims restructure

  31-01-2017 16:15
  
  Claims restructure to affect motor and commercial teams
  
  Read more

• Vanarama unveils multi-year vehicle lease policy

  31-01-2017 16:05
  
  The product is only available to Vanarama leasing customers.
  
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• Vanarama has unveiled a multi-year vehicle lease policy

  31-01-2017 16:05
  
  The product is only available to Vanarama leasing customers.
  
  Read more

• Romero continues to see growth in 2016

  31-01-2017 16:00
  
  The business has no acquisition plans and intends on focusing on organic growth in 2017.
  
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• Romero continues to grow in 2016

  31-01-2017 16:00
  
  The business has no acquisition plans and intends on focusing on organic growth in 2017.
  
  Read more

• Validus crop acquisition finds favour with analysts

  31-01-2017 15:41
  Validus' acquisition of Crop Risk Services (CRS) from Archer
  Daniels Midland for $127.5mn has garnered broadly positive
  reactions from equity analysts.
  JMP Securities analyst Matt Carletti said: "We like the
  deal as we believe that further diversifying Validus into specialty
  insurance lines that are capital friendly and high return will be
  accretive to earnings per share/return on equity while lowering
  volatility."
  CRS is a primary crop insurance general agent that wrote
  $548.9mn in gross premiu
  
  Read more

• ProSight demands bank statements in $3.5mn spat with MGA

  31-01-2017 15:41
  US specialty carrier ProSight is accusing one of its programme
  managers of stealing what could be more than $3.5mn after failing
  to hand over premiums it had taken on the insurer's behalf.
  The case was originally filed in March last year after
  commercial trucking underwriting manager American Underwriting
  Services and its president James Wiley allegedly admitted the money
  must have been used to pay business costs.
  In court filings, ProSight claimed the troubled relationship
  between the two firms
  
  Read more

• MS Amlin and Ascot lead $400mn marine claim

  31-01-2017 15:41
  MS Amlin is the lead insurer on the primary layer for a $400mn
  marine cargo claim by Canadian commodity hedge fund Vermillion
  stemming from a lost oil shipment, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  Ascot is understood to lead the first excess layer on the
  placement, which attaches at $250mn
  Sources said that reinsurance renewals at 1 January were
  conducted with the loss "not taken into consideration"
  owing to the uncertainty around the ultimate payout, and it is
  unlikely to be fully...
  
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• Leverage could bolster ILS capacity: Willis

  31-01-2017 15:41
  The insurance-linked securities (ILS) market should expand its
  assets under management (AuM) at a similar pace in 2017 to last
  year, but increased use of leverage could provide more capacity
  even if growth slows, according to Willis Capital Markets &
  Advisory (WCMA).
  In its latest market update, the broker-dealer put non-life ILS
  AuM at $75bn by the end of 2016, up 7 percent from $70bn a year
  earlier.
  Previously, ILS assets more or less matched available
  reinsurance limit, but the...
  
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• Lemonade unveils first four months' performance

  31-01-2017 15:41
  P&C InsurTech start-up Lemonade has published a series of
  blog posts as a way of reporting its performance since launching in
  September.
  In a wide-ranging series of articles dubbed the
  "Transparency Chronicles", the firm published details on
  its technical underwriting performance, user demographics and
  funding, providing a glimpse into how one of the most prominent
  InsurTech start-ups has fared.
  In its first
  four months, the privately held company said it recorded gross
  written premiums of $
  
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• Insider View: Lemonade, the first millennial insurer?

  31-01-2017 15:41
  Lemonade is a closely watched company. As one of the first and
  most prominent InsurTech start-ups, its performance has been
  subject to a high level of scrutiny as the industry tries to
  determine if its world is about to be turned upside down.
  However, to date observers have had little to go on, as until
  the last few weeks Lemonade had kept its operations and performance
  a well-guarded secret.
  But the recent "Transparency Chronicles" blog posts
  have finally given a...
  
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• Insider 50 ends January well

  31-01-2017 15:41
  The Insurance
  Insider's index of 50 companies in the P&C
  (re)insurance industry went up by 1.4 percent last week to
  1,040.3.
  The Insider 50 outperformed some of the main global
  indices, as the FTSE 100 was down by 0.2 percent, while the S&P
  500 and Stoxx Euro 600 both rose by approximately 1 percent during
  the week.
  The period also marked the start of the fourth quarter and
  full-year 2016 reporting season, with insurers that have disclosed
  so far beating...
  
