Latest News – Page 691
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NewsEsure reports 15.5% increase in GWP
Esure has reported a 15.5% increase in gross written premium (GWP) to £151m for the first quarter of 2016. This is made up of a 17.1% increase in motor GWP to £128.9m, while home GWP was also up 7.3% to £22.1m as a result of the ...
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Online onlyAgeas was top commercial liability insurer in 2015
Ageas reported a highly profitable COR of 79.2% for its liability book in 2015, after reserve releases added 17.1 points. Direct Line Group was the only other insurer analysed to report a 2015 underwriting profit for its commercial liability book with significant reserve releases knocking 46.6 ...
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NewsClaims Excellence Awards 2016: Winners revealed
LV=, Allianz and Cunningham Lindsey were the big winners at the Insurance Times Claims Excellence Awards 2016. The insurance industry flocked to The Brewery to recognise the efforts of claims teams and individuals across the industry. The judging panel comprised Biba head of technical services Mike ...
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NewsMan convicted for role in £100k ice cream van fraud
A 39-year old man has been convicted for his part in an insurance fraud where an ice cream van was used to stage fake accidents across the country. Barry Mark Sandmann, 39, of Brompton Lane, Strood, Kent, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on 29 April ...
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Online onlyMay 2016 issue
Cover story: Commercial lines profitability continues to elude UK’s top insurers
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NewsJLT EMEA chief executive Martin Hiller to retire
JLT chief executive of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Martin Hiller is retiring from the company. Hiller joined JLT in 1988. He is best known at the company for his almost 10-year stint as chief executive of the JLT Specialty broking division. JLT credited ...
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NewsValue of Electra’s Davies stake jumps 65%
Private equity house Electra’s stake in claims firm Davies jumped 65% in the six months to 31 March 2016, Electra’s accounts show. The value of the 57% stake, which Electra bought when it backed Davies’s management buyout in 2011, is now worth £38m, up from the ...
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NewsNIG retains crown in Insurance Times e-trading survey 2016
NIG has once again topped the rankings as the best-performing insurer for e-trading. For the second year running, the SME-only, broker-only insurer has come top in a survey of 246 brokers, in the Insurance Times E-trading Broker Insight Report. For a full copy of the report ...
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NewsDirect Line Group GWP up 4.2% in first quarter
Direct Line Group reported gross written premium (GWP) from continuing operations of £777.8m in the first quarter of 2016, up 4.2% on the £746.5m it reported in the same quarter last year. This was despite a 1.8% drop in in-force policy numbers to 15.9 ...
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NewsAXA planning UK life and savings exit
AXA is planning to sell its remaining UK life and savings businesses, including its SunLife direct protection business and AXA Wealth, the company announced this morning. The insurer revealed the plan after reaching an agreement to sell Elevate, an online investment platform, to Standard Life. ...
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NewsCompass ‘doesn’t really work inside Gallagher’
Arthur J Gallagher group chief financial officer Douglas Howell has played down the importance of its UK broker network Compass, telling analysts that the network “doesn’t really work inside Gallagher” and that Compass’s planned exit from the group “is not a big deal”. Insurance Times revealed ...
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NewsMarsh-owned SMEi’s joint chief executives leave roles
Marsh-owned broker SMEi’s joint chief executives Jason Gandy and Roger Snowden have left their current roles. Gandy has left the business altogether, while Snowden will continue at the company in a consultancy role. Jonathan Webber and Lee Tetley have replaced them. Webber, formerly SMEi’s finance director, ...
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NewsTowergate owner eyes Autonet deal
Towergate owner HPS, formerly known as Highbridge Principal Strategies, has been tipped as a frontrunner to acquire a stake in van broker Autonet Insurance Brokers, Insurance Times can reveal. According to market sources, Autonet is close to agreeing terms with HPS. Autonet and HPS have declined ...
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NewsGRP makes second retail broking investment
Peter Cullum-backed consolidator Global Risk Partners (GRP) has funded subsidiary Abbey Bond Lovis’s acquisition of Northern Ireland broker McGrady. GRP backed the management buyout of Abbey Bond Lovis in August 2015 and the company has since been plotting to expand in Northern Ireland. McGrady is GRP’s ...
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NewsCarrot's telematics 'warning' initiative improves young driver behaviour
Telematics firm Carrot Insurance has used its telematics box to improve the driving behaviour of its young policyholders, director Ed Rochfort has said. The firm which won an award last year for reducing accident frequency by 42% among its young drivers, through a strategy of intervention ...
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NewsAmanda Blanc succeeds John O’Roarke as IFB chair
The Insurance Fraud Bureau has appointed AXA UK and Ireland general insurance chief executive Amanda Blanc (pictured) as its new chair. She replaces outgoing LV= general insurance managing director John O’Roarke, who has stepped down as the bureau’s chairman after three years in the position. O’Roarke ...
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NewsAllianz Q1 revenues down 6.4%, operating profit down 3.5%
Allianz said first quarter revenues fell 6.4% from a year earlier to €35.4bn and operating profit fell 3.5% to €2.8bn. In Property and Casualty insurance, the combined ratio improved 1.3 percentage points to 93.3%, largely due to fewer claims stemming from natural catastrophes. Solvency II capitalization ...
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NewsHome premiums up sharply while motor stalls in Q1, says AA
Home insurance premiums have increased sharply over the past three months, while motor premiums have stalled, according to the AA. The AA’s benchmark British Insurance Premium Index shows that premiums for the average quoted Shoparound premium (average of the five cheapest quotes for each ‘customer’ in ...
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NewsBroker Network names Ian Clark as executive chairman
Broker Network has appointed Ian Clark (pictured) as executive chairman. Clark’s appointment follows last month’s appointment of former Canopius UK specialty chief executive Tim Rolfe as chief product and underwriting officer, and the announcement in March that former Brightside boss Des O’Connor was joining as ...
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NewsAIG reports lower profits in Q1 as investment income hit
AIG reported a lower-than-expected profit for the third straight quarter as poor returns from hedge funds hurt its investment income. Group operating profit fell 54% to $773 million in the first quarter, partly due to restructuring costs of $122m. Pre-tax income in AIG’s commercial property and ...
