Insurance news

• Stormy week to produce $1bn of insured losses

  31-03-2017 20:04
  Impact Forecasting estimated that a spate of US storms in late
  March would produce the fourth billion-dollar loss event from the
  peril in 2017, Impact Forecasting said in its latest weekly
  catastrophe update.
  The weather losses will compound several other billion-dollar
  storm events that occurred from 18-23 January, 27 February to 2
  March and 6-10 March, Impact Forecasting said.
  Hailstorm and tornado losses in the year to date have reached
  more than double the levels reported during the first qu
  
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• Greenberg pans Berkshire-AIG purchase idea and offers help

  31-03-2017 20:04
  One of AIG's more significant shareholders, former CEO Maurice
  "Hank" Greenberg, has publicly criticised the idea of
  Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway buying all or even part of
  the troubled insurer.
  "I'd be very opposed to that," Greenberg told a
  Wall Street Journal (WSJ) columnist in an interview
  published late yesterday.
  "When you have the history of what happened to AIG and its
  relationship with Warren Buffett's company, you'd
  understand why," Greenberg is quoted as saying.
  In an interview
  
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• Two thirds of at-risk Kwik-Fit Insurance staff find new jobs

  31-03-2017 18:26
  
  Uddingston office in Scotland which housed Kwik-Fit Insurance business closes today
  
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• Profile: This time it's personal

  31-03-2017 17:19
  
  Eight leading lights from the personal insurance world tell Ida Axling what challenges the market faces and where the opportunities can be found
  
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• Former Independent staff hit with further delays to redundancy payouts

  31-03-2017 16:30
  
  Former employees of Independent Insurance have been hit with delays to redundancy payouts that were expected to be announced today.
  
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• Stuart Reid mulls return to industry this year

  31-03-2017 16:14
  
  Stuart Reid stepped down as Gallagher retail boss last year after waiting more than a year for FCA approval
  
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• Stackhouse Poland buys Quantum Underwriting Solutions

  31-03-2017 16:00
  
  The deal follows the purchase of Lucas Fettes and Chris Frost last year.
  
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• Ryan Specialty Group acquires LoVullo Associates

  31-03-2017 15:44
  The US wholesale broker Ryan Specialty Group has agreed to
  acquire LoVullo Associates, in its fourth deal of 2017, as the
  company bolsters its presence in the US mid-market.
  LoVullo Associates is a wholesale commercial and personal lines
  broking firm based in upstate New York.
  LoVullo will become a unit of Ryan Specialty subsidiary R-T
  Specialty and the company will be rebranded RT Specialty
  Buffalo.
  In February, Ryan Specialty completed the buyouts of Trident
  Marine Managers and Interstate Insu
  
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• Fosun plans minority sale of Peak Re ahead of IPO: report

  31-03-2017 15:44
  Chinese financial services and industrial conglomerate Fosun is
  reportedly sounding out investor interest for a minority stake in
  reinsurer Peak Re prior to a potential IPO of the business.
  The initial sale could raise around $300mn prior to a Hong Kong
  IPO Bloomberg reported earlier today, citing unnamed sources
  familiar with the matter.
  Fosun owns a controlling 86.93 percent stake in Peak Re, while
  the World Bank's International Finance Corporation owns the
  remaining 13.07 percent.
  On Wednesda
  
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• FM Global 2016 profit rises as underwriting, investment improve

  31-03-2017 15:44
  US property insurance mutual FM Global posted an improved
  underwriting result in 2016, pushing pre-tax profit up by 7.3
  percent to $1.17bn.
  The carrier reported a 2.1 percentage point improvement in its
  combined ratio to 83.2 percent, as gross written premiums edged up
  marginally to $5.4bn. Total losses plus expenses fell by 1.5
  percent to $3.2bn, as insurance-related expenses climbed 2.7
  percent to $1.06bn.
  Net profit rose 8 percent to $796,800.
  FM Global's performance was bolstered by a 6.65 p
  
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• Everest buys PartnerRe's E&S-D&F property unit

  31-03-2017 15:44
  Everest Re has acquired a team of underwriters and their book of
  US excess and surplus lines (E&S) and facultative property
  business from PartnerRe, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  According to sources, the expansive Bermudian has signed up four
  E&S property, direct and facultative (D&F) underwriters
  from PartnerRe's office in Greenwich, Connecticut.
  The team is led by Jorge Linero, formerly PartnerRe's head
  of D&F and E&S property in North America.
  It is thought that the E
  
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• GS Group wants to double GWP to £40m as part of five year plan

  31-03-2017 15:27
  
  The broker, which currently has £20m GWP, also revealed it has taken on staff from Arthur J Gallagher, Marsh and Lockton.
  
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• Crash for cash scammers sentence following private investigation

  31-03-2017 14:06
  
  Two crash for cash scammers have been sentenced following a private investigation that revealed £32,000 fraud.
  
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• Stuart Reid exonerated by the FCA

  31-03-2017 13:53
  
  Former Gallagher UK Retail CEO contemplating return to the market.
  
