Kane to succeed Satchell

Archie Kane, chief executive of Scottish Widows, is the new chairman of the Association of British Insurers (ABI). He was appointed at the Association's AGM on 18 July and succeeds Keith Satchell who has concluded his two-year term.

First published 19 July

Rise in home insurance

Thousands of homeowners in some of the UK’s worst-affected flood areas are applying for home insurance for the first time in the wake of last month’s catastrophic downpours. Immediately after the flooding, applications from residents in Sheffield, Doncaster, Hull, the West Midlands and parts of Scotland leapt by up to 300% in June, compared with the previous month on the moneysupermarket.com price comparison website.

First published 18 July

Primary Assist launch

UK Underwriting has launched an in-house travel assistance unit under the name Primary Assist. Based in Norwich, this service will operate with a team of multi-lingual staff who will co-ordinate out-patient assistance, cost containment, directional care for US cases and in-house medical and emergency commercial flight repatriation bookings on all cases.

First published 18 July

28% caravans uninsured

Over a quarter of caravans on Britain's roads are not insured, according to figures released by Towergate. The research revealed that some 28% of the approximate 2 million caravans in the UK have no insurance cover.

First published July 19