Insurance news

• Marsh launches West Coast incubator

  13-04-2018 21:48
  Marsh has opened a San Francisco incubator focused on developing
  products, business models and strategic engagements with insurers
  and InsurTech companies, the broker said.
  Marsh Digital Labs is being headed by Asha Vellaikal, who has
  worked for Silicon Valley startups and at Orange Labs, which was
  formerly France Telecom R&D. She joined Marsh last August.Sastry Durvasula, Marsh's chief digital officer and chief
  data and analytics officer, said the broker views artificial
  intelligence, block
  
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• MS Amlin downgrades Malaysian branch to rep office

  13-04-2018 19:22
  MS Amlin has let Alexander Milberg go as it prepares to convert
  its Malaysian branch into a representative office as part of its
  ongoing remediation efforts, The Insurance
  Insider has learned.
  The London-headquartered carrier is reviewing its operations
  globally under newly appointed CEO Simon Beale after its
  Lloyd's Syndicate 2001 fell to a £500mn ($709mn) loss in
  2017, as its combined ratio ballooned to 137 percent.
  Sources said MS Amlin had decided to reduce its headcount in
  Kuala Lumpu
  
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• Argo names new chief for Ariscom after takeover closes

  13-04-2018 19:22
  Argo has installed a new executive at the helm of Ariscom after
  its takeover of the Italian specialty (re)insurer closed
  last month.
  Giovanni Tucci will take up the positon of managing director on
  30 April. He will report to Ariscom's head of Europe, Middle
  East and Asia, Matt Harris.
  Tucci joins Ariscom from Intesa Sanpaolo Assicura, where he was
  technical director. Prior to this he spent 13 years in executive
  roles at Axa Group. He began his career at risk...
  
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• In-depth - liability: Breaking free

  13-04-2018 17:09
  The change in the Ogden discount rate has had a large impact on the liability market, but there are more factors at play in this fast-moving sector, Ed Murray writes
  
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• Opinion: A flight of fancy?

  13-04-2018 16:41
  After a harsh winter that has run into early April, anyone living
  in the Northeast of the US will be familiar with the old adage
  "one swallow does not a summer make".
  The first of the migratory birds are already arriving from the
  South across New York State, but the promise of temperatures
  soaring into the 70s today and tomorrow looks like an aberration
  with a dip back down into the 40s forecast for next week.
  Similarly, investors in the...
  
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• MS Amlin pulls back from general aviation

  13-04-2018 16:41
  MS Amlin is reviewing its support for aviation MGAs as it seeks
  to cut back general aviation (GA) business, The
  Insurance Insider can reveal.
  The carrier is re-assessing the paper it provides to a number of
  MGAs as part of a push to curtail its presence in the GA
  market.
  MS Amlin currently provides backing for GA operations including
  Denmark-headquartered Beta Aviation, Airspace Africa Underwriters
  (AAU) and Canadian MGA Avro Insurance Managers.
  The insurer also provides paper for California-bas
  
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• Cargill's credit insurers escape loss from IBA bankruptcy

  13-04-2018 16:41
  Cargill's credit insurers had no losses after the bankruptcy
  of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) last year,
  The Insurance Insider understands.
  Cargill, one of the world's largest commodity traders, had
  insured part of its $715mn book of short and medium-term trade
  finance loans to IBA in the London market.
  There were fears last year that the IBA bankruptcy would lead to
  losses in the insurance market, but the debts were successfully
  restructured, with the trade finance loans swapped fo
  
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• Airbus product liability loss settled at $390mn

  13-04-2018 16:41
  The aviation market has settled a major loss relating to the
  grounding of faulty Airbus helicopters last year for more than
  $100mn less than initially feared, The Insurance
  Insider can reveal.
  Sources said that the insurers on the Airbus product liability
  policy, which is led by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
  (AGCS) with a 10 percent line, agreed to pay out $390mn to settle
  the claim.
  The positive news on the loss - which had been pencilled in by the...
  
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• This week in Post: BIA shortlist and other insurance news

  13-04-2018 14:44
  This week we unveiled the long-awaited shortlist for the British Insurance Awards.
  
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• LMG body to put modernisation on permanent footing

  13-04-2018 14:14
  The London Market Group (LMG) has set up a new organisation to
  manage market-wide services on a permanent basis, the trade body
  said today.
  London Insurance Market Operations & Strategic Sourcing
  (Limoss) will buy and manage services on behalf of the market.
  Existing contracts include Ebix's software development work
  on Placing Platform Limited (PPL), an e-trading system, and Charles
  Taylor InsureTech's deal to run the data system for MGAs backed
  by the London market.
  Limoss is to be led led
  
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• Lender-placed insurers may soon face new rules in US

  13-04-2018 14:14
  Carriers in the lender-placed insurance market, a niche segment
  with more than its share of penalties and scandal, may find
  themselves facing a new regulation later this year.
  The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
  expects to have a proposed model law ready for high-level review by
  November, after six years of work on the issue. The market involves
  coverage that goes by several names, including force-placed and
  collateral protection insurance.
  The way the market works now can
  
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• Review: RSA Business Combined

  13-04-2018 12:05
  Hine Chartered Insurance Brokers' Rachael Carrington puts RSA's commercial combined product to the test
  
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• Insurtech start-up selects Amazon platform for launch

  13-04-2018 11:59
  Insurtech start-up Thinco has selected Amazon Web Services to host its product launch.
  
