In Brief

BNL lands top training award
The Broker Network (BNL) has received accreditation for the Investors In People award. The quality standard recognises the organisation's eight-month review of its human resource development policies and practices.

ERC Frankona's annual guide
ERC Frankona has just published its annual guide to income protection called 'Kluwer Guide to Income Protection Insurance'. It provides advisers with an extensive profile of the income protection market, both individual and group, highlighting company policy conditions in details and using this information to underline similarities and differences between products.

Notts broker launches site
Nottingham-based insurance broker The Routen Chaplin Group has launched a website www.routen-chaplin.co.uk. The site gives information and facilities to get quotations and advice for such things as motor, home, commercial and travel covers.

HealthSure drive hits NE
Cashplan provider HealthSure has launched a new direct marketing campaign. The £250,000 drive will run for five weeks in the north-east of England before being rolled out across the UK this year. It will comprise both direct response TV advertising and an extensive mail drop.

New complex claims division
Chartered Loss Adjusters Miller Pycraft has created a new division to handle complex and high-tech commercial claims, called the Commercial & Applied Technology division (CAT). It will provide a comprehensive range of services including: property, business interruption, construction claims handling, computer, technology, electronics and robotics expertise, pre- and post- loss risk survey reports, and an emergency incident manual. The CAT division operates from nine UK offices.

Royal & Sun reports today
Royal & SunAlliance is set to post its results today (March 2), with analysts predicting it should raise its operating profit from £602 million to £620m. Interest will, as with Legal & General, centre on how long RSA can remain independent, having been considered the most vulnerable of the remaining composites in the UK insurance market.

Smart cooks up Leeds office
Brokers Smart and Cook Group has opened an office in Leeds. The business will be headed and managed by Sean Hicks, formerly managing director of Willis Corporate Risks, and Nigel Harrison, ex-regional managing director of Willis Corroon North.

Wynchgate's national win
Bristol-based Wynchgate Insurance Brokers has scooped a major prize in a national Royal Mail competition. It was named winner in the New Business category at the Winning Post awards. The judges praised the winning entry for delivering "an excellent financial return on investment, with a good response rate".

Provider puts cash into net
Berkeley Morgan Group, the insurance and financial services provider has invested £50,000 in internet start-up RapidInsure, headed by Darryl Mattocks, founder of The Internet Bookshop. It will also be raising a further £250,000 through private funding from its existing clients.

Singer's civil case service
Premium finance house Singer & Friedlander Insurance Finance launched a new service to finance an insurance policy that covers the risks associated with litigation in civil cases. It has joined up with Litigation Protection to launch the plan. The initiative follows the Government's call to the private sector to provide funding and insurance cover to enable claimants to pursue personal injury claims.

ABI talks costs with car sellers
The ABI has met with the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) to discuss the cost of claims and repair. The meeting looked at areas including fraud, investment, recruitment, mergers and contract negotiation. RMI senior manager Bob Hood commented: "This meeting explored the often complex relationship between repairers and insurers. "We looked at how each can best help the other in maintaining successful business practice."

Name reflects engineering bent
Applied Technology Adjusting has changed its trading name to Engineering & Technical Adjusting, to focus on the firm's core business in the engineering insurance sector. ETA uses adjusters who have engineering and technical backgrounds to provide services on plant, machinery, computers and process plant.

Fleet company wins IIP award
Drive & Survive UK, one of the largest providers of fleet driver training, has won an award from Investors in People. The company's 85 driver trainers and 50 support staff instruct 30,000 fleet vehicle drivers each year – half of them referrals from brokers and insurers including, Norwich Union and Zurich.