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Every year, children end up injured as a direct result of taking part in Halloween activities. Halloween is one of the busiest times of the year for emergency services and startling figures on the increase of injuries treated at Hibernian Aviva Health’s Xpress Med Urgent Care Centre confirms this avoidable trend. Admissions to Xpress Med during the Halloween period increase by 50%.

Dr Richard Aboud, medical director at Hibernian Aviva Health’s Xpress Med Urgent Care Centres, said: “Hibernia Aviva Xpress Med has seen a 50% increase in easily avoidable injuries such as burn injuries and minor trauma from falls and fire-works during the Halloween break. Halloween is a fun time for adults and children alike but children are more prone to accidents when taking part in Halloween activities, taking a common sense approach to the evening will without doubt prevent the vast majority of injuries.”

Hibernian Aviva Health, as part of National Kids Health month, is calling on parents to be extra vigilant and has the following advice and simple safety precautions to help make sure Halloween is a fun time for all the family.

  • Help your child pick out or make a costume that will be safe. Make sure the costume fits properly so it doesn’t drag along the ground and pay particular attention to the shoes, ill fitting shoes can easily cause a fall. Remember to leave enough room for kids to wear warm clothes under their costume as Halloween night can get very cold.
  • The eye holes in masks should be large enough for good peripheral vision. This will prevent trips and falls on the road.
  • Check that the material in costumes and all accessories including wigs, beards, scarves and hats are flame resistant as bonfires and fireworks are a big part of Halloween. A fire proof costume could prevent severe burns or respiratory problems should it catch fire.
  • Don’t forget to put reflective tape and stickers on the costume to ensure trick-or-treaters are visible to traffic.
  • If the costume has accessories such as a sword, check that there are no sharp edges and that it is smooth and flexible so it won’t cause an injury if it is fallen on.
  • Avoid nasty skin irritations and rashes by spot testing facepaints and glitter before applying to the face. Always use non-toxic paints.

Not only are the tricks a cause for concern, parents should also keep an eye out for the treats too.

  • Start Halloween night with a “spooky” dinner. This will help reduce the amount of sweets kids eat while trick-or-treating.
  • Nuts and boiled sweets could potentially cause obstruction and choking so parents’ should check their child’s goodie bags.

Hibernian Aviva Health National Kids Health Month runs for the month of October. It is a health information campaign which aims to raise family health awareness among consumers around the country with a particular focus on safety, first aid and healthy eating.

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Barclays bought the bank arm of insurer Standard Life for 226 million pounds on Monday to build up its mortgage and savings business.

The country’s second-biggest bank said Standard Life Bank would bring with it 78,000 mortgages and 8.8 billion pounds of outstanding balances, and a savings book of about 5.5 billion pounds in 287,000 accounts.

The deal will add about 10 percent to Barclays’ mortgage loan book, which stood at 84.4 billion pounds at the end of June, and 6 percent to its deposit balance of 88.5 billion.

About 270 Standard Life employees will transfer to Barclays when the deal completes.

Barclays, which has weathered the crisis better than most rivals, staying out of state hands, said the deal fitted its aim to target high quality loan and savings books.

At the end of June the average Standard Life Bank mortgage was about 48 percent of the value of the related property, better covered than the average and near the Barclays average of 44 percent. Loans more than three months in arrears were 0.68 percent, compared with 1.16 percent at Barclays, both well below the industry average.

There had been speculation Standard Life might offload its banking business and a source said last month it was in talks with Barclays. The insurer said in February it would not be replacing the unit’s departing chief executive.

Edinburgh-based Standard Life launched its bank in 1998 and became known as one of the relatively few lenders offering long-term fixed-rate mortgages and focussed on lending to customers with a sound credit history.

The unit made an underlying pretax profit of 26 million pounds in 2008, but it dramatically scaled back operations in response to the banking crisis and house price slump, with 2008 gross lending down 70 percent on the year at 1.1 billion pounds.

Barclays and Standard Life said they also plan to enter into a strategic agreement to explore joint opportunities in the retail long-term savings and investments sector.

With reuters

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The Lloyd’s of London insurance market cautioned that a strong investment performance from surging share and bond markets would not be sustained and said its full-year expectations were unchanged.

