Weblog

It might seem like a few weeks since insurancetimes.co.uk revealed the news that Towergate was shutting its BNIB offices, but the enormity of the story and interest generated among online readers cannot be overlooked.

In what is currently ranked as one of the top five most-read stories of the year, the story ‘Towergate shuts BNIB’ sent subscribers into a clicking frenzy when it landed in their inboxes and, as a result, it dominated online traffic for days.

It’s not the first time that events connected to this consolidator have had a major impact on online traffic and it surely won’t be the last.

Another big story to make its way onto the site before it appeared anywhere else was a major development at motor insurer Zenith. Parent Guardian Holdings confirmed it hoped to sell the business before the end of the year and online readers must have sensed a similar story to that of HSBC Insurance, the motor insurer that went into run-off earlier in the year, as it was the second most popular story on the site.

Reports that Marsh was closing its mobile phone claims administration scheme was reported on industry news site Mobile News, and also insurancetimes.co.uk, to the great interest of online readers.

Former Highway boss Andrew Gibson’s appointment at IAG UK also caused a stir in the week that the insurer was again linked to a takeover by rival QBE. Bloomberg reported that IAG’s share price rose 2.3% to A$4.01 (£2.21), following reports in the Australian Financial Review that QBE may be considering a takeover offer.

Online top five

Towergate shuts BNIB

Staff in redundancy talks as brand scrapped and 13 of 16 offices close

Zenith to sell ‘by end of the year’

Guardian Holdings in talks over motor insurer

Marsh pulls mobile phone scheme

Fifty members of staff set to be transferred

Former Highway boss Gibson rejoins IAG UK

Andrew Gibson becomes CFO at insurer as Brewster departs

Spurs biker claim may be cut

Carlo Cudicini’s motorcycle accident may prevent claim