Insurance news

• QBE US unit slapped with $750,000 fine in New York

  16-03-2018 23:40
  A US unit of global insurer QBE must pay a $750,000 fine to New
  York State after regulators said the carrier failed to follow rules
  covering certain types of group policies it sold to dozens of
  post-secondary schools.
  Blanket accident-only group policies New York-based QBE
  Insurance Corporation issued for the 2016-2017 academic year to 25
  schools in the state are not allowed to be sold to educational
  institutions, the state Department of Financial Services (DFS) said
  yesterday.
  The insurer also.
  
  Read more

• Cat modellers' service 'unsatisfactory': Millette

  16-03-2018 23:40
  Catastrophe modelling firms were taken to task by Mike Millette,
  managing partner of Hudson Structured Capital Management, after he
  criticised the broad range of estimates provided for Hurricanes
  Harvey, Irma and Maria.
  Speaking during a panel discussion at The Insurance
  Insider's Insider US event in New York, Millette
  had strong words for the model miss related to last year's cats
  and the effect on the market post-event.
  He pointed to AIR Worldwide's initial loss estimates
  predicting that Maria
  
  Read more

• Alliant adds Calpin-Dewey to energy and marine group

  16-03-2018 23:40
  Rose Calpin-Dewey has joined Alliant Insurance Services'
  energy and marine group as first vice president, the specialty
  broker said yesterday.
  Calpin-Dewey comes over from Lockton Companies, which she was a
  vice president, according to her LinkedIn profile. She spent 10
  years with Kansas City-based Lockton.
  She coordinated global resources for renewable energy accounts,
  as well as managed service teams in energy and marine, according to
  a statement from Newport Beach, California-based Alliant.
  W
  
  Read more

• MGA Rokstone launches property treaty operation

  16-03-2018 20:59
  Direct Insurance Group's Rokstone Underwriting has launched a
  new property treaty division with $10mn of capacity.
  The new property treaty segment is backed by A-rated capacity
  stemming from the Cayman Islands and is called Rokstone
  Re-Treaty.
  Rokstone Re-Treaty will write a range of traditional reinsurance
  including catastrophe excess of loss, pro rata, risk excess of loss
  and industry loss warranty business.
  Peter Mousley is set to lead the new operation and joins from a
  senior underwriting ro
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Aviva shareholders riled by chief’s BlackRock board role

  16-03-2018 19:39 via ft.com
  Insurer stokes investor anger over Mark Wilson taking seat at rival asset manager
  
  Read more

• Opinion: Insights from insiders

  16-03-2018 17:51
  Issues reshaping the P&C (re)insurance industry - and often
  rewriting the earnings outlook - came under close scrutiny
  yesterday during our Insider US event in New York.
  We think attendees and readers who followed our coverage came
  away with a clearer view of those currents of change that make
  headlines almost daily.
  Percolating through keynote speeches and discussion panels were
  the themes of M&A, InsurTech, and the modelling and pricing
  impacts of last year's catastrophes.
  TigerRisk pr
  
  Read more

• Munich Re to lay off 900 jobs in reinsurance restructure

  16-03-2018 17:51
  Munich Re is planning to cut 900 jobs by 2020 as part of a
  restructure of its traditional reinsurance business which will
  generate around EUR200mn ($247mn) of pre-tax gross savings.
  The companyannounced yesterday that it would look to reallocate resources
  within the traditional operations of its reinsurance unit, in order
  to invest heavily in digitisation and strategic partnerships within
  the segment.The reinsurer will also look to implement a new structure in its
  claims division and within its
  
  Read more

• GC Securities banker joins InsurTech Flock

  16-03-2018 17:51
  Drone insurer Flock Cover has recruited John Rowlands from Guy
  Carpenter's InsurTech advisory team as its insurance lead,
  The Insurance Insider can reveal.
  Flock's technology allows drone insurance to be switched on
  when an unmanned aerial vehicle is airborne, and turned off once it
  has landed. The company has a pricing model based on the data it
  collects from drone flights, with rates rising for flights in
  higher-risk urban areas.
  In July, Flock and Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
  (AGC
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• CEA expands reinsurance cover by $700mn at 1.1

