Insurance news

• Exin seeks extension of Ethniki funding deadline

  01-02-2018 21:50
  Exin Group has asked the Bank of Greece to extend the deadline
  for providing details on the way it will fund its proposed EUR718mn
  ($895mn) acquisition of a majority stake in state-owned Ethniki
  Insurance.
  The Bank of Greece asked that the funding details on the deal,
  which was agreed as long ago as June, be provided by Wednesday, 31
  January. Matt Fairfield's insurance group was also asked to
  produce other information to support the proposed acquisition of
  the Greek insurer....
  
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• AFG shares gain as earnings, outlook top Street views

  01-02-2018 21:50
  Shares of American Financial Group jumped over 7 percent in New
  York trading today after the property and casualty insurer posted
  record earnings that exceeded market estimates for the fourth
  quarter and projected full-year 2018 results would top
  expectations.
  While one-time items depressed its net income for the just-ended
  quarter, the Cincinnati-based carrier still posted an 11 percent
  gain in core net operating earnings, to $2.20 per share, aided by
  significantly higher underwriting profit in
  
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• RenRe's Upsilon raises $600.5mn post-HIM

  01-02-2018 18:58
  RenaissanceRe's third-party capital platforms have engaged
  in substantial fundraising following hurricanes Harvey, Irma and
  Maria, the carrier revealed in its Q4 results.
  On 1 January, the Upsilon retro vehicle issued $600.5mn of
  shares to investors, including $75.0mn to RenRe. This followed a
  $46.5mn share issue on 1 October.
  The results also stated that DaVinci Re completed an $248.6mn
  equity raise from third-party investors and RenRe on 1 October.
  Additionally, RenRe sold $49.7mn of its share
  
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• Armour buys Elite Insurance

  01-02-2018 18:58
  A consortium of investors led by legacy carrier Armour has
  acquired Gibraltar-based insurer Elite Insurance Company and
  affiliate Elite Business Development, both of which ceased writing
  business in July 2017.
  Elite specialised in general insurance, legal expenses insurance
  and warranty and special risks, and distributed its products
  through third-party intermediaries in the UK and Europe.
  As of 31 March 2017, the gross reserves associated with the
  run-off business of Elite were in excess of &po
  
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• Opinion: David Sparkes on why delaying the Insurance Distribution Directive is a good thing

  01-02-2018 16:52 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Delays are not often welcome, but in the case of implementing the Insurance Distribution Directive it’s the best possible outcome, explains David Sparkes
  
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• Driverless car data access a 'big priority' for ABI

  01-02-2018 16:35
  Insurers need to have access to the accident data produced by connected cars, a conference heard.
  
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• Armour acquires Elite Insurance

  01-02-2018 16:13
  Armour Group has completed its acquisition of Elite Insurance.
  
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• Towergate MGA begins rebrand as Geo

  01-02-2018 16:08
  The core MGA business of Ardonagh Group has begun rebranding
  under a new structure.
  From today, Towergate Underwriting will begin using the Geo
  brand for its personal lines, central, specialty and private client
  businesses.
  Led by Paul Dilley, Geo Underwriting will be split into four
  divisions: Geo UK, Geo Europe, Geo Specialty and Geo Partners.
  Capacity providers include Ageas, Allianz, Aviva, Axa, RSA, QBE
  and Lloyd's insurers, according to the Towergate website.
  Launched in 2017, Geo Europe a
  
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• Guy Carpenter reports 7% organic growth for Q4

  01-02-2018 16:08
  Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC)'s reinsurance arm Guy
  Carpenter reported 7 percent underlying revenue growth for the
  fourth quarter of 2017.
  The growth is more than double the 3 percent recorded in the
  prior year period and outpaced the 5 percent seen in Q4 2015.
  On a reported basis, revenue at Guy Carpenter was $239mn for the
  three months to 31 December 2016, up 8 percent on the previous
  year.
  Insurance arm Marsh reported 3 percent underlying growth, driven
  by...
  