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• HGGC buys into insurance services group Davies

  31-01-2017 15:41
  Insurance services provider Davies Group is gearing up for
  international expansion under new owner HGGC, a mid-market US
  private equity firm.
  HGGC closed the purchase of Davies on Friday (27 January) for an
  enterprise value of £90mn ($113mn). It acquired the firm from
  Epiris, which manages the investments of London-listed Electra
  Private Equity.
  UK buyout firm Electra bought Davies 2011 for £61mn and has
  overseen seven add-on acquisitions by the company over the past
  four years.
  Davi
  
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• FCA launches London ILS consultation

  31-01-2017 15:41
  The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has opened a consultation
  on regulatory proposals for the forthcoming London insurance linked
  securities (ILS) market.
  The regulator is seeking responses to the consultation by 14
  March on issues including disclosure requirements, Financial
  Ombudsman Service jurisdiction and principles for businesses.
  A previous decision by the Treasury to restrict sales of ILS
  products to 'Qualified Investors' had mitigated any risk to
  the FCA's consumer protection objec
  
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• Cat bond influence on Fibonacci Re sidecar

  31-01-2017 15:41
  Detail on RenaissanceRe's new $140mn Fibonacci Re vehicle
  that emerged recently suggests a structure that is a hybrid cat
  bond/sidecar facility, sister publication Trading
  Risk reported last week.
  The deal cedes a quota share of RenaissanceRe's catastrophe
  book to Fibonacci investors, but the participating notes were
  placed to be tradeable under US Rule 144a resale regulations.
  This in itself is not unusual. Other sidecar sponsors -
  including Scor with Atlas X or Munich Re with Eden Re - have
  st
  
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• Auto liability remains the most challenging casualty line: Marsh

  31-01-2017 15:41
  Speaking to clients on a webinar last week, the firm's US
  casualty practice leader Steve Kempsey said auto is the most
  difficult casualty line because of adverse loss experience for
  insurers.
  "Many have experienced a frequency and severity of auto
  losses and investors have seen deteriorating results. As a result
  several insurers have stopped writing more challenging
  transportation risks, mainly long-haul trucking," he
  commented.
  The situation was having a knock-on effect for other lines of
  prima
  
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• Aspen suffers insurance growing pains

  31-01-2017 15:41
  Aspen is likely to come under pressure from analysts on its
  earnings call next week (8 February) as they look for further
  detail on the underwriting performance of the company's
  insurance division following yesterday's profits warning.
  The Bermudian warned investors it will announce an underwriting
  loss of $30mn in its insurance arm for the fourth quarter of 2016
  as a result of portfolio restructuring and increased loss
  activity.
  At a group
  level, Aspen now expects a combined ratio of 107...
  
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• AJG exec seeks $1mn from Alliant for defamation

  31-01-2017 15:41
  A broker at AJ Gallagher (AJG) is suing rival Alliant for more than
  $1mn after he was left "embarrassed" by language used in
  one of its broker agreements.
  Todd Albright, who heads up the property, liability and casualty
  division for AJG's Tacoma office in Washington State, claims
  the phrasing of Alliant's policy has exposed him to
  "hatred", "contempt" and
  "ridicule".
  According to court documents, for 20 years Albright was the
  national director of Tribal First, which claims to be the...
  
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• PRA could allow interim capital additions after $200bn loss

  31-01-2017 15:41
  The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) could permit
  "back of a fag packet" capital add-ons to allow carriers
  time to properly adjust their Solvency II internal models following
  a market-changing event, according to director of general insurance
  Chris Moulder.
  Moulder made the comments at a conference following the
  publication of a stress test white paper, which found that the
  London marketwould withstand two major events that incurred cumulative insured
  losses of $200bn.The paper did not o
  
  Read more

• Liberty Mutual: 'overexertion' the costliest US workplace injury

  31-01-2017 15:41
  The cost to US employers of serious but non-fatal workplace
  injuries fell by 3.2 percent year-on-year to $59.87bn in 2014,
  Liberty Mutual reported in its 2017 Workplace Safety Index.
  The leading causes of injuries that resulted in the loss of at
  least six work days were overexertion, which accounted for $13.79bn
  or 23 percent of the total; falls on the same level, which
  comprised $10.62bn or 17.7 percent; and falls to a lower level,
  which made up $5.50bn, or 9.2...
  
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• Generali has strategic value for Intesa

  31-01-2017 15:41
  A tie-up between Generali and Intesa Sanpaolo may be plagued by
  potential antitrust and regulatory issues, but a takeover is
  financially achievable and makes strategic sense for the Italian
  lender, according to analysts.
  The Italian
  bank confirmed it was evaluating "possible industrial
  combinations" with Generali following reports last week.
  In a statement on 24 January, Intesa said it was exploring
  growth options in the planned savings sector, private banking and
  insurance industries, as well a
  
  Read more

• Allegations surface of sexual harassment at AIG

  31-01-2017 15:41
  AIG and an executive in its public management liability division,
  which insures against allegations of sexual harassment being
  brought against a company, have been forced to face the very risk
  they underwrite.
  In a complaint filed last week, a former employee is seeking
  damages after she was allegedly groped, licked and forced to endure
  other forms of physical harassment before being fired from the
  insurance giant in 2014.
  Marlee Valenti claimed female employees in the division, which
  she said w
  
  Read more

• News analysis: FCA consultation continues as FSCS hits brokers with levy hike

  31-01-2017 14:51
  
  Industry reels as regulator weighs up options for funding compensation scheme
  
  Read more

• Opinion: Mike Cranny on regulation

  31-01-2017 14:45
  
  Uncertain times: Parliament and the regulator have been busy recently, but the best best way to cope with the uncertainty is “business as usual”, says Mike Cranny
  
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• Hyperion becomes official partner of Manchester City Football Club

  31-01-2017 14:41
  
  The broker has also become the official regional partner of New York City Football Club
  
  Read more

• London Market passes $200bn stress test

  31-01-2017 13:25
  
  Hiscox led the two-week exercise.
  