  16-03-2018 17:51
  The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) obtained $700mn of
  additional new limit in its January reinsurance placement,
  according to recent agenda documents published on the
  organisation's website.
  This lifted its total reinsurance limit to $8.0bn at 1 January,
  up from $7.3bn at 31 December.
  The total includes $1.3bn of Ursa Re cat bonds, of which $900mn
  were added to the programme last year.
  The CEA splits its reinsurance buying throughout the year and
  had $1.69bn of limit rolling over on 1...
  
  Read more

• AmTrust swings to $335mn net loss

  16-03-2018 17:51
  US carrier AmTrust has said it has swung to a net loss of
  $334.9mn for the 2017 financial year as the company prepares to go
  private.
  The carrier plunged into the red after posting a profit of
  $430.4mn in 2016. Gross written premiums rose by 6.1 percent to
  $8.43bn, though acquisition costs and underwriting expenses
  increased by about a third to $1.62bn.
  The insurer released the results after requesting a 15-day
  extension for the filing on 1 March. That same...
  
  Read more

• Ombudsman launches review following undercover investigation

  16-03-2018 15:19
  Thousands of complaints against insurers may need to be re-examined after a TV investigation found staff at the Financial Ombudsman Service were woefully undertrained.
  
  Read more

• InsurTech still immature despite $10bn spend

  16-03-2018 14:13
  Investment in InsurTech in the next 18 months will crack the
  $10bn mark but a true disruptor for the insurance industry appears
  to be some way off, according to panelists at The
  Insurance Insider's Insider US conference.
  Speaking on the innovation panel yesterday in New York, Andrew
  Robinson, executive in residence for Oak HC/FT, said it remained
  "very early days" but that there had been "nothing
  to move the needle" when it came to disrupting insurers.
  Sarah Street, executive vice...
  
  Read more

• Frothy prices could cause M&A pause: Farber

  16-03-2018 14:13
  Rich multiples are posing a valuation challenge for potential
  acquirers when it comes to sizing up targets in the insurance
  sector, The Hanover Insurance Group CFO Jeffrey Farber said
  yesterday.
  Speaking on a panel on M&A and financing at The
  Insurance Insider's Insider US conference in New
  York, Farber noted that it would be "hard to squeeze enough
  [cost]" to make some of the multiples of existing takeovers
  work.
  His comments followed remarks from Ryan Specialty CEO Pat Ryan,
  who...
  
  Read more

• Biba signs Women in Finance Charter

  16-03-2018 12:19
  Trade body commits to 40% of its senior management team being women.
  
  Read more

• UK trade credit losses at highest level since 2009

  16-03-2018 11:26
  UK trade credit claims rose by 7 percent in 2017 to £225mn
  ($314.3mn), the most since the height of the recession in 2009,
  Association of British Insurers (ABI) data shows.
  The trade association said that more UK companies are insuring
  against customer defaults, with insured receivables up by 7 percent
  to £340bn in 2017.
  There were more than 11,000 trade credit insurance claims made
  in the UK in 2017. The £130mn claimed by firms in the last
  quarter of 2017...
  
  Read more

• Opinion: Markel's D&F decision

  16-03-2018 11:26
  London open market property players may be surprised at
  Markel's decision to pull out of the sector, but maybe not that
  surprised.
  The companyannounced yesterday that the dynamics in London had worked
  against the direct and facultative (D&F) team, "in terms
  of both capacity and pricing", and subsequently the decision
  was taken to withdraw.
  The London property D&F market has been one of the biggest
  victims of last year's North Atlantic hurricanes. Compared to
  their US counterparts, London
  