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• D&O excess insurers in Pfizer claim dispute

  01-02-2018 16:08
  Arch Insurance and US Specialty Insurance Company (SIC) are
  seeking a judgment from the court of New Jersey to confirm they do
  not have to pay out for historic multi-million-dollar shareholder
  actions against pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
  According to court documents, the two carriers provided Pfizer
  with excess-of-loss (XoL) insurance for side A and side B
  directors' and officers' (D&O) towers covering the
  2004-2005 policy year.
  Pfizer has sought to claim on the policy in connection with a
  s
  
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• AIG deal locks Validus' Talbot out of UK terror

  01-02-2018 16:08
  Talbot will have to cease underwriting UK terrorism cover after
  parent company Validus' takeover by AIG since the acquirer is a
  member of Pool Re.
  It is unlikely that Talbot's withdrawal from the UK terror
  market will lead to significant staff changes at the company as its
  terrorism team also writes both US and international business.
  UK terrorism represents around $8mn in annual premium for
  Talbot. The carrier is one of the largest underwriters of political
  violence insurance in the...
  
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• AGCS buys renewal rights to Liberty US recall book

  01-02-2018 16:08
  Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has acquired the
  renewals rights to Liberty Mutual's US product recall book,
  after the insurer decided to exit the class last year.
  AGCS will take on the renewal portfolio of Liberty's US
  product recall and special contingency business, which was written
  through Liberty International Underwriters in the US, with effect
  from 30 January 2018.
  The size of the renewal rights agreement by premium and the deal
  consideration were not disclosed.
  This publi
  
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• The Blog Spot: Brexit, client money and embarrassment

  01-02-2018 15:56 via insuranceage.co.uk
  If you can’t, won’t or don’t play by the rules expect to see money fly out of your wallet, writes Siân Barton
  
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• Tax charge causes profits to tumble at Marsh in 2017

  01-02-2018 15:51 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Broker posts increase in revenue.
  
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• Tax charge causes profits to tumble at Marsh & McLennan in 2017

  01-02-2018 15:51 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Broker posts increase in revenue.
  
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• One Call fine “a shot across the bow”

  01-02-2018 15:20 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Brokers have reacted to the huge penalty and renewal restriction that the FCA placed on One Call following client money mistakes.
  
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• Towergate Underwriting rebrands as Geo Underwriting

  01-02-2018 15:01
  Towergate Underwriting has restructured and rebranded to become Geo Underwriting.
  
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• Clearer definition of autonomous driving needed: Thatcham

  01-02-2018 14:55
  The government needs to clearly define what constitutes autonomous driving in order that insurers can properly determine liability, a conference heard.
  
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• MIB could help OEMs share accident data with insurers

  01-02-2018 14:44
  The Motor Insurers’ Bureau could act as a platform for car manufacturers to share with insurers accident data generated by autonomous vehicles, a conference heard.
  
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• Gang sentenced after £95,000 insurance scam

  01-02-2018 14:44
  13 people have been sentenced for conspiracy to defraud insurance company 1st Central following an Ifed investigation.
  
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• Investment by reinsurers into insurtech was highest in 2017

  01-02-2018 12:34
  Reinsurers led the way in insurtech investment during Q4 2017, directly and through their corporate venture arms.
  
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• Bailey, Beale and astronaut Hadfield confirmed for Biba 2018

  01-02-2018 12:24 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Trade body reveals conference seminars programme.
  
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• Axa's Williams warns motor insurers against becoming obsolete

  01-02-2018 12:24
  Motor insurance is going to be "massively impacted” by the advent of autonomous vehicles, a senior Axa executive has warned.
  
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• Gang collared after £95,000 card scam on 1st Central uncovered

  01-02-2018 12:13 via insuranceage.co.uk
  Thirteen fraudsters were sentenced for conspiracy after the fraud was found out and reported to IFED.
  
