In brief

Witham case adjourned
The case of John Witham, the man accused of causing up to £100,000 damage to London's CGNU building, has been adjourned to October 29.

The City of London Magistrates' Court allowed the adjournment for psychiatric reports to be considered by the Crown.

Witham allegedly drove a car into the side of the building in July and faces a charge of criminal damage.

Alarm outgrows Warwick
The Association of Local Authority Risk Managers (Alarm) has moved its 2002 conference from Warwick University to the Manchester Conference Centre.

It will now run over three days instead of two and will be held from July 1 to 3, instead of in April. Conference chairman Elaine Butterworth said the conference had outgrown Warwick, with next year's event promising to be the biggest yet.

Irish premiums
General insurance premiums in Ireland have passed the IR£2bn (£1.59bn) mark for the first time, according to figures from the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF).

Total risk premium, including life insurance, was up 25% to IR£8.1bn (£6.4bn).

R&SA on top
NEARLY 90% of brokers say Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) is their preferred carrier for commercial risks, according to research by NOP.

The survey of 300 brokers, sponsored by R&SA, showed 41% of brokers surveyed said R&SA gave the best service of all insurers, an increase of 15% on last year's survey.

R&SA also came out top in dealing with brokers. More than 40% said the firm was the best to deal with and 76% said they were satisfied with the service they received.

Last year's survey prompted R&SA to set up a claims transformation programme and settlement teams that were focused on speedy claims settlement.

Axiom purchase
AXIOM Claims Consulting has bought Hampden Underwriting Services and Hampden Insurance Management Services.

The consultancy, a subsidiary of broking giant Aon, said the move would make it one of the biggest specialists in London and Europe, with 225 staff.

Hampden chairman Tim Oliver has become deputy chairman of Axiom. Fellow senior Hampden figures Sergio Bruna and John Powell have both joined the Axiom board.

Axiom will now offer four main areas of business - underwriting services, insurance management, reinsurance and specialist claims.