  Read more

• Insolvent Access ordered into receivership in Texas

  16-03-2018 11:26
  Access Insurance was ordered into liquidation this week in Texas,
  with the non-standard auto carrier declared insolvent,
  The Insurance Insider has learned.
  The move came less than a week after Californiaregulators ordered Access to cease doing new business there,
  freezing the company out of its biggest market. The insurer did
  business in the Golden State as Access General Insurance
  Company.
  The court-ordered liquidation in Austin puts the Atlanta-based
  insurer effectively out of business, while
  
  Read more

• Cat modellers service 'unsatistifactory': Millette

  16-03-2018 11:26
  Catastrophe modelling firms were taken to task by Mike Millette,
  managing partner of Hudson Structured Capital Management, after he
  criticised the broad range of estimates provided for hurricanes
  Harvey, Irma and Maria.
  Speaking during a panel discussion at The Insurance
  Insider's Insider US event in New York, Millette
  had strong words for the model miss related to last year's cats
  and the effect on the market post-event.
  He pointed to AIR Worldwide's initial loss estimates
  predicting that Maria
  
  Read more

• Brit picks Walker from Marsh as head of UK property

  16-03-2018 11:26
  Brit has appointed Neil Walker to the role of head of UK
  property.
  Walker was most recently UK placement leader for the Marsh
  Propositions business. He joined the broker from Aon in 2003 and
  was previously at HSBC Insurance Brokers.
  At Brit, Walker reports Tom Hillier, who is divisional director
  for specialist liability.
  Walker joined Brit last month, about eight months afterthis publication reported that Brit UK property leader David
  Hancock had left the company, along with marine liability...
  
  Read more

• Atlas Financial delays results filing

  16-03-2018 11:26
  Atlas Financial has pushed back the reporting of its 2017 annual
  report, weeks after the company had to strengthen prior-year
  reserves, sending the company's stock plummeting.
  Atlas said in a statement yesterday that auditors needed more
  time to go through the commercial auto insurer's books. The
  company said it would request a filing deadline extension with the
  Securities and Exchange Commission seeking until 2 April to publish
  annual figures.
  On 2 March, Atlas Financial shares dropped 41 perce
  
  Read more

• This week in Post: Claims, costs and closures

  16-03-2018 11:18
  This week I was lucky enough to climb on the top of a lift with one of Allianz’s engineer surveyors and take a trip up and down a building.
  
  Read more

• Quizzical questions: 16 March 2018

  16-03-2018 10:41
  Test your knowledge of the week's news with our topical quiz.
  
  Read more

• Carole Nash and Axa remain committed to Republic of Ireland bike market

  16-03-2018 10:40
  Broker and insurer have no plans to imitate MCE’s Brexit withdrawal.
  
  Read more

• Rising Star: Matthew Vamplew, DAS UK Group

  16-03-2018 07:00
  Starting in the industry as a business consultant at Cognizant Technology Solutions, Matthew Vamplew has quickly worked his way to innovation manager at DAS UK Group.
  
  Read more

• Blog: Medical hope for mesothelioma patients and asbestos insurers

  16-03-2018 07:00
  Possible mesothelioma treatment will require a new approach to asbestos claims, explains Ian Harvey, head of claims strategy at Pro Global.
  
  Read more

• Watching the consumer watchdogs

  16-03-2018 06:00 via ft.com
  Complaints mount about the ineffectiveness of the UK’s complex ombudsman system
  
  Read more

• Complaints put consumer watchdogs on watch

  16-03-2018 06:00 via ft.com
  Dissatisfaction grows about the ineffectiveness of the UK’s complex ombudsman system
  
  Read more

• Integro CEO Goldstein bows out

  16-03-2018 02:12
  Integro CEO Bill Goldstein has left the firm after three years
  in the post, The Insurance Insider can
  reveal.
  The executive had held the CEO role at the broker since 2015,
  having first joined in 2006, a year after New York-based Integro
  was launched by industry entrepreneur Bob Clements.
  The circumstances around his departure and his next destination
  are not known.
  Integro is owned by New York-based private equity house
  Odyssey Investment Partners, which bought upwards 80 percent of the...
  
  Read more

Follow @Insurance_UKnws on Twitter!