Insurance news

• LeStrange steps down as Orchid chairman

  27-03-2017 23:26
  Founding Endurance CEO Ken LeStrange has retired as chairman of US
  coastal wind-focused MGA Orchid Underwriters, the company said
  today.
  He will be replaced by another Endurance co-founder - former CUO
  and COO Steven Carlsen, who was already a director on Orchid's
  board.
  Meanwhile, the Vero Beach, Florida-based MGA said it had also
  promoted president Brad Emmons to the newly-created position of CEO
  almost a decade after joining the Gryphon Investors-backed
  firm.
  Since Gryphon bought into Orchid
  
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• Insurers brace for more Texas hail losses

  27-03-2017 23:26
  Insurers face the prospect of another round of hailstorm loses
  after severe weather pummelled parts of Texas, Arkansas and
  Oklahoma over the past weekend, with more forecast to come this
  week.
  Last year was a record for Texas hailstorm losses, with 500,000
  hail claims filed by homeowners mounting to a burden for insurers
  in excess of $4bn.
  It also included the state's costliest ever hail event, with
  $1.4bn of damage from a storm that hit San Antonio in April.
  In...
  
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• Discount rate cut could triple PI claims costs: Marsh

  27-03-2017 18:13
  
  Changes to the personal injury discount rate could increase the cost of personal injury claims by as much as three times, according to Marsh.
  
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• FCA finds poor practices and warns on broker fee disclosure

  27-03-2017 17:28
  
  Regulator says research shows some motor brokers and insurers fail to clearly disclose fees and how they were calculated.
  
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• 11 more insurers join automated subrogation platform

  27-03-2017 17:17
  
  Validus has added 11 insurers to its Verify subrogation portal community following Aviva and Ageas going live on the platform in 2016.
  
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• Top UK insurers revealed to use unsafe credit card practices

  27-03-2017 16:53
  
  A secret shopper survey has found a majority of insurers have potentially unsafe practices over credit card data.
  
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• Top UK insurers criticised for unsafe credit card practices

  27-03-2017 16:53
  
  A secret shopper survey has found a majority of insurers have potentially unsafe practices over credit card data.
  
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• Marsh: Discount rate cut could triple claims bills

  27-03-2017 16:38
  
  Broker urges clients to brace themselves for rate rises fuelled by discount rate cut
  
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• Post People 27 - 31 March

  27-03-2017 15:47
  
  Check out this week's movers and shakers.
  
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• Suncorp says reinsurers will bear Cyclone Debbie claims

  27-03-2017 15:41
  Suncorp has said its reinsurance should cover any claims
  resulting from Cyclone Debbie, which is expected to land in
  Queensland on Tuesday (28 March) as a major storm.
  The insurer said claims in the current financial year had fully
  eroded the A$460mn ($351mn) deductible on its A$300mn aggregate
  reinsurance programme.
  This means further natural catastrophe claims in the remainder
  of the financial year to 30 June will fall to Suncorp's
  reinsurers.
  If losses from any single event surpass A$250mn, t
  
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• ProSight pivots from group auction to Lloyd's sale

  27-03-2017 15:41
  ProSight's board has called off efforts to auction the group
  and has instead appointed a bank to sell off its Lloyd's arm,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  ProSight's private equity owners, GS Capital Partners and
  TPG Capital, launched a sales process in January, but did not
  secure the premium valuation they were looking for and have opted
  to not to exit the company completely.
  The board, including chairman and CEO Joe Beneducci, has instead
  drafted in GC Securities in London...
  
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• OIL falls to $62mn underwriting loss

  27-03-2017 15:41
  Bermudian specialist energy mutual Oil Industry Limited (OIL)
  reported a $62mn underwriting loss in its 2016 results.
  The company made an underwriting profit of $56mn in 2015.
  The mutual ran up a loss ratio of 114 percent for the 2016
  calendar year, up 26 percentage points on 2015.
  The combined ratio for 2016 was 119 percent, a deterioration of
  28 percentage points on the previous year.
  Nevertheless, the group's net income surged from $30.9mn to
  $210.0mn year-on-year, as investments swung...
  