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• Volvo to launch autonomous cars in 2021

  01-02-2018 11:31
  Volvo is “fairly confident” it can start selling autonomous vehicles to individual drivers in 2021, a conference heard.
  
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• Andrew Bailey and Canadian Astronaut confirmed to speak at Biba conference 2018

  01-02-2018 11:26
  Andrew Bailey, CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield are among the speakers confirmed for the British Insurance Brokers' Association's 2018 conference. 
  
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• Streamlined London market claims model goes live

  01-02-2018 11:21
  A new single claims agreement model for non-complex claims has
  launched today in the London market after receiving final approval
  from major insurance trade bodies.
  Under the new claims structure policy leaders across the London
  market will be able to authorise claims up to £250,000
  ($354,358) on behalf of the following carriers.
  The single claims agreement is designed to speed up the
  resolution of claims and the time it takes for insureds receive
  restitution.
  Current rules at Lloyd's mean
  
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• Opinion: Proximate causes

  01-02-2018 11:21
  The Californian insurance regulator prompted an interesting
  discussion in Insider Towers earlier this week.
  For those who missed it, the Golden State watchdogdeclared that property insurers must treat mudslides in areas
  burned by recent wildfires as a covered peril for homeowners if the
  fire was judged to be a "proximate cause" of the
  subsequent slides.
  How could the fires be considered the proximate cause of the
  mudslides? Surely the proximate cause of the mudslides is the rain?
  No rain,...
  
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• Insurers escalate InsurTech activity

  01-02-2018 11:21
  Carriers are becoming more active investors in InsurTech
  start-ups, according to data from Willis Towers Watson (WTW).
  The broking and consultancy giant found the number of InsurTech
  investment deals by (re)insurers rose by 35 percent year-on-year in
  the fourth quarter of 2017, to 35 transactions from 26 a year
  earlier.
  Over 2017, the number of InsurTech investments made by
  (re)insurers rose by 14 percent to 120.
  Deals included a $35mn investment by Allianz and others in
  1QBit, a Canadian quantu
  
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• Enstar continues 'extortion' case against Nokes

  01-02-2018 11:21
  Legacy-to-live insurer Enstar is continuing its legal action
  against former executive Gareth Nokes over alleged extortion after
  his attempt to have the case dismissed was quashed.
  Enstar began proceedings against the former CFO of live platform
  StarStonein July 2017, after Nokes accused the firm's executives of
  manipulating financial statements for their own gain.In addition, Nokes is alleged to have made "untrue,
  inaccurate and disparaging" allegations in an attempt to
  increase his redundancy p
  
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• Commercial pricing momentum mounts in US: Chubb

  01-02-2018 11:21
  Fourth-quarter price increases for US major retail accounts and
  excess and surplus lines (E&S) wholesale were the best seen in
  "a number of years", according to Chubb chairman and CEO
  Evan Greenberg.
  Speaking on the carrier's earnings call on Tuesday, the
  executive said that overall US major retail account rates climbed
  by 1 percent for the quarter, with the trajectory picking up
  through the period to 1.9 percent by December and further
  accelerating into the New Year depending on the...
  
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• Thistle launches high risk and construction products

  01-02-2018 11:20 via insuranceage.co.uk
  MGA takes on new staff to run the schemes.
  
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• Urban Jungle develops API for home and contents insurance

  01-02-2018 10:45
  Urban Jungle has developed an application programming interface which will be rolled out to partnering home insurers.
  
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• FSB affinity scheme moves from Towergate after 20 years

  01-02-2018 10:33 via insuranceage.co.uk
  The FSB has teamed up with Markel Holdings to set up its own broker, Ruskin Square, to manage the insurance offering and David Perry is leading the project.
  
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• Volante expands to Sweden

  01-02-2018 09:29
  The Talbir Bains-run MGA platform Volante has recruited
  QBE's general manager for the Nordic region, Torkel
  Lindberg.
  Lindberg becomes managing director of Bridge Underwriting, an
  MGA offering property, liability, financial lines and commercial
  insurance.
  Prior to joining QBE in 2011, he worked at Marsh and Willis.
  Bains, founder and CEO of Volante, said: "The Nordic region
  remains a much-coveted territory for the London Market, underpinned
  by a consistent delivery over the long term of very res
  
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• Analysis: Insurers likely to feel impact of sexual harassment claims

  01-02-2018 07:00
  With sexual harassment cases hitting the headlines, how will the insurance industry be affected – both internally and externally?
  
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• Saudi Arabia and UAE tops for tough debt collection, report says

  01-02-2018 06:00 via ft.com
  China, Russia and Malaysia are also hard places to collect debts, says Euler Hermes
  
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• Liiba's Agnew argues for contract certainty post-Brexit

  01-02-2018 02:52
  The London & International Insurance Brokers'
  Association (Liiba) chair Andrew Agnew is set to call for contract
  continuity post-Brexit at a speech later today.
  Agnew, who is due to give a speech at the European Federation of
  Insurance Intermediaries' (Bipar) annual conference in Madrid
  this morning, will say that the primary objective of any Brexit
  discussions is that clients must not suffer and unimpeded
  cross-border trading must be maintained.
  He will argue that there is a very real risk
  
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• AFG beats on higher P&C underwriting profit

  01-02-2018 02:52
  American Financial Group (AFG) reported a 12 percent increase in
  fourth quarter core net operating earnings to $197mn aided by
  significantly higher underwriting profit in its P&C insurance
  business.
  At $2.20 a share, the quarterly performance was a record for the
  Cincinnati-based carrier and was higher than the $1.98 a share
  recorded in the prior-year period and the $1.68 a share average
  forecast of six analysts compiled by MarketWatch.
  The company pointed to the impact of $0.28 a share incl
  
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• The Hanover beats estimates amid a swing to Q4 profit

  01-02-2018 00:59
  The Hanover topped market expectations for its fourth quarter
  operating results, posting $86mn in income as its combined ratio
  improved sharply and revenue rose.
  The gain of $2 per share beat the $1.86 per share average of
  five analysts' estimates compiled by Marketwatch.com. S&P
  Global said the consensus view of three analysts called for $1.85
  per share.
  Commercial lines swung to a $69.1mn operating profit from a
  $93.3mn loss in the year-ago period, driving the Worcester,
  Massachusetts-base
  
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• RenRe falls to Q4 underwriting loss

  01-02-2018 00:59
  RenaissanceRe fell to an underwriting loss for the fourth
  quarter driven by California wildfire losses but was still able to
  report operating profits that were ahead of Wall Street
  forecasts.
  The Bermudian generated operating profits of $41.4mn, or $1.05 a
  share, that were well down on the $109mn, or $2.66 a share in Q4
  2016, but ahead of the $0.94 a share consensus of 10 analysts
  polled by MarketWatch.
  The underwriting loss of $10.4mn was equivalent to a combined
  ratio...
  
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• Cincinnati Financial outlook raised to positive by AM Best

  01-02-2018 00:59
  The outlook for Cincinnati Financial's insurance operating
  companies was raised to positive from stable by AM Best today
  because of the strength of its balance sheet as well as its
  "appropriate risk management" and improvement in
  underwriting performance.
  CinciFi's ratings also were affirmed by AM Best, which cited
  the Cincinnati Insurance Company's "historically
  conservative loss reserving standards that have resulted in
  recognition of the substantial favourable development of prior
  accident-ye
  
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• California wildfire claims near $12bn says state

  01-02-2018 00:59
  Claims stemming from the historic wildfires that swept
  California last year have risen to more than $11.79bn, the state
  said, and that excludes any related to mudslides that occurred
  following the Thomas fire in the Los Angeles-Santa Barbara
  area.
  Those mudslides damaged or destroyed over 400 homes in areas
  where the average home price is just over $1mn and are thought to
  have caused more than $100mn in losses.
  Earlier this week, Dave Jones, the Golden State insurance
  commissioner, formally...
  
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