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• Insurers face ‘eye-watering’ bill from discount rate changes in Scotland

  31-03-2017 13:01
  
  Insurers face an “eye watering” bill from the decision by the Scottish government to adopt the UK’s revised discount rate.
  
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• This Week in Post: BST, the baby and Brexit

  31-03-2017 12:51
  
  British Summer Time is now allowing us to enjoy more daylight as all our clocks moved forward an hour last weekend. Except, that is, for my 15-month-old daughter’s biological clock. For her bedtime this week, she’s decided to do her own thing. Pretty much like the UK.
  
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• Gallagher's focus is on niche business, says Grahame Chilton

  31-03-2017 12:27
  
  International brokerage CEO states he is excited about the future in the UK.
  
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• Two thirds of former Kwik Fit staff find new jobs

  31-03-2017 12:26
  
  Two out of three workers affected by the Kwik Fit Uddingston site closure have found new jobs, according to a Scottish government study.
  
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• Insurtech start-ups graduate from Accenture incubator

  31-03-2017 12:09
  
  A series of insurtech start-ups have completed the Accenture Innovation Lab programme and are set to begin their seed funding rounds.
  
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• Quizzical questions: 31 March 2017

  31-03-2017 11:57
  
  Test your knowledge of the week's news with our topical quiz.
  
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• Opinion: Lloyd's 2016 results

  31-03-2017 11:17
  Sometimes it's bad to have a good investment result.
  And I think it was one of those times for Lloyd's in
  2016.
  The market's investment return surged from 0.7 percent to
  2.2 percent, even as the combined ratio swelled by 8.0 percentage
  points to tip the scales at 98 percent.
  The net result was that2016's bottom line looked a lot like 2015's - with
  profits a mere 1 percent lower at £2.1bn.
  A good investment result is bad because...
  
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• Debbie claims to reach 'hundreds of millions': ICA

  31-03-2017 11:17
  The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has said it expects
  insurance losses from ex-cyclone Debbie to measure in the
  "hundreds of millions" of dollars, as the industry body
  extended its catastrophe designation to New South Wales.
  At least 7,500 insurance claims had been made by midday local
  time today, the ICA said. Parts of Queensland and New South Wales
  are deluged by flood water.
  The Australian insurance giant Suncorp has already deployed
  emergency claims teams to Townsville, Ayr and Mackay
  
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• Which broker will win the Best Employer award 2017?

  31-03-2017 10:41
  
  Insurance Age has teamed up with Best Companies Group to find out who the best broker employer is for the UK Broker Awards.
  
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• Flaxmans and PKF Littlejohn team up on dispute resolution

  31-03-2017 10:40
  
  Firms claim Crusader offering will “revolutionise” insurance and commercial dispute resolution.
  
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• Swinton's Richard Beaven on sharing data to combat fraud

  31-03-2017 08:50
  
  Fraud is a perennial problem for the insurance industry.  Figures from the Association of British Insurers last year have revealed that insurers detected more than 130,000 fraudulent claims in 2015, a 6% increase on the previous year.
  
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• Blog: Engaging tomorrow's customers today

  31-03-2017 08:50
  
  Insurance has traditionally been considered a grudge purchase, driven by the legal requirements for cover and a desire for financial protection. Indeed, 41% of respondents in a Consumer Intelligence poll said they thought of insurance as "a necessary evil".
  
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• MMC Names Walsh as Marsh CFO replacing Leimkuhler

  31-03-2017 02:34
  Marsh & McLennan elevated investor relations head Keith
  Walsh to become CFO of its risk and insurance services (RIS)
  segment, which includes Marsh and Guy Carpenter.
  Walsh will replace Courtney Leimkuhler in the position effective
  1 May, the New York-based company said today. He will also serve as
  Marsh CFO.
  Leimkuhler, who has been with Marsh & McLennan since 2013,
  began the RIS CFO job two years ago and is leaving to take a
  position outside the industry. She was...
  
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• InsurTech deals accelerate beyond US and UK: Accenture

  31-03-2017 02:34
  American dominance in InsurTech deals weakened in 2016 even as
  the US retained the largest share, according to a study from
  Accenture.
  While still more than half of all deals took place in the US the
  proportion fell to 56 percent last year from 63 percent in 2015,
  Accenture said in the report released today in London. The study
  said the UK, Germany, France, China and India have also become
  significant markets for InsurTech activity.
  Deals more than doubled in...
  
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• Everest Insurance hires US inland marine trio

  31-03-2017 02:34
  Everest has added to its growing inland marine insurance team
  with a trio of hires as it continues to build out its US
  operation.
  The Bermudian hired Tom Warner from Beazley as vice president
  for the Southeast region of its inland marine underwriting
  platform.
  Warner was most recently leader of Beazley's builder's
  risk and inland marine division, and had previously spent 14 years
  at Allianz Global.
  Everest has also secured the services of Mike Lewis as senior
  underwriter and manager...
  
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