Europe Intelligence Wire articles from March 2007

Europe Intelligence Wire archives from March 2007

News - Adjusters set for merger.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Tanya Powley. Loss adjuster Axis International is set to acquire rival Miller International in the next two months, Post can reveal. The deal will see the firm grow to GBP14m with 180 staff across 26...

News - FSA and trade bodies called to task over goodwill.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Ed Vinales. The regulator must reconsider the ban on brokers including goodwill on balance sheets or risk breaching its own treating customers fairly mantra. Writing in Post this week, Tony Cornell,...

News - Axa draws the line over broker commission rises.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Ralph Savage. Axa Insurance could be set for a stand-off with commercial brokers in 2007, after its chief executive said commissions can go no higher. Speaking to Post after announcing the insurer's...

News - Network Rail liability.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Network Rail's admission of liability for the Cumbrian rail crash, which claimed the life of an 84-year-old woman, is likely to see its captive scheme hit for GBP20m. Davies Lavery partner Mark Burton said: "While...

News - Blue Swan shareholder court date is set.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) The liquidator for Jersey-based Blue Swan Insurance has set a court date for legal proceedings against one of the insurer's shareholders, Post can reveal. A spokeswoman for Ernst and Young confirmed it had a...

News - GBP900m fire loss sparks commercial data first.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Lynn Rouse. A major research project has been launched to identify why large commercial fire losses have doubled and whether innovative building techniques are responsible. The Fire Protection...

News - Pleural plaques payment U-turn mooted.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) A successful pleural plaques test case could result in damages rising for the condition, in marked contrast to insurers' aim of denying compensation completely. Law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse won GBP26,000...

News - ABI young drivers call.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Insurers have demanded the government restricts the number of passengers a young driver can carry as part of its driving test overhaul. The Association of British Insurers was due to give oral evidence to the...

News - US broking giant mulls UK acquisition options.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Olivier C Laurent. Hub International this week became the latest acquisitive US broking giant to admit interest in the UK and European insurance markets. Kirk James, chief corporate development officer...

News - AIG set to insure Man United fans.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) AIG is set to become Premiership giant Manchester United's new insurance partner, Post understands. Post previously reported that broker Endsleigh's affinity deal with the football club was under negotiation (13...

News - Layton Blackham bids to prove independence.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Layton Blackham is actively looking at insurers - other than its new owner Axa - for new scheme arrangements in a bid to prove its independence. The move comes as a contrast to Equity's new owner Insurance...

News - Teceris staff defection.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Two members of Teceris' 14-man construction engineering team have defected to Cunningham Lindsey. The high end loss adjuster confirmed that Teceris associate Mike Roberts, and loss adjuster Ricky Brown had both joined...

News - ABI's anti-fraud push focuses on Midlands.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) The Association of British Insurers is set to launch an anti-fraud campaign in the East Midlands this year. A spokesman for the ABI said it was looking at the feasibility of running the campaign in select regions....

News - Quinn slams State health 'meddling'.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Tanya Powley. Quinn Group traded blows with the Irish government this week after its attempts to prise the insurer VHI from State control were blocked. Quinn offered to take over the organisation's 1.5m...

News - Travel agents rail against FSA regulation.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Travel agents have continued to deny the prospect of Financial Services Authority regulation, despite a report dubbing their sales processes as "weak". FSA regulation of travel insurance moved a step closer after...

Leader - Goodwill counting.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Jonathan Swift. With the clock ticking down to the end of a grace period for brokers using goodwill, it appears that concerns are starting to be voiced regarding whether a significant number of brokers will...

News - Olympic plant theft targeted in launch.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Ed Vinales. The Olympic Delivery Authority is being urged to utilise a new plant vehicle registration system, which it is claimed will reduce insurance premiums and the threat of terrorism in the run up to...

News - Chubb preaches legal action threat to bosses.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Chubb Insurance has relaunched its directors' and officers' offering for private and public companies, warning that bosses have never been at greater risk from legal actions. Chubb's Masterprotect for public and...

View from the top - Educating drivers on how to beat the crusher.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Kevin Sinclair, managing director, AA Insurance. Early this year, one of our customers was stopped by Greater Manchester Police because, according to their record, which comes directly from the Motor...

Financial News - Aviva profit windfall forecast.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Norwich Union parent Aviva is expected to announce an operating profit of between GBP3.1bn and GBP3.4bn today, based on a poll of City analysts. According to a range of 24 analyst estimates, Aviva is expected to...

Financial News - Lloyds TSB gains from rising creditor presence.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Ralph Savage. Lloyds TSB significantly increased its exposure to the creditor insurance market in 2006, with a 42% rise in gross premium making up for falls in commissions received by the bank. The...

Financial News - Favourable markets sees QBE profits soar worldwide.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) QBE's European and Lloyd's operations saw their combined after tax profits rise by 44% in 2006, with Lime Street largely behind the company's growth. In a favourable market, QBE Europe's net profit after tax rose...

Financial News - Advent recovers from 2005 catastrophe.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Castrophe reinsurance specialist Advent has returned to profitability, following one of its worst ever years. The insurer posted profits of GBP22.2m, having lost GBP74.8m in 2005 before tax. Brian Caudle,...

Financial News - PwC: run-off hits EUR204bn.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Discontinued insurance business in Europe exceeds EUR204bn (GBP137.4bn) according to a new survey released by PricewaterhouseCoopers in conjunction with the Association of Run-off Companies. It shows that German and...

Financial News - Annual results season.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Today marks the beginning of the busiest period for stock market listed insurers in the UK, with all major firms due to report their annual accounts within the next four weeks. Aviva - 1 March Amlin - 5 March...

Broker News - Broker to target GBP10m following online launch.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Olivier C Laurent. Personal lines broker Allen and Allen Group is aiming to generate up to GBP10m in premiums from an online motor insurance venture it is launching this month. The company, which is...

Broker News - Allianz Cornhill set to bang musical insurance drum.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Allianz Cornhill is relaunching its GBP6m musical instrument insurance division in the next few months, with broker marketing campaigns in the pipeline. The insurer plans to use this year's British Insurance...

Broker News - JLT heralds new joint venture with ICAP.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Jardine Lloyd Thompson says it is hoping to corner the market for insurance-based derivatives through a stand-alone joint venture with ICAP. JLT already has links with the interdealer broker as its commercial...

Broker News - Groupama in bike drive.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Groupama Insurances has changed the cover, pricing and availability of Optima Bike - its tailored motorcycle insurance product - following a review of the policy. The insurer said Optima Bike has been changed in an...

Broker News - Text-based motor quote.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Insurance software house CDL has launched an aggregator service, via textcheck, the mobile phone-based vehicle health check service launched by CDL and Onesoon last year. Motorists using the Textcheck service to...

League tables: Motor insurance - Staying one step ahead.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) After benchmarking the performance of UK household insurers and brokers in live sales calls (Post, 1 February, p12), Direct Excellence turned its attention to the motor insurance market in January. This year a...

Interview: Hayley Parsons - Spirit of enterprise.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) As everyone in the personal lines space is rapidly becoming aware, aggregators are everywhere. At least a dozen brand names have followed the pioneering moves of Moneysupermarket and Confused.com, and the market is...

Postbox - Goodwill crisis needs averting.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Last week, Post highlighted KPMG's report regarding the ending of concessions for the treatment of goodwill in calculating solvency margins (Post, 22 February, p3). The clock is indeed ticking and we are now 10 months...

People - Competition: Win a day at the races.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Which horse won the Brit Insurance Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham on 17th March 2006? Brit Insurance has again teamed up with Post to offer five pairs of admission tickets with Club Enclosure badges to the Cheltenham...

Directors' and officers' insurance - The fear factor.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) In today's commercial environment, ignorance is no longer an excuse. Any firm hoping to compete effectively must not only understand its own liabilities, but also how to manage them effectively. This is especially...

ECF: A User's Perspective - Discarding paper.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Lloyd's market claims files are now being processed electronically without paper file back-ups, and managing agents and brokers are committed to increasing the number of claims handled through the electronic claims...

Lloyd's: 2007 outlook - A window to the world.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Lloyd's, the Old Lady of Lime Street, started off 2007 in fairly robust health, it would seem, with opening capacity up 9% to GBP16.1bn. Rates may be less than attractive across most classes at the moment, but this...

Business interruption: Emissions trading - Working for the green trade.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Carbon is now in the mainstream press almost every day. And carbon legislation has changed the way business is done, making it part of every business interruption insurance claim. The implementation of legislation...

Career path - Influx of broking talent signals market overhaul.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Tanya Powley. A wave of new appointments at the top of the UK's largest brokers is set to change the face of the insurance industry, according to a new report. Industry analyst Plimsoll Publishing has...

Career path - CII members mentor Prince's Trust youngsters.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Eight Chartered Insurance Institute members have been recruited to work with The Prince's Trust charity to act as mentors for disadvantaged young people. The aim is to encourage and assist young people to plan and...

Career path - SMEs face tribunal hike.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) New compensation limits for employment tribunals mean that firms are exposed to increasing claims costs, Allianz Cornhill Legal Protection warned this week. The higher limits, introduced on 1 February under the...

Career path - Ask the expert.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Byline: Ciara Rothwell, senior consultant with Joslin Rowe's Manchester Most regional insurance professionals have probably considered a move to the London market at some point in their careers but while many...

Postscript - What the papers said this week.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Burnley Citizen A motorist who gave police a fake insurance document claimed he bought it for GBP35 from a door-to-door salesman. Burnley magistrates heard how Naeem Mustafa, 30, was trying to escape a conviction...

Postscript - Looking back.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Looking through Post's back catalogue paints a unique picture of more than 150 years of insurance news, as these highlights from past articles reveal. 100 YEARS AGO - 'Berlin' wreck costs GBP10k The wreck of...

Postscript - Penny Black's insurance week.
March 1, 2007... (From Post Magazine) Penny was delighted to spend a night last week in the company of a number of celebrities, from cricketer Phil Tufnell to chat show host Vanessa Feltz, news reader John Humphrys to undercover TV spook Donald McIntyre....

Editorial - Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Mark Geoghegan, editor. Dear Friend, I was going to say that the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund news has dominated the headlines since we last spoke, but that wouldn't be strictly true, would it?...

News - Reinsurance company profits for 2006 hit all-time high.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) 1. SELECTION OF 2006 RESULTS Company Net income Combined Ratio Advent $43.3m 83.0% (GBP22.2m) Arch ...

News - Plan hatched for state-wide cat fund.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Talks are being held in the US to decide if there is a case for building a multi-state catastrophe fund. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) catastrophe working group, chaired by Florida...

News - Ace warns against political risks.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Global businesses need to adopt formal structures to assess ongoing risks posed by political instability and unrest in emerging markets to protect their growing investment in these areas, according to leading...

News - Atlantic hurricane threat not over yet.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) The threat of hurricanes in the Atlantic region will remain high for decades, a report by a leading physicist has warned. The White Paper, published by reinsurance intermediaries Carvill, has predicted that...

News - Allianz Re given go-ahead by DIFC.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Dubai's financial services authority has granted Allianz Re a licence to operate as an authorised business in the emirate's financial centre. Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) governor, His Excellency Dr...

News - Ironshore gets 'A-' start-up rating from AM Best.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) AM Best has assigned a financial-strength rating of 'A-' to Bob Clements' latest Bermudian start-up insurance company, Ironshore Insurance. The outlook for the rating is stable. The ratings agency said Ironshore will...

News - JLT expands into East Europe following deal.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) has announced a deal under which SIACI, its 32% owned French associate, will combine with Assurances et Conseils Saint-Honore (ACSH), the Paris-based employee-benefit services provider and...

News - Supercomputer aids in climate change preparation.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) One of the world's largest supercomputers is helping insurers understand natural catastrophes in the face of climate change. Willis has joined forces with a network of academics to apply the NEC Earth Simulator in...

News - Fitch team gets in on ILS action.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) International ratings agency Fitch Ratings has formed an analytical team dedicated to ranking insurance-linked securities (ILS). The specialist working group has been formed following a 59% growth in issuance of ILS...

News - CEA boss addresses public inquiry.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Gerard de La Martiniere, president of Comite Europeen des Assurances (CEA), the Brussels-based representative organisation of the European (re)insurance industry, has participated in the European Commission's (EC) public...

News - Quanta faces class actions over 2005 loss estimates.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Quanta is facing a shareholder class action relating to alleged losses arising from increases in 2005 loss reserves. A securities class action lawsuit was commenced by law firm Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz on behalf...

News - Munich Re premiums fall 3%.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Munich Re has said it is satisfied with the outcome of the 1 January renewals, but pointed to a 3% fall in premium volumes and an increasingly competitive market. Board member Torsten Jeworrek said: "We are satisfied...

News - QBE buys Mexican insurer Cumbre.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) QBE has announced the acquisition of Mexican insurer Seguros Cumbre, subject to regulatory approvals. Cumbre is a commercial-lines insurer of small-to-medium clients, which wrote $57m of gross premium in 2006. The...

News - Lloyd's insurer Talbot silent on impending sale.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Lloyd's insurer Talbot has hired investment bank Lexicon Partners to carry out a strategic review of the company that could lead to an impending sale, according to reports. The company's private-equity owners have...

News - Three-year high for Bermuda in 2006.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Bermuda recorded a three-year high for reinsurance company incorporations during 2006, with an almost 10% increase in new companies incorporated in the jurisdiction over 2005. According to the Bermuda Monetary...

News - White appointed as Lloyd's deputy chair.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Lloyd's Names' agency Argenta's boss, Graham White, has been appointed deputy chairman of Lloyd's to replace current deputy chairman Bronek Masojada. Mr White's appointment followed the end of the Hiscox chief...

News - EC queries common reinsurance practice.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) The European reinsurance industry could be acting in a manner that restricts competition, the European Commission (EC) said in its long-awaited report published in January. The Business Insurance Sector Survey raises...

News - Swiss Re sells iconic 'Gherkin' building.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Swiss Re has sold its iconic London office building, 30 St Mary Axe (known to Londoners and tourists the world over as 'the Gherkin' due to its shape) to an affiliate of the real-estate corporation IVG Immobilien AG for...

News focus - PWS brokers bailed until April following London January arrests.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) January's raid on Lloyd's broker PWS by the UK's Serious Fraud Office is believed to have stemmed from allegations that the company held public monies for improper payments. The company, which has since revealed it...

News focus - Florida catastrophe-cover charge.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) An emergency rule forcing property insurers in Florida to freeze rates has been approved. The measure, issued by Governor Charlie Crist and agreed by the state's Financial Services Commission in January, also...

News focus - CME and Carvill launch rival to Nymex-Gallagher Re cat options.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Derivatives giant the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has announced it is to launch CME-Carvill Hurricane Index futures and options on futures contracts on 12 March 2007. The underlying indexes will be calculated by...

News focus - PXRE default on A&W cat bond may cost $53m.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Troubled Bermudian catastrophe specialist PXRE has revealed it could be on the hook for up to $53.4m in termination charges for failing to pay the premiums due under retro deals with Atlantic and Western Re Limited, the...

News focus - 'SCORverium' merger deal stacks up financially, claims analyst.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) A leading analyst has described the possible tie-up of European reinsurers SCOR and Converium as being earnings-accretive and demonstrating good industrial logic. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) analyst William Hawkins...

News focus - New liability-cover restrictions on horizon, Aon report warns.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Vigilance among insurers on emerging and already-recognised risk is on the rise, according to a new report into global liability trends by Aon. The report has warned insurance buyers that coverage restrictions are...

News analysis - Consolidation is back as the market's gone soft.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) So SCOR has snuck up behind Converium and spirited away almost a third of its equity from underneath the noses of its board. The French reinsurance champion said it had irrevocably secured a 32.9% stake in its...

Rethink - FHCF decision clouds horizon for 'Sunshine State' reinsurers.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) While 2006 was distinctly calm on the hurricane front, there was barely time to raise a glass to the final-quarter results before Governor Charlie Crist was whipping up a storm of his own in Florida and upsetting the...

Inside view - Why hard cash beats hope any day.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Who among us does not empathise with hurricane-battered Floridians? Florida homeowners have seen 20-plus percent rate increases on their homeowners' insurance bills in recent years, and the average premium in Florida is...

Inside view - Take the slow boat to Chinese riches.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) As the digital read-out reaches 431kph, the MagLev train is an immediate analogy for the economic G-forces that are a fact of life in China. Rocketing along the 30km route from Shanghai Airport into the outskirts of the...

Technical report: ART - Risky business.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) After nearly two decades of tentatively dabbling in the capital markets, it took the double whammy of the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons for the reinsurance industry to take transferring risk to the capital markets...

Technical report: ART - Catastrophe bonds: another bond adventure?
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Angela Koller. With the January 2007 renewals behind us, it is a good time to take stock and reflect on the performance of the reinsurance market in 2006. Hurricanes were expected to hit the property and...

Life reinsurance - Europe and Asia will drive future growth as the US stays flat.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) MG: Will the reinsurance segment of the life market grow in the next five years as much as it has in the past five? Why? WB: I guess you will have to reflect the regional distinctions: In the US, we are seeing...

Briefing: Environmental liability - Should you be worried about the EC Environmental Liability Directive?
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Traditionally, European environmental liability has only covered personal injury and property damage, but now all that has changed. The implementation of the European Community Environmental Liability Directive (EC ELD)...

Legal briefing - How to avoid contract uncertainty: Five things you must know now.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Few would argue that contract certainty is a bad thing. To those outside of the insurance industry, the willingness of reinsurers to write huge risks on the basis of no more than a few pages of documentation is little...

Convergence quiz - How well do you speak the language of convergence?
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) During the past few years, a favourite talking point in the reinsurance community has been the convergence of the investment banking and reinsurance sectors. The evidence is plentiful: an insurer has issued a catastrophe...

Re-sume - From chicken feet to steaks the size of tables.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) How does the market now compare with when you started in the industry? The market has undergone remarkable changes since I first started working in the industry. The advent of advanced computer technology has led to...

Re-sume - Recruitment moves.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) Julian Avery will stand down from the board of directors at Aspen Insurance Holdings on 2 May 2007. Mr Avery has been a director since April last year. He was managing director of Wellington from 1996 before becoming...

Re-sume - Diary.
March 1, 2007... (From Reinsurance) MARCH 2007 4-7 SOA ReFocus 2007 Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort, US +1 (847) 706 3500 myoung@rgare.com www.refocusconference.com 6-8 CEO Insurance Summit Marina Mandarin,...

Ray of hope shines on China's box carriers.
March 1, 2007... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Morgan Stanley backs market with upgraded ratings CONTAINER shipping is finding favour again with investment bank Morgan Stanley, which upgraded its rating on three mainland China box carriers, and forecast...