Insurance news

• Maria lashes Puerto Rico but eye skirts Virgin Islands

  20-09-2017 21:30
  Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico and blacked out the
  island commonwealth early today as a Category 4 storm packing
  sustained winds of as much as 155 mph (249 kph) but weakened
  considerably after crossing the mountainous US territory.
  Maria's sustained winds dropped to about 115mph as it left
  Puerto Rico in its wake, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
  The storm is expected to regain strength, however, as it moves
  northwest over the warm surface waters of the Atlantic...
  
  Read more

• Irma loss up to $55bn as Caribbean claims mount: RMS

  20-09-2017 21:30
  Industry insured losses from Hurricane Irma could range from
  $35bn to $55bn, modelling firm RMS estimated, including up to $20bn
  in Caribbean claims.
  It put a range of $10bn-$20bn on the Caribbean element of the
  loss, but pointed out that the insured claims would only make up a
  fraction of the region's total economic losses, with five
  islands catastrophically impacted.
  Total economic losses across both the US and Caribbean could
  range from $60bn to $95bn, including uninsured rainfall-driven
  floo
  
  Read more

• Reinsurer earnings will take hurricanes hit: RBC

  20-09-2017 18:29
  RBC Capital Markets has lowered its 2017 earnings estimates for
  European reinsurers and Lloyd's carriers by an average of 21
  percent and 54 percent respectively to allow for the impact of
  hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
  Analyst Kamran Hossain said today in a note he does not expect
  pricing to rise after the loss events and that, given the hit to
  book value and earnings, this was the "worst possible
  outcome" for carriers.
  RBC used a $20bn industry loss estimate for...
  
  Read more

• Mapfre most exposed global carrier to Puerto Rico

  20-09-2017 18:29
  Hurricane Maria is likely to cause severe insured losses in
  Puerto Rico, the Caribbean's largest insurance market, with
  Mapfre the global insurer with the greatest exposure to the US
  territory.
  The US commonwealth's non-life market generated $1.7bn of
  premiums in 2016, according to data provider Axco Global
  Statistics.
  Local insurer Universal Group, which is unrelated to the
  Floridian carrier with a similar name, has the largest overall
  market share in Puerto Rico, accounting for 18.15 percent o
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Liberty Specialty Markets reshuffles leadership team

  20-09-2017 18:29
  Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) has appointed Phil Hobbs deputy
  managing director, as recently installed president and managing
  director Matthew Moore reshuffles his top team.
  In addition, Dieter Winkel has been appointed president of
  Liberty Mutual Reinsurance, LSM's assumed reinsurance business,
  the company said today.
  Peter Smith was named executive underwriting officer.
  Hobbs was previously chief actuary of LSM and will be replaced
  in that role by Chris Short.
  Winkel, who is based in Cologne
  
  Read more

• MPs to probe pensions freedoms

  20-09-2017 16:34
  Concerns that reforms have increased the risks of scams
  
  Read more

• Victory for workplace pension savers over hidden charges

  20-09-2017 16:09
  Firms managing money on behalf of millions forced to be transparent about fees
  
  Read more

• Willis Towers Watson hires head of construction from JLT

  20-09-2017 15:52
  Willis Towers Watson has appointed Martin Hiller as head of
  international construction within its corporate risk and broking
  unit.
  Hiller was a founding member and managing director of JLT's
  construction team. His remit at Willis Towers Watson will include
  client management and risk management. He will report to Alex
  Clayton, CEO of construction.
  Hiller began his career in the UK construction team at Stewart
  Wrightson.
  Willis Towers Watsonrestructured the management of its corporate risk and bro
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Cat 4 Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico

  20-09-2017 15:52
  Hurricane Maria has made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4
  storm, with wind speeds of up toabout 155 mph (249 kph).
  Tropical Storm Risk expects the storm to retain its Category 4
  intensity for almost the next two days as it passes to the north
  east of Haiti and the Dominican Republic and crosses the Turks and
  Caicos islands.
  In its own update the National Hurricane Centre said:
  "Maximum sustained winds are near 150 mph (240 km/h)...
  
  Read more

• Castel Specialty launches Benelux M&A offering

  20-09-2017 15:52
  The specialty division of MGA platform Castel Underwriting is to
  expand into Benelux M&A insurance and European tax risk cover,
  having installed a former senior underwriter at AIG to lead the
  initiative.
  Castel Specialty has named the new vehicle Castel Transact.
  It will be led by Sammy Shihab, who until June was a senior
  underwriter in AIG's M&A and transaction liability business
  based in the Netherlands.
  Shihab has also worked as a senior manager with PwC in Australia
  and Indonesia,...
  
  Read more

• AIR gives $1.1bn loss estimate for 1st Mexican quake

  20-09-2017 15:52
  AIR Worldwide has estimated that insured losses from the magnitude
  8.1 earthquake that struck off the coast of the Mexican state of
  Chiapas on 7 September will be between 14 billion pesos and 20
  billion pesos ($787.6mn and $1.1bn).
  The earthquake was the highest magnitude earthquake to affect
  the country in a century and hit an area about 1,000 km from Mexico
  City, which was affected bya magnitude 7.1 earthquake in central Mexico yesterday that
  killed at least 248...
  
  Read more

• Russia can profit from North Korea’s missile tests

  20-09-2017 13:28
  Kim’s provocations and the US’s failure to act strengthen Moscow’s position
  
  Read more

• Two earthquakes shake New Zealand

  20-09-2017 13:11
  Two strong earthquakes struck New Zealand today, hours after
  Mexico City suffered a 7.1 magnitude quake.
  An initial 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck around 600km
  southwest of Invercargill, New Zealand, at about 13:50 local
  time.
  The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was at
  a shallow depth of 10km. There were no tsunami warnings issued
  immediately after the tremor.
  This was followed by a 5.0 magnitude earthquake in the Cook
  Strait, near Wellington, just after 14:40 local time a
  
  Read more

• Hiscox hires former GCHQ chief as cyber adviser

  20-09-2017 13:11
  London-listed insurer Hiscox has brought the former head of a UK
  intelligence agency onto its payroll as a special adviser for
  cyber.
  Robert Hannigan was director of the Government Communications
  Headquarters (GCHQ) from 2014 until the start of 2017, when he
  stood down for personal reasons. His role at Hiscox will involve
  advising UK businesses and the insurer's own staff on cyber
  threats, the carrier said in a statement today.
  At GCHQ, Hannigan set up the UK National Cyber Security...
  
  Read more

• CNA Hardy lures Powell from Acappella to head terrorism

  20-09-2017 13:11
  CNA Hardy has hired Acappella's Jonathan Powell as head of
  terrorism, based in London, a spokesperson for the US insurer has
  confirmed.
  Powell is well regarded in the London market, having ranked second
  in The Insurance Insider league table of
  political violence underwriters, as voted by brokers.
  Andrew Davies, who wrote the CNA Hardy terror book as a senior
  underwriter, has left the carrier according to market sources.
  Powell joined Acappella in September 2015 from Talbot and began his
  insuranc
  
  Read more

• Catalina wins exclusivity in Zurich legacy disposal

  20-09-2017 13:11
  Zurich has awarded exclusivity to Catalina over the sale of its
  EUR400mn ($480mn) German medical malpractice legacy book,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  The legacy acquirer is the last party standing in a bidding war
  thatlasted the best part of four months, having beat off
  competition from Swiss Re in the final round.
  There has been huge interest in the book, which holds around
  EUR400mn of net reserves, since Zurichenlisted KPMG to advise on the process in May....
  
  Read more

• Cat 5 Maria heads for Puerto Rico

  20-09-2017 13:11
  Category 5 Hurricane Maria is on track to hit Puerto Rico later
  today with forecast wind speeds of 130 to 156mph (209 to 251kph),
  and weaken in intensity as it crosses the US commonwealth,
  according to data from Tropical Storm Risk.The forecaster said Maria could weaken to a Category 4 storm as
  it crosses the island.
  Maria struck the Virgin Islands earlier today and hit the Caribbean
  island of Dominica as a cat 5 storm on Monday night with...
  
  Read more

• Aviva "disappointed" after watchdog bans Aviva Drive app ad

  20-09-2017 12:35
  The Advertising Standard's Authority stated that the ad featuring ex-Formula One driver David Coulthard promotes irresponsible driving.
  
  Read more

• Admiral receives government grant to expand business

  20-09-2017 11:35
  Admiral received £668,500 from the Welsh government in order to create close to 200 jobs in Cardiff.
  
  Read more

• InsurTech Futures: Axa launches automatic compensation for late flights product

  20-09-2017 11:32 via insuranceage.co.uk
  The product uses blockchain technology and will be available to UK brokers from 2018.
  
  Read more

• Marsh’s head of operations in Scotland Iain Henry departs

  20-09-2017 11:27
  Henry took on the post when Marsh bought Central Insurance Services in 2014.
  
  Read more

• Hiscox appoints ex-GCHQ spy chief

  20-09-2017 11:26
  Hiscox has appointed ex-GCHQ director Robert Hannigan as special advisor on cyber security to provide the business with intelligence on cyber risks and products.
  
  Read more

• Aviva’s David Coulthard ad banned by watchdog

  20-09-2017 11:02
  An Aviva advert starring ex-Formula 1 racing driving David Coulthard as a taxi driver has been banned for encouraging reckless driving.
  
  Read more

• United Fire sells life unit for $280mn

  20-09-2017 10:36
  United Fire Group has agreed to sell a life
  subsidiary for $280mn in cash to Kuvare US Holdings, providing
  funds that may be used for share buybacks or future
  acquisitions.
  The transaction, expected to close in the
  first half of next year, will leave United Fire more focused on its
  property and casualty operations, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based
  company said. The seller said the purchase price is 1.2x Gaap book
  value and 1.4x Gaap book value excluding unrealised investment
  gains....
  
  Read more

• Opinion: Reasons to be cheerful

  20-09-2017 10:36
  XL Group's announcement yesterday that it wouldmove its EU hub to Dublin should comfort the London P&C
  insurance industry as Brexit negotiations slow to the pace of a
  sclerotic snail.
  On the heels of Chubb's outlierchoice of Paris last week for its post-Brexit base, the XL move
  confirms that relocating carriers are fanning out pleasingly across
  the bloc and look unlikely to create a centre to rival EC3.
  As sage advisers have been pointing out for months, insurers...
  
  Read more

• ICICI Lombard IPO 'attracts strong demand'

  20-09-2017 10:36
  The initial public offering of Indian insurer ICICI Lombard has
  reportedly been three times oversubscribed.
  That puts the IPO of 19 percent of the company on track to be
  worth as much as NR57bn ($886mn), Reuters reported.
  ICICI Lombard started as a joint venture between Canadian
  conglomerate Fairfax Financial and Indian bank ICICI.
  It is predominantly a personal lines insurer, but the carrier
  also offers crop insurance and commercial lines.
  The Economic Times reported that Fairfax's holding
  in I
  
  Read more

• Blog: Why incumbent insurers must buy out insurtech start-ups

  20-09-2017 07:00
  Instead of just driving efficiencies, some start-ups now have the ambition to become full-stack insurers, warns Paul Cuatrecasas, CEO of investment bank Aquaa Partners, urging incumbents to buy out these potential competitors.
  
  Read more

• Analysis: Intellectual property: Creative cover

  20-09-2017 07:00
  The significance of intellectual property risks has not translated into a large demand for IP insurance policies - yet
  
  Read more

• Hiscox hires former GCHQ director to advise on cyber risk

  20-09-2017 05:20
  Robert Hannigan will advise insurer on emerging threats and criminal techniques
  
  Read more

• Liberty takes Cunningham from Travelers

  20-09-2017 04:12
  Liberty Mutual has lured Gregg Cunningham from Travelers to
  become executive vice president and general manager of its national
  insurance property division.
  Cunningham brings more than 25 years of commercial insurance
  experience to the unit that provides a full range of property,
  inland marine and equipment breakdown products and services to
  mid-size and large commercial clients, the Boston-based carrier
  said.
  Most recently, Cunningham was CUO for middle market property at
  Travelers, where he le
  
  Read more

• Insurers face Maria financial strength test: AM Best

  20-09-2017 04:12
  Hurricane Maria could challenge the financial strength of
  Caribbean and Puerto Rican insurers as the storm brings devastation
  to the region two weeks after it was struck by Irma, AM Best has
  warned.
  And with two months left in the Atlantic storm season that shows
  no signs of letting up, the agency warned that a continuation of
  "such extraordinary hurricane activity could exact pressure on
  ratings".
  In a report distributed late Tuesday (19 September), the firm
  noted that although claims...
  
  Read more

• The Zebra auto insurance comparison site raises $40mn

  20-09-2017 01:44
  Online auto insurance comparison site The Zebra raised $40mn in
  new venture funding led by Accel Partners, which has also backed
  Facebook, Spotify and Kayak, a travel services provider.
  The Zebra also hired former Kayak president Keith Melnick as its
  new CEO, the Austin, Texas-based company said today. Melnick
  replaced founder Adam Lyons in the role, while Lyons remains
  chairman.
  The Zebra said Melnick will help it in its drive to reach new
  markets, without specifying which new segments may...
  
  Read more

• Quake fells Mexico City buildings as thousands flee

  20-09-2017 01:44
  A major earthquake struck central Mexico today, toppling
  buildings in Mexico City and sparking fires, with at least 49
  deaths reported.
  The 7.1 magnitude quake struck at about 2:15 New York time in
  the area of Raboso in Puebla State, the US Geological Survey
  reported, with the epicentre about 75 miles southeast of the
  capital city and at a depth of about 32 miles (51 kilometres).
  Reports from Mexico City said people thronged the streets after
  the temblor had collapsed...
  
  Read more

• Arch reshuffles as McElroy steps aside

  20-09-2017 01:44
  Arch Capital's Nicolas Papadopoulo will replace David
  McElroy as chairman and CEO of Arch Worldwide Insurance Group and
  CUO for P&C operations on 1 October.
  The Bermuda-based carrier said McElroy has opted to reduce his
  duties with the company.
  Maamoun Rajeh, president and CEO of Arch Reinsurance Limited, or
  Arch Re (Bermuda), replaces Papadopoulo as Chairman and CEO of Arch
  Worldwide Reinsurance Group, the Bermuda-based carrier said.
  McElroy, who remains with the company in his role as vice
  
  Read more

Follow @Insurance_UKnws on Twitter!