In Brief

Take pride in your work

South African Ian Thomas, a business graduate and game ranger for the past 20 years, drew plenty of parallels between human teams and lion prides in his Power of the Pride address on Friday afternoon. He said there was much organisations could learn from lion prides. He said one the biggest lessons was to recognise one's individual strengths, as lionesses did when allocating positions in an ambush. Thomas said prides were successful because they worked toward the same goal – to feed. He went on to apply the analogy to goal attainment. He said success required teams to have common goals, yet studies showed 40% of team members could not identify their group goal.

The name of the game

Graham Oates, KPMG partner, said that virtual insurance, in its extreme form, would be only the brand and the association that goes with that brand. He pointed to Nike, which manages the brand and the image to make it an aspirational product, but outsources all its operations. With everyone agreed that the difference between companies in online insurance is going to be the service to the end consumer, companies needed to examine what to do in-house and what could be done by outsourcing, he said.

Call to promote CII training

Delegates demanded that the Chartered Insurance Institute take a lead by promoting the CII qualifications harder.
Winning applause from the audience, two delegates said the CII was not promoting its own qualifications enough.
One complained that the industry was concentrating too heavily on graduates and not promoting those bright people who entered the industry earlier, but studied for the CII. “I'd rather have someone with the ACII than with a degree in biology,” he said.

Individual road to success

Individual brilliance combined with leadership excellence will take the insurance industry into an even brighter future, was the upbeat message from a CII Plenary Session. Sir David Rowland wooed the crowd with entertaining anecdotes, themed Making Tomorrow Better Than Yesterday, that translated into valuable insight into the nature of success. Rowland, former Lloyd's chairman, chief executive officer of Sedgwicks and then Natwest, and now president of Oxford's Templeton College, said there was no substitute for able people and technical excellence in business. “I think we in insurance and you in the CII have a fantastic opportunity for the future,” he said.

Cholera, TB? Ask Lloyds TSB

Lloyds TSB Insurance has added travel cover to its range of products available on its internet quote-and-buy service.The bancassurer's website already offers motor and home insurance. In addition to selling travel insurance online, the site provides travel advice on holiday destinations. There is also a free helpline, that gives information on visa and inoculation requirements, banking hours and motoring restrictions. The quote-and-buy site address is www.lloydstsb.com.
n As Britain's Olympiads try to break records at the Sydney Games, the bank-come-intermediary is urging people to check whether their sports medals are insured.

Internet a safe place

A range of policies that protect businesses planning internet ventures has been launched by Insuretrust.com.
Expresstrust provides first and third-party cover options for ecommerce risks and liabilities. Premiums start at £1,700.

Comics, coins and train sets

Croydon-based broker Michael James & Associates is able to provide bespoke insurance for treasured collections that may not be adequately covered by a client's home insurance. Its Collections cover is suitable for almost all types of collections, including football programmes, comics, train sets, film memorabilia, die-cast toys, stamps and coins. The cover is arranged through insurer Ecclesiastical. Premiums start at £30 and only items over £1,000 need be specified.

Easy riding with Bennetts

Specialist motorcycle insurance provider Bennetts has seen a steady rise in demand as more people take to the road on bikes to beat the congestion trap. Bennetts has specialist schemes for Hondas, Kawasakis and Suzukis.
The company offers discounts of 10% in cases where bikes are locked in garages or for riders completing advanced driving courses.

Deal for Aon

Aon has won a three-year deal to meet the occupational health needs of gas production management specialists, PGS Atlantic Power. Through the deal, PGS hopes to consolidate its on- and offshore medical services for its 1,500-strong workforce.

QC's warning

A leading barrister has warned of problems that are likely to result from the change in the way solicitors buy indemnity cover. “There will be some fall-out from the seismic change in solicitors' business,” Christopher Gibson QC told the British Insurance Law Association (Bila) conference. He cited cases in other professions, where a possible risk was not notified to insurers when the indemnity cover provider was changed.

Property Plus

Insurer Groupama has held roadshows across the country to promote its new Property Plus suite of products for brokers. It includes a landlords' protection policy which does not require any proposal forms and captive cell facilities for larger clients that cost up to £10,000 to set up.
n Maggie Litster is Groupama director responsible for commercial insurances, not as reported in last week's edition, Maggie Lister.