  Read more

• Pemex and insurers settle claim for $650mn

  31-01-2017 13:07
  Pemex and its insurers have settled a claim relating to an April
  2015 platform fire for $650mn, bringing the loss in just below the
  reserve currently held by the market, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  Sources told this publication that the Mexican state-owned
  energy company and the lead insurer, QBE's O'Farrell
  syndicate, struck a deal last week.
  The loss had initially been notified to the market by broker
  Marsh at $670mn-$780mn,
  but in March last year Pemex revised this upwards...
  
  Read more

• Government apprenticeship reforms carry 'spectre of unintended consequences' says CII

  31-01-2017 12:44
  
  The Chartered Insurance Institute said it is concerned over the “spectre of unintended consequences” following the implementation of the government’s planned apprenticeship levy.
  
  Read more

• Hyperion teams up with Manchester City FC

  31-01-2017 12:30
  
  Broker also in partnership with New York City FC.
  
  Read more

• European carriers see biggest growth opportunity in innovation

  31-01-2017 12:19
  
  European insurers believe that failure to innovate will restrict growth and see them fall behind market competition, a study has shown.
  
  Read more

• FCA launches consultation on handbook changes

  31-01-2017 12:15
  
  The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation paper on the handbook changes needed to reflect the new insurance linked securities regime.
  
  Read more

• ABI calls for changes to ‘flawed’ Solvency II risk margin

  31-01-2017 12:11
  
  Insurers have submitted a request to the regulator for changes over a “flawed” portion of Solvency II.
  
  Read more

• Airmic chief executive to step down

  31-01-2017 12:02
  
  John Hurrell steps down after nine years as chief executive of the UK risk management association
  
  Read more

• AI service could transform claims handling of damaged vehicles

  31-01-2017 11:48
  
  Artificial intelligence that can estimate vehicle repair costs within seconds just by analysing an image has the power to revolutionise claims handling, developers said.
  
  Read more

• Brokers can benefit from disruption in 2017

  31-01-2017 11:39
  
  Accenture’s John Cusano explains how brokers can take advantage of disruptive trends.
  
  Read more

• QBE denies £12.1bn Allianz takeover bid

  31-01-2017 11:23
  
  QBE said there was “no basis” to reports it is in talks on a £12.1bn takeover bid from Allianz.
  
  Read more

• Neon hires Wade, Hayes as non-executive directors

  31-01-2017 11:12
  Neon has appointed insurance industry veteran Michael Wade and
  banker Simon Hayes to its Lloyd's managing agency board as
  non-executive directors.
  Wade is currently a senior adviser to the Cabinet Office and has
  over 30 years' experience in the Lloyd's market.
  From 2013 to 2015 he was crown representative for insurance to
  the Cabinet Office. He is a former chairman of Besso Insurance
  Group and has served on the Council and Committee of
  Lloyd's.
  Since 1980 he has founded three...
  
  Read more

• Navigators brings in Ingerslev as global cyber head

  31-01-2017 11:12
  Specialty insurer Navigators has appointed Jacob Ingerslev to
  the newly created position of global practice leader for cyber
  liability, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  Ingerslev was head of technology error and omissions (E&O),
  cyber and media lines at CNA Insurance in Chicago for four years
  before departing in November last year.
  The underwriter has since been linked with a number of other
  major roles in the cyber market, including in London, before he
  took the decision to commit to Navig
  
  Read more

• Airmic CEO John Hurrell to step down

  31-01-2017 10:50
  
  He will stay in post until a successor is appointed.
  
  Read more

• InsurTech Futures: QuestGates launches cyber investigation service

  31-01-2017 10:27
  
  The organisation says it has put together an expert team in the tech, telecoms, energy and media sectors.
  
  Read more

• London market 'could withstand $200bn event'

  31-01-2017 09:15
  The London market would be able to survive two major events
  incurring cumulative insured losses of $200bn, according to a
  stress test exercise conducted by an industry steering group.
  Insurers would be able to pay claims and continue to provide
  cover following the loss event, said a white paper entitled
  London
  Market looks ahead: Preparing for the next big insurance
  event published today.
  The scenarios analysed were a highly destructive hurricane, an
  unprecedented cyber event, one of the largest
  
  Read more

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