Latest News – Page 1987

  • Backchat

    From baby buggy to Bentley

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    The streets could soon be awash with Bentley-driving teenagers, research by Peart Insurance Brokers has warned.Over the past 18 months the average age of a Bentley, Aston Martin or Ferrari owner has fallen by 10 years, from 45 to 35. Underwriting and agency manager Brian Gent says: “Until recently it ...

  • News

    Cobra targets reinsurance as first half profits flat

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Broking group Cobra is to enter the reinsurance sector in a move to expand its London market division. Cobra Holdings chief executive Steve Burrows said the group had invested heavily in its London market operation, employing new teams to develop the reinsurance operation. He said: “We decided now is the ...

  • News

    Stockwatch

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Benfield shares gained 12.5% this week after reports of a failed £700m takeover bid by Goldman Sachs. Analyst Numis said that the latest failure to strike a deal made a buy-out unlikely in the near future, as the most likely candidates had been exhausted. Aon and Marsh are also ...

  • News

    NU pulls out of Oval deal as Allianz poised for stake

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    10% shareholding deal to be completed in next few weeks

  • News

    nibs2

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    cxz

  • Backchat

    Smoke alarm at detector factory

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Smoke alarms at the BRK factory in Gloucester caught fire, forcing employees to barricade themselves in their offices.The fire destroyed 35,000 smoke detectorsThe Environment Agency has been scanning piles of the burnt-out detectors for radioactivity. Oh the irony.

  • News

    Tele-mediation for injury claims

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    InterResolve has launched a telephone mediation scheme for unresolved personal injury (PI) claims, following completion of a pilot with AXA.The pilot, which began in April and involved 50 cases, successfully reduced settlement times from over 18 months to seven weeks. Despite being used across a range of claim values, it ...

  • News

    Industry ‘doesn’t have a clue’ on cost of fraud

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Insurers do not know the true extent of insurance fraud and fraud detection methods are inadequate, experts claimed this week. Mihir Pandya, who led a forth-coming ABI study on insurance fraud, said that although the industry had made some progress in fighting fraud, there were a significant number of cases ...

  • News

    Airmic slams added commissions

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Airmic has objected to national brokers’ plans to introduce additional commissions on fee business across the market.But the association acknowledged that transparency in broker fees was a more important issue, and would not be opposing the charge.In recent weeks Willis and Marsh have said they will begin levying a 2.5% ...

  • Online only

    FSCS steps in after broker goes into administration

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    The FSCS is stepping in to help customers of Bracknell broker Your Health Plus Insurance Services who may have lost money after the firm went into administration.It has now declared this firm in default.The FSCS said it may be able to pay compensation to those policyholders who paid premiums to ...

  • Features

    North West striding ahead

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Insurance Times together with our partners, Groupama and Liberty, held a round table discussion where a panel of experts gave their views on the state of the North West market and the issues it faces

  • C-Zone

    Testing utmost good faith

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    One of the fundamental principles of insurance is the principle of utmost good faith. Applying this to an insurance contract raises the question of duty, which does not arise in a sale of goods contract. A buyer of goods normally has the opportunity to inspect them before purchase and, as ...

  • News

    A lateral jump that shook the industry

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Towergate’s move on Open International is a sharp change of strategy. Michael Faulkner reports

  • News

    JLT’s £20m offer leads bids for First City buy-out

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Three in race to take over independent Lloyd’s broker

  • News

    Roadsure sold to sister company Premium Choice

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Up to 30 staff will be affected by the sale of broker Roadsure to sister company Premium Choice. Northampton-based Roadsure will move to Premium Choice’s Birmingham office following the sale this week, which was part of a restructure by parent company Optimas.Roadsure director Neil Beckingham said there would be ...

  • News

    Private motor rate rises fuel market recovery

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    The private motor market is continuing to show signs of recovery, with two surveys showing further rate increases. But there were warnings that rates must increase significantly if the market is to make a profit. Deloitte said motor rates increased by an average of 1.4% in July and August. This ...

  • News

    Novae loses three more underwriters

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Insurer Novae has suffered more resignations with the loss of three underwriting staff, including two senior underwriters. Gail Cook, head of regional professional indemnity (PI) in London, who also runs the insurer’s regional solicitors’ PI strategy, has gone.And Dominick Rogers, underwriting manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland has also left ...

  • News

    Court to decide who pays for pollution clean-up

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Insurers have warned that the outcome of a landmark case to be heard by the Court of Appeal this week could lead to pollution-related exclusions on public and general liability policies. The case will decide whether clean-up costs arising from pollution are covered by a public liability policy. Experts said ...

  • News

    Baroness Young defends EA over flood mapping

    2007-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Baroness Young, chief executive of the Environment Agency (EA), has played down insurers’ claims that the agency is not doing enough to share its data on flood mapping.In an interview with Insurance Times, Young said that the EA, criticised for its management of flood defences, was working to help ...

  • Online only

    Select & Protect sales surge

    2007-10-02T16:08:00Z

    Household policy business grows by 92% over summer