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Danny Walkinshaw looks at the latest insurance stories online

There was no ‘snow day’ for visitors to insurancetimes.co.uk as breaking news kept those stuck at home or in the office entertained and informed throughout the wintery days. Not even the several inches of white stuff that landed on various towns and cities around the UK could stop the new year getting off to a cracking start.

The story that got online readers most excited related to QBE’s personal motor book of business, which the insurer placed into run-off. Insurancetimes.co.uk confirmed the news, ending a busy period for the motor market, which has seen a similar fate for HSBC Insurance (UK) Ltd and the sale of Zenith to Markerstudy.

It didn’t take long for an acquisition to appear in the online top 10, and first off the mark was CCV, the acquisition vehicle of Towergate chairman Peter Cullum.

If the crystal ball gazers are proved right, online traffic could be dominated by similar deals over the coming months.

Also catching online readers’ eyes was Zurich’s appointment of Mark Coffey as head of personal lines in its broker division, closely followed by Towergate’s capture of the Dragon Den star Duncan Bannatyne account in a three-year deal.

Elsewhere across the web, RSA’s prediction that every day of heavy snow could cost the UK economy as much as £690m in lost output and sales was widely reported, with websites in Wales and Scotland focusing on the potential damage to their particular regions.

Amid Met Office predictions that the cold weather is set to continue through January, the FT Adviser website reported: “RSA noted that, with the current bad weather worse than early last year, the UK's economic output will be hit to the tune of at least £14bn in the next three weeks.” It’s snow joke.