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• Ghost broker jailed after making £321,000 of false car insurance claims

  13-04-2018 11:56
  A ghost broker who used victims’ details to make £321,000 of false car insurance claims has been jailed.
  
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• Ghost broker jailed for 3 years and 8 months

  13-04-2018 11:55
  Abdul Hakim pleaded guilty to all charges of fraud by false representation after trying to steal over £321,000 by selling fake car insurance policies and making fraudulent claims.
  
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• Opinion: Blurred lines

  13-04-2018 11:44
  Once upon a time in the grocery industry, wholesalers like Makro
  supplied corner shops and just the occasional flash type with a
  membership card and big chest freezer.
  The rest of us shopped at the then modest supermarkets that were
  already squeezing small grocers out of business.
  But Makro was sold to fellow wholesaler Booker, which this year
  became part of the Tesco retail empire. Across the western world in
  the grocery sector, the line between business customers and
  consumers...
  
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• Marsh names Canada head Lay as UK chief as Weil departs

  13-04-2018 11:44
  Marsh has appointed Chris Lay as chief executive for the UK and
  Ireland and Sarah Robson as president and CEO of its Canadian
  operation.
  Lay moves back to the UK from Toronto to replace Mark Weil, who
  is leaving the insurance market to take up a role in private
  equity.
  Lay became president and CEO of the broker's Canadian
  business in 2016. Prior to this he held a number of senior
  management positions over the course of a 30-year career...
  
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• Insurers still falling short in serving customer needs: Gage

  13-04-2018 11:44
  The London insurance market is still failing to provide
  coverages which mirror customers' real needs, CNA Hardy chief
  underwriting officer Patrick Gage has said.
  Speaking to The Insurance Insider
  prior to the launch of the firm's latest risk and confidence
  survey, which was published today, Gage said the market had to
  shift to a more customer-centric model in order to prosper.
  "The insurance market tends to be more comfortable around
  creating policies and products which they like, and quite ofte
  
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• London Market launches permanent body to manage market services

  13-04-2018 11:31
  The London Market Group has launched London Insurance Market Operations & Strategic Sourcing, a permanent body to manage market services.
  
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• Insurance Cares: Is it time for a long term care GI product?

  13-04-2018 11:18
  Luker Rowe’s Caroline Hanson who is part of the CII’s New Generation Group explores how the sector can help people pay for care into old age.
  
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• Quizzical questions: 13 April 2018

  13-04-2018 10:59
  It's Friday 13th today - will your luck in our quiz be bad or good?
  
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• Government introduces rules to curb bogus holiday sickness claims

  13-04-2018 10:42
  Government has given the go-ahead on new rules that will help clamp down on bogus holiday sickness claims.
  
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• Marsh UK CEO Mark Weil to leave the broker

  13-04-2018 10:11
  Weil will be succeeded by Chris Lay who was most recently CEO of Marsh Canada.
  
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• Gallagher promises UK M&A return

  13-04-2018 09:47
  Following Premiership Rugby sponsorship deal Michael Rea says the broker is focused on organic growth and acquisitions.
  
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• Texas reels from hailstorm damage: Aon

  13-04-2018 09:29
  Hailstorms that struck southern US states including Texas last
  week are likely to cause "hundreds of millions" of
  dollars of economic and insured losses, according to Aon
  Benfield's Impact Forecasting report.
  Baseball-sized hail hit areas of Collin, Denton and Tarrant
  counties, with damage reported to thousands of cars and commercial
  and residential structures.
  Tornado damage in rural Texas also brought down trees and power
  lines.
  Louisiana was also struck by the storms, with industry officials
  
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• Biba’s Steve White on why a transitional agreement is only the tip of the Brexit iceberg

  13-04-2018 07:00
  News of a post-Brexit transitional agreement is a welcome one, writes Steve White, CEO of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, however brokers must be wary that the hard work is still yet to come.
  
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• Starr makes leadership promotions

  13-04-2018 01:21
  Starr Companies made several leadership changes in its New York
  region and casualty business units, the company announced
  today.
  Conan Dolce was promoted to regional vice president of the New
  York region.
  The 17 year industry veteran joined Starr in 2015 as a senior
  underwriter.
  He has previously a vice president at Marsh and an assistant
  vice president at Willis.
  Carmella Capitano was promoted to senior vice president of
  Primary and Excess energy casualty. She joined Starr in 2009 after...
  
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• Ex-AIG reinsurance buyer James joins CNA

  13-04-2018 01:21
  CNA has unveiled Mark James as its new reinsurance buyer,
  reporting to chief underwriting officer Doug Worman.
  James takes the position of senior vice president for global
  reinsurance and will officially join the carrier on 23 April.
  He will be responsible for the insurer's reinsurance
  strategies and purchasing around globe, said CNA in a
  statement.
  James was most recently deputy chief cede reinsurance officer at
  AIG, providing strategic guidance to the global reinsurance
  department for property
  
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• AM Best views cyber as key ERM priority for insurers

  13-04-2018 01:21
  Insurers must focus their enterprise risk management (ERM)
  efforts on assessing and mitigating against cyber risk in the face
  of both operational and underwriting challenges from the exposure,
  according to ratings agency AM Best.
  In an ERM update today, the firm noted that the threat of cyber
  attacks brings operational risk to the fore for insurers, just as
  it does at any other business with exposure.
  "Insurers are vulnerable to cyber attacks as much as the
  nearest department store and...
  
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