All Insurance Times articles in Issue 22-11-2007

View all stories from this issue.

  • News

    Oval ramps up revenue target to £140m next year

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Oval is to raise as much as another £50m to fund a major acquisition drive as it aims to more than double its revenues by the middle of next year. Chief executive Phillip Hodson said the consolidating giant was looking to raise the additional funds, which could take its war ...

  • News

    Oval ramps up revenue target to £140m by 2009

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Oval is to raise as much as another £50m to fund a major acquisition drive as it aims to more than double its revenues by the middle of next year. Chief executive Phillip Hodson said the consolidating giant was looking to raise the additional funds, which could take its war ...

  • News

    NU axes 30 directors

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Norwich Union has slashed 30 director positions as part of its ongoing restructuring.A spokesperson said some of the directors may be offered positions elsewhere in the company.The main changes took place within the sales and marketing and operations, however jobs were cut across the board.The spokesperson said: “Those roles no ...

  • News

    Abbey plans acquisition drive after AIM flotation

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Legal expenses insurer Abbey Protection is planning an acquisition drive after announcing intention to float on the AIM.The specialist insurer, offering products to SMEs within the legal expenses and tax related professional fees market, plans to make £5m of new money, resulting from the floatation expected to take place at ...

  • Comments/Letters

    Aggregator quotes

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Re: “Defaqto warns consumers against using web aggregators” (insurancetimes.co.uk, 31 October)If my business was as incompetent in assessing customers’ demands and needs as these aggregators are, I would be closed down. People should realise that aggregators make their money by charging companies on click-throughs. It is therefore in their interest ...

  • News

    Allianz general managers go in division merger

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    The general managers of Allianz’s personal lines and speciality divisions have left the company following the creation of a new division The insurer confirmed this week that Allianz Personal general manager Nick Hall and Gareth Jones, general manager of Allianz Specialty, had left the company following the restructure. As ...

  • Backchat

    Allianz’s diary reads it wrong

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Backchat was delighted to find details of Allianz’s management structure in its 2008 diaries – only to discover it changed mere days after copies were sent out to the media.The insurer obviously hadn’t properly assessed the risks when it sent out mass copies of the diaries – now outdated before ...

  • News

    FSA backtracks on FSCS wholesale funding model

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    The FSA has scrapped plans to require wholesale brokers and insurers to contribute to a high-level funding pool of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).The regulator had proposed a ‘wholesale’ pool as part of its reform of the FSCS, which would have added between £1bn and £2bn of funding to ...

  • News

    Lloyd’s broker in court battle with ex-employee

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Marine broker accused of trying to poach business from former employer

  • Comments/Letters

    We are being mugged by IT…but there is a solution

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Jane Middleton explains why the reality of IT doesn’t match the expectation

  • Backchat

    The FSA’s big reach

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    The FSA’s recruitment website www.smallfirmshugereach.com extolls the virtues of joining the regulator to work on its project for assessing small firms. But should you omit an ‘s’ – www.smallfirmhugereach.com offers altogether a different experience of a more, ahem, adult nature.Alas this website has now become unavailable.Backchat supposes this is principles-based ...

  • News

    Blunkett blasts insurers on floods

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Former Home Secretary David Blunkett has launched a blistering attack on the insurance industry, revealing he was in a “long running battle” with the ABI, and believed some insurers had failed to meet their commitments to victims of this summer’s floods.In an exclusive interview, the MP for Sheffield Brightside, revealed ...

  • Backchat

    Plenty of spring in this Bok

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    In a lecture in Lloyd’s old library, Allianz board member and Acord chair Clem Booth imparted his wisdom on the five greatest challenges to the insurance market.Unfortunately for the predominantly English crowd, the South African decided that the best way to keep everyone interested in cycle management, climate change and ...

  • David Blunkett
    Features

    The Boss has some tough words for insurers

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    David Blunkett, often described as the most authoritarian Home Secretary in recent memory, is uncompromising in his message to the insurance industry, which he believes has failed his Sheffield constituents following this summer’s floods.

  • Comments/Letters

    Branching out into broker networks

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Danny Walkinshaw says broker networks are growing, but do brokers need to join?

  • News

    No regulatory breaks for market, says FSA leader

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    The FSA has said it will not hand regulatory breaks to the London market if the sole aim is to enhance competition with foreign markets. It emerged this week that Sarah Wilson, insurance sector leader at the FSA, told delegates at a high-level Treasury summit on the competitiveness of the ...

  • Backchat

    Hasta la vista Bridget

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Since being elected governor of California, the one-time Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has come over all touchy-feely, with a penchant for green issues. Bridget McIntyre, Royal & SunAlliance’s chief executive, has quite a social conscience herself, what with sitting on the government’s financial inclusion taskforce and spearheading the company’s commitment to ...

  • News

    News in brief

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Guardian Holdings chief quitsGuardian Holdings group chief executive Rory O’Brien has resigned, the insurer said. Peter Ganteaume, the former chief executive of the group will assume the leadership until a suitable replacement is found. The group reported an operating profit of $259.9m (£126m) for the nine month period ended September ...

  • News

    Groupama chief reveals broker buying strategy

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Insurer plans to underwrite up to a fifth of Lark and Bollington business

  • News

    Chubb team to service independent brokers

    2007-11-21T00:00:00Z

    Chubb has restructured its London office, creating a new broker-facing specialist team in an attempt to align itself more closely with independent brokers. The 23-person team will comprise of specialist personnel from within the company, and will service an initial panel of 80 brokers controlling premiums ranging from £5m to ...