“There have been no events that have resulted in any material changes to our expectations for the full year,” Lloyd’s said in a trading statement on Tuesday.

Lloyd’s, which traces its origins back 321 years to a London coffee house where merchants met to insure ships, said its investment returns were better than expected thanks to a dramatic recovery in stock and bond markets from lows reached in the wake of last year’s financial crisis.

It said the scope for keeping up this investment performance in the months ahead was “increasingly limited” as the financial market recovery runs its course.

“We expect that current market levels will make it difficult to achieve significant returns in the balance of the year,” Lloyd’s said.

Lloyd’s said it remained financially strong, with total assets exceeding solvency shortfalls by its members by 2.55 billion pounds at September 30, little changed from 2.5 billion pounds three months earlier.

Insurers’ finances look set to get a boost this year thanks to a quiet U.S. hurricane season.

In 2008, Lloyd’s of London’s profit halved after hurricanes Ike and Gustav contributed to total catastrophe-related losses of about $50 billion (31 billion pounds), making it the industry’s second-costliest year on record.

With Reuters

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Fast-growing Welsh broker Moorhouse has launched Moorhouse Enterprise, which will enable individuals start up their own commercial brokerages.

Moorhouse Enterprise, a subsidiary company of the Moorhouse Group, will provide a range of facilities offering comprehensive support, for individuals and teams, to help overcome the difficulties associated with establishing a new business.

The move follows the recent intense period of consolidation in the UK, which has caused many individuals within these new enlarged groups to feel disaffected. Moorhouse Enterprise aims to help those that are frustrated within acquired firms, and others who have the desire to set up their own businesses, overcome the barriers to entry.

Start-ups will operate as appointed representatives of Moorhouse and support will be available in the following areas:

  • Compliance
  • Marketing (including online)
  • Agencies
  • Products and schemes
  • Systems
  • Trading website and technology
  • Head office functions


Chairman Lyndon Wood said: “There are currently many people within acquired firms who have been through all the upheaval but seen no direct benefit to them whatsoever. Many have the drive and the aptitude to succeed on their own but, because of the obstacles that must be overcome, plus the general sense of economic doom and gloom at the moment, many are staying put.

“This is why the time is right for a vehicle to help budding entrepreneurs get started. Their frustration is part of the hangover from consolidation but out of it will emerge the next generation of entrepreneurs and Moorhouse Enterprise hopes to help many realise their ambitions.”

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The UK branch of Zurich Insurance plc (“Zurich UK”) announced today, that it has written to Zurich Private Clients, Zurich Special Risks and Zurich Business Insurance Direct customers and other parties in the UK to inform them of the loss of a back-up data tape in South Africa and the remedial actions being taken.

The customer letters also set out the precautionary measures that Zurich UK recommends that customers can take as well as the steps that Zurich UK has in place to support them.

The back-up tape was lost during a routine transfer within South Africa to a data storage centre in August 2008. The back-up tape also held details of customers and other parties in South Africa and Botswana. Zurich UK’s investigation into the loss of the back-up tape has revealed deficiencies in the management of data tape security procedures in South Africa.

To date, Zurich UK has seen no evidence to suggest that this data has been misused or compromised.

UK Life policies are not affected by this matter, which impacts only a small percentage of Zurich UK general insurance customers. In addition to writing to its customers, Zurich UK is today contacting relevant brokers to ensure they are in a position to give customers all the support they need.

Zurich UK has appointed KPMG to conduct a thorough investigation of this matter. KPMG will also be supporting Zurich UK to strengthen its data security procedures. At the same time, Zurich UK has taken steps to improve the security around the transportation of its data tapes.

The Financial Services Authority has been kept fully informed about this matter. Zurich UK has also notified the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

Annette Court, CEO Europe General Insurance of Zurich Financial Services Group, said: “We apologise to any customers affected by this unfortunate matter. We take the security of our customers’ data very seriously. What has happened is unacceptable to us.”

“At this time, our first and foremost concern is our customers and we are doing all we can to support and assist them in these circumstances and have put in place a dedicated response team to help support them.”

“We are implementing the necessary steps to minimise the impact of this situation on our customers. Protecting our customers’ interest is at the top of our agenda. We are putting a great deal of investment into strengthening our internal processes to ensure that incidents of this nature do not happen again in the future.”

Zurich UK has provided affected customers with a dedicated telephone number in their letters. Other customers in the UK can call 08000 152 183 (or +44 1709 764401 if they are abroad) or write to Zurich Insurance plc, PO Box 641, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 9JP if they have any concerns.

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    As the insurance industry foots a £1.9 billion[2] fraud bill and recent reports reveal a 44% increase in false claims, new research from uSwitch.com shows that providers are strategically recouping this money from consumers by hiking compulsory excess charges by almost a third (32%)[1] in the last year.

    In addition, the number of drivers being hit with a compulsory excess fee of between £1,000 and £3,000 has increased almost tenfold from just 0.3% to 2.7%[1]. Across the country, this means that in the event of an accident, drivers will now have to pay their insurer an average of £170, a fee which has gone up by £41 from £129 since August 2008[1].

    With over one in five drivers (4.4 million)[3] claiming on their car insurance each year, insurance providers will now be making an additional £154 million[4] more from compulsory excess hikes in the next 12 months. This £170[1] compulsory excess charge combined with the average voluntary excess payment of £197 can make cliaming for an accident a costly business. In fact, any damage that costs less than £367[7] to repair really isn’t worth making a claim.

    Not only has the cost of compulsory excess increased over the past year, the number of drivers impacted by this fee has also risen from 81% to 85%[4]. Whilst most consumers are familiar with voluntary excess, a compulsory tarif can often slip under the radar when selecting a new insurance policy. In fact, many drivers may not even realise that they will be hit with this fee in the event of an accident.

    Mark Monteiro, insurance expert at uSwitch.com, comments: “Hiking hidden charges and exploiting consumers who don’t have the time or the inclination to scrutinise the policy small print is really sneaky in such a tense economic climate. Most people don’t even know that they could be hit with two excess charges in the event of an accident so this is an easy way to generate revenue. However, we can’t ignore the fact that consumers do have a responsibility to read the small print when they take out a policy, but unless people actually make a claim, most don’t even know that this charge applies to them.”

    Monteiro concludes: “Policy excess is not the only increased cost for motorists as fuel prices have also taken a hit with the recent 2p duty increase. In addition, the cost ofinsurance is also rising. The average policy has jumped up by 10% in the last year from for fully comprehensive cover and almost 13% for third party[6]. To avoid these rising costs and excessive excess charges, it’s important that consumers shop around every year for their car insurance. Providers rely on repeat renewals as the most competitive prices are often only offered to new customers.”

    Hightlights :

    • As the insurance industry shoulders a £1.9 billion[2] fraudulent claim bill and investigators report a 44% increase in fake motor insurance claims, car insurance stealth charges are also on the up
    • Compulsory excess payments have been increased by 32% in the last year from £129 to £170[1] – 85% of drivers would pay this charge in the event of an accident
    • Drivers with a compulsory excess above £500 has increased almost tenfold from just 0.3% to 2.7% – 1.55% of these could pay between £1,000 to £3,000 to claim[1]
    • With over 4.4 million[3] accidents resulting in a claim each year, this £41[1] excess increase will make the insurance industry £154 million[4] more in the next 12 months
    • The number of drivers with a compulsory excess on their policy has jumped by 4% from 81% and currently impacts 21.5 million[5] drivers
    • On top of this, the average policy price has increased by 10% from £478.70 to £526.42 for fully comprehensive cover and almost 13% for third party[6]

    Note:

    1. uSwitch.com customer database analysis (August ’08 vs. August ’09). Analysis shows that the average compulsory excess payment has increase from £129 to £170 in the last 12 months – £41 or 32%.

    2. Association of British Insurers.

    3. 4.42 million accidents result in a claim each year (Mintel Motor Insurance, Financial Intelligence, May 2007).

    4. uSwitch.com customer database analysis (August ’08 vs. August 09). Data analysis shows that 85% of all policy holders have a compulsory excess on their policy (August 09). In August 08, it was 81% of drivers. With 4.42 million accidents each year, 85% of 4.42 million = 3,757,000. 3,757,000 x £41 (compulsory excess increase) = £154,037,000.

    5. uSwitch.com customer database analysis (August ’08 vