Broker News – Page 151
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NewsLondoners pay double for motorbike insurance compared with rest of UK
Motorcyclists in London pay nearly twice as much in insurance compared with those in the rest of the UK because of the greater risk of theft or accident. Londoners pay £518 a year to insure their motorbikes, against a national average premium of £285, according to ...
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NewsRSA completes sale of Mexican operation
RSA has completed the sale of its Mexican operations to Suramericana, the insurance subsidiary of Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana (Grupo SURA). The transaction is part of RSA’s plan to sell all of its Latin American operations to Grupo SURA for £403m, which it announced in September ...
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NewsAviva head of fraud named as IFB technical board chair
Aviva head of fraud, Tom Gardiner, has been appointed as the new chair of the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) technical board. Gardiner takes over from Richard Davies, who will remain on the board. The technical board, which was set up in 2011, comprises of leading fraud ...
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NewsBroker Kingsbridge plots expansion after £4.2m PE firm backing
Broker Kingsbridge Risk Solutions is planning to expand into new sectors after securing backing from private equity firm Dunedin. The deal worth £4.2m means that Livingbridge the mid-market private equity firm that backed Kingsbridge in January 2014 will fully exit the business. This is Dunedin’s second ...
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NewsBluefin Underwriting hires Coughlan as head of finance
Bluefin Underwriting has hired Ian Coughlan as head of finance reporting into Paul Drake (pictured), head of Bluefin Underwriting. Coughlan has spent the last eight months working with the Bluefin Underwriting team as a specialist consultant. He previously spent six years as finance director at Jardine ...
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NewsUK General hires two to beef up broker business
UK General said it has hired Barry McCormick and Rob Tustin business development managers. McCormick has joined UK General’s sales team to develop its new broker business in Scotland. The role has been created to meet a surge in demand for bespoke personal lines schemes which ...
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AgendaBroker appetite for cyber could be cut by Insurance Act demands
The demands of the Insurance Act could result in non-specialist brokers steering away from selling cyber products, according to Biba. Speaking at the Insurance Times Cyber Charter, Biba corporate affairs manager Andy Thornley said that because the cyber insurance market was still in its infancy, brokers ...
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NewsJobs at risk as Towergate closes Milton Keynes retail function
Towergate is transferring the retail business handled by its Milton Keynes operation to other offices, putting jobs at risk, Insurance Times can reveal. The broking group confirmed that it was consulting with staff about possible redundancies in Milton Keynes but declined to say how many jobs ...
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NewsBroker Ropner hires six following GRP backed-MBO
Lloyd’s and London Market broker, Ropner Insurance Services, has appointed six new brokers following its Global Risk Partners-backed management buyout last year. Gary Watson and Stewart Alliston have joined the international non-marine division. Nick Kirby has joined the Fine Art team from JLT. ...
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NewsRoss denies Dalgarno move is linked to lack of FCA approval
Sarah Dalgarno’s move to head up Towergate’s new historical liabilities unit was not triggered by her current lack of FCA approval, chief executive David Ross has insisted. He said that her move to run the new unit, dubbed the Legacy Resolution Unit, was an interim one ...
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NewsTowergate’s Ross plays down effect of Gable woes
Towergate chief executive David Ross has played down the effect that Gable’s difficulties will have on his company, which uses the unrated insurer’s capacity. He pledged to work with Gable while it considers it options, but added that Towergate may seek replacement capacity “should it be ...
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NewsGeneral insurance complaints rise 4% in 2015/16 - FOS
New complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) about general insurance products, excluding PPI, rose by 4% to 31,284 in the 12 months to 31 March 2016, compared with the 30,080 it received in 2014. According to the FOS annual review released today, of the complaints ...
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NewsTowergate profit almost halves in first quarter
Towergate reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £2.8m in the first quarter of 2016, down 48.9% on the £5.5m it reported in last year’s first quarter. Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes exceptional costs, was down 20.6% to £13.6m (Q1 2015: £17.2m). Total revenue ...
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AgendaSimply Business hackathon creates ‘Tinder for insurance’
Simply Business has created an app that allows commercial insurance customers to swipe through a short question set to generate an indicative quote. The product, internally named Swipe Me, is only at an early conceptual stage, but is already basing its user experience on the Tinder ...
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News'Ghost broking' courier sentenced for defrauding Liberty in £89,000 scam
A 33-year-old courier from Epsom has been sentenced after he admitted to setting up over 100 bogus car insurance policies for his unsuspecting customers and defrauding victims and Liberty Insurance out of a combined £89,000. Renan Gomes was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Friday 20 May ...
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NewsMotor insurers' COR hits 102% despite premium increase
Motor insurers’ combined operating ratio (COR) was 102% in 2015 according to figures released by Deloitte. The firm forecasts the COR could rise to 104% in 2016 before returning to 102% in 2017. Motor insurance premiums in 2015 grew by 5% to £13.9bn in 2015. But ...
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NewsAXA to take firmer stance with brokers asking for higher commission
AXA is going to take a stronger stance by saying no to brokers that do not put forward a “compelling” case when looking for increased commissions, AXA commercial intermediary managing director Jon Walker said. The insurer is also going to be clearer about its reasons for ...
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NewsLack of trust between consumers and insurers is fuelling fraud - AXA
Up to one third of Britons have committed insurance fraud, a report commissioned by AXA has found. A lack of trust between consumers and insurers and the view that insurance fraud is a victimless crime are encouraging otherwise honest policyholders to exaggerate claims. According to insurers ...
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NewsAA 'in talks' to sell Irish business
The AA has confirmed it is in talks to sell its Irish business. The roadside assistance group has said it was “exploring options in regards to its Irish business and a further announcement will be made if and when appropriate”. It did not name names, but ...
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NewsAviva pledges 30% of executive committee will always be women
Aviva has pledged that 30% of its executive committee will always consist of women. The insurance giant has signed up to a new target set by the 30 Per Cent Club, the campaign group which lobbies for greater gender diversity at the top of business. The ...
