In Brief

Merged firms start review
Kingsmead Underwriting Agency and Advent Capital Holdings are reviewing their operations, after their merger last year.
BF Caudle Agencies, Advent's parent company, is likely to manage syndicates 2, 506 and 780 for the 2001 account.
Syndicate 506 will operate as a parallel syndicate to 780, subject to Lloyd's consent. Marine syndicate 2 will continue to operate as a separate unit for 2002.

Kennedy clan grows
Insurance law firm Kennedys has opened a new office in Newmarket to handle clinical negligence work.
It follows the firm's appointment to the legal panel of the National Health Service Litigation Authority in East Anglia.
Kennedys' healthcare department in London is also expanding to five partners and 24 fee earners, after it was appointed to the capital's NHS litigation panel.

Chaucer loss
Chaucer Holdings has posted a pre-tax loss of £4.1m for the year ending December 2000. This compares with a loss of £1.1m for the previous year.
Factors contributing to this downturn were an underwriting loss of £3.1m and investment losses of £2.7m, following a reorganisation of the firm's portfolio.
However, £18.5m was raised this month through a share issue.

Gene test ban stays in place
The Association of British Insurers has said insurers will extend their existing moratorium on the use of genetic test results.
They will not ask for any genetic test results from applicants for insurance policies up to £300,000.
Above that amount, only tests approved by the government's Genetics and Insurance Committee will be taken into account.

Art tailored to its market
Axa Nordsten has launched nine separate versions of its art insurance website, in a sort of Warholian tableau.
The sites are tailored to different markets in Europe and the US - modern masters, for example, are more popular in the US.
They include tips on security and environmental protection.

Aon cover now Europe-wide
Aon Motor Accident Management is launching a pan-European accident management service to reduce the cost of running motor fleets.
The service will be available from July in France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain and the UK, with other European countries to follow soon.
Aon Motor Accident Manage-ment manages more than 175,000 vehicles.

HSF makes pal
Hospital Saturday Fund (HSF) has clinched the contract to be the health cash plan provider for Pall Mall Support Services.
HSF's scheme will provide cash sums for time spent in hospital, as well as covering expenses for dental and optical treatment. Alternative treatments such as homeopathy are also covered under the scheme.

All change
Michael Jones, executive chairman of Lloyd's insurance broker Cooper Gay, is to relinquish his executive responsibilities on May 31.
Jones will continue as chairman in a non-executive capacity and work on special projects for Cooper Gay. Managing director Toby Esser becomes chief executive with responsibility for world-wide operations.

AIG and FARG go together
AUTO Indemnity Group, a non-fault accident management service, has formed a network of more than 120 repairers, in association with Fleet Accident Repair Group (FARG).
The network will be used to refer work generated from both brokers and insurers.

Electromec on the move
DISASTER restoration company Electromec is moving to new premises in Skipton, North Yorkshire. The 5,000 sqft facility has been fitted with disaster recovery technology plus a technician training school. Electromec was formed by directors David Capper, Martin Copping, Shaun Doherty and Steve Mitchell, who left Relectronic-Remech when it merged with Belfor.

Healthcare on call
STANDARD Life Healthcare is offering a round-the-clock GP advice line service. More than 25 GPs are constantly on-hand to callers. Confidential advice is offered on subjects ranging from clinical symptoms to an explanation of diagnosis or treatment and the possible after-effects of surgery.