All Backchat articles – Page 20
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Backchat
Kwik-Fit’s fittest
It’s been a while since Backchat has had the (dubious) pleasure of copping an eyeful of naked insurance workers in a calendar (Broker Layton Blackham unveiled a striking one a while back – the man holding the bomb is memorable).Kwik-Fit’s addition to the genre, in aid of cancer support charity ...
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Backchat
Safety Santa
Santa is a busy man this time of year, and Backchat is sure that he doesn’t have time to think about his insurance cover.But luckily for him someone else does. Royal & SunAlliance has prepared a list of all Santa’s Christmas risks, and has come up with the ultimate insurance ...
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Backchat
Canoe man’s son was a broker
Backchat has learned there is a general insurance industry connection to the puzzle of the ‘missing’ canoe man.The son of John Darwin, who went missing for five years after leaving behind a smashed-up canoe, worked as a broker for Towergate.Anthony was a corporate and commercial broker but he left the ...
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Backchat
Church lead theft claims hit the roof
Criminals are most likely to be found stealing from shops or the elderly. But a new wave of crime has spread across the country, with thieves turning their attention to churches.Congregational & General Insurance has revealed that claims related to church lead theft have risen 86% in the past year ...
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Backchat
Insuring festive fun
Brokers can face some pretty strange requests, particularly during the festive season,A new survey by premium finance provider RBS Finsure reveals some of the weird and wonderful Christmas requests made to brokers.One policyholder wanted to insure himself when he was delivered in a large box to his girlfriend. He planned ...
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Backchat
Marketing for piggies
Backchat has been delighted to receive an assortment of Christmas messages from brokers and insurers this month. But the most creative by far came from the Ten Insurance network, which adopted a classic nursery rhyme to sum up the market:“One little piggy went to AXA, two little piggies went to ...
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Backchat
Boris Becker serves up for DAS
After years of off-court publicity, tennis superstar Boris Becker is back in the spotlight and once again it’s not for his volleying skills.Becker will become the new face of DAS Legal Expenses in a series of commercials released in Germany.The ad campaign shows the Olympic gold medallist getting himself into ...
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Backchat
It’s Orange for Bridget at the O2
Regular readers will remember that Royal & SunAlliance’s chief executive Bridget McIntyre recently made quite an impression on Arnold Schwarzenegger, but her celebrity encounters don’t stop there.Last week, at what must surely qualify as the press junket of the year, Bridget led a team of swooning female journalists and brokers ...
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Backchat
Broker sets off on Sahara adventure
Brokers are notorious for taking part in wild activities, and Tim Bell is no different.The Manchester broker, a team leader at Caunce O’Hara, is swapping Salford for the Sahara in a three-week charity car rally to Mali with his dad this month.After a charity parachute jump last year, Bell will ...
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Backchat
Santa told to belt up
Insurers have been accused of many things over the years, but ruining Christmas has not been one of them, until now.The Halesowen and Rowley Regis Rotary Club was given an early dose of festive cheer when its insurer declared that Santa, despite the collision-avoiding properties of his beard, was at ...
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Backchat
Protecting your festive identity
Following the news of late, Backchat was relieved to receive a warning letter regarding identity theft, but somewhat amused to find it deposited among a smouldering pile of junk mail.Credit report provider Callcredit has advised against “giving fraudsters an early Christmas present” by failing to protect their identity when shopping ...
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Backchat
No place like home
Backchat was comforted when it received a survey from BUPA International, the world’s largest expat insurer, claiming that nine out of ten expatriates would recommend a life abroad.As the early nights set in, the rain falls and the wind blows, it is reassuring to know that three in every four ...
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Backchat
Lloyd’s masters show their art
Backchat was more than a little excited to receive a sneak peek at one of the exhibits from the Lloyd’s Art Group in the mail.The exhibition, which took place from 19 to 21 November in the Old Library, showcased over 100 works from 34 artists, and featured a range of ...
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Backchat
Caffeine catastrophe awaits us
It’s official: coffee is potentially harmful.Research by Allianz Engineering, which also brought us “why cement is sticky” and “watch out – it’s a JCB”, has shown that half of the boilers in London’s limitless array of coffee shops are not only hazardous, but could quite literally explode at any moment.That ...
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Backchat
It was game off at FWD’s tables
To Mitre Street for FWD’s annual shindig – this year, gangster themed. Despite the fact that no one, including the hosts, donned their costumes, spirits were lifted (and beers too) by the in-house casino, complete with the old favourite, blackjack.But the dealer’s emphatic declaration that insurance was unavailable, led our ...
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Backchat
High time for landlords
According to an online broker, landlords should be on high alert after receiving a record number of damage claims for rented properties being used as cannabis factories. The broker says claims range from fires caused by lighting systems being used for growing the plants, to floorboards ripped up to make ...
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Backchat
Make sure your junk is safe
Abbey has gone all David Dickinson and told us to love our junk. According to research done by the home insurer, “the nation is hoarding £50m worth of inherited items and hand-me-downs that they don’t actually like”.An average person owns £9,466 of junk. So, in an age of Cash in ...
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Backchat
Allianz’s diary reads it wrong
Backchat was delighted to find details of Allianz’s management structure in its 2008 diaries – only to discover it changed mere days after copies were sent out to the media.The insurer obviously hadn’t properly assessed the risks when it sent out mass copies of the diaries – now outdated before ...
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Backchat
The FSA’s big reach
The FSA’s recruitment website www.smallfirmshugereach.com extolls the virtues of joining the regulator to work on its project for assessing small firms. But should you omit an ‘s’ – www.smallfirmhugereach.com offers altogether a different experience of a more, ahem, adult nature.Alas this website has now become unavailable.Backchat supposes this is principles-based ...
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Backchat
Plenty of spring in this Bok
In a lecture in Lloyd’s old library, Allianz board member and Acord chair Clem Booth imparted his wisdom on the five greatest challenges to the insurance market.Unfortunately for the predominantly English crowd, the South African decided that the best way to keep everyone interested in cycle management, climate change and ...