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• Payouts for employers’ and public liability claims 'significantly' climb

  27-03-2017 15:20
  
  Insurance payouts for small employers’ and public liability personal injury claims have increased significantly over the past two years, climbing to an average value of nearly £4,000 by the end of last year.
  
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• Nelson: Regulatory burden hampers Solvency II

  27-03-2017 13:33
  
  The regulatory burden imposed upon insurers by Solvency II hampers a fundamentally good regulatory framework, Lloyd’s chairman John Nelson has said.
  
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• Insurance giant launches UK SME e-trading platform

  27-03-2017 13:28
  
  SME e-trading platform launches with two products
  
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• Eight out of 10 financial services firms to increase cyber security spending

  27-03-2017 13:24
  
  Eight out of 10 financial services firms expect to invest in preventative technology and IT systems over the next year.
  
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• Chubb launches online platform for brokers

  27-03-2017 12:57
  
  Proposition available in the UK and Ireland as the insurer expands its digital offering.
  
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• PPL warns of delay to system improvement

  27-03-2017 12:14
  Placing Platform Limited (PPL), the pan-London insurance exchange,
  has delayed the introduction of an eagerly awaited system upgrade.
  Release 2C, which will allow facilities business to be conducted
  on the system, has been pushed back from April to June, PPL
  said.
  Release 2C contains at least 38 changes to how PPL works,
  The Insurance Insider understands.
  David Ledger, the chairman of the PPL Board and CEO of Aon
  Benfield UK, said in a statement today: "It has become clear
  that...
  
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• Opinion: Stressed out

  27-03-2017 12:14
  Every week seems to bring fresh evidence of the growing stresses on
  the London market.
  Last week The Insurance Insider
  revealed that expansionist Middle Eastern carrier IGI, which had a
  serious look at setting up a special purpose arrangement at
  Lloyd's late last year, hadshelved the project, having judged that current market
  conditions outweighed the strategic benefits of establishing such a
  platform.
  That followed earlier news that Cobalt wouldmiss its own target of a 1 April start date,...
  
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• Marine and energy head Williams leaves Hiscox

  27-03-2017 12:14
  Simon Williams, Hiscox's longstanding head of marine and
  energy, has left the company, The Insurance
  Insider understands.
  Williams underwrote a maximum line size of around $80mn, sources
  said.
  He was chairman of the Lloyd's Market Association's
  Joint Rig Committee until 2011 and held the position when the
  Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded in April 2010.
  Hiscox took in £130mn ($162mn) of marine and energy premium
  last year, excluding onshore energy, according to details in the
  company
  
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• Chaucer scales back London energy team

  27-03-2017 12:14
  Chaucer has cut two class underwriters from its energy team in
  London as it looks to control expenses amid a tough operating
  environment, The Insurance Insider
  understands.
  Sources said Julia Aasberg, class underwriter for exploration
  and production, and Vera Schneider, class underwriter for renewable
  energy and energy liability, have both left the firm.
  Chaucer's energy team, which is led by Kelan Hunt, now has
  just three class underwriters in London.
  Aasberg, a well-known figure in the energy
  
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• Seventeen buys Westscott Insurance Brokers

  27-03-2017 11:33
  
  The Dumfries-based business was bought for an undisclosed sum.
  
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• Brokers remain upbeat, says CBI/PwC survey

  27-03-2017 10:10
  
  Business growth is expected to continue but soften in the next quarter, according to an industry poll.
  
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• #Insagepeople: 27 March - 02 April 2017

  27-03-2017 10:00
  
  Keep up to date with the latest people moves.
  
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• Insurance Age owner sells Insight Group to Infopro Digital

  27-03-2017 09:30
  
  New backers expanding to the UK from France.
  
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• AM Best removes Sovag from review after capital infusion

  27-03-2017 08:57
  AM Best affirmed the ratings of Schwarzmeer und Ostsee
  Versicherungsaktiengesellschaft (Sovag) and removed it from being
  under review with negative implications after a
  "material" capital injection from its shareholders.
  The rating agency affirmed the company's B+ financial
  strength rating and bbb- long-term issuer credit rating, which have
  a negative outlook.
  In February this year, Sovag's financial strength was
  enhanced by a "material capital contribution" from
  shareholders, said AM Best. It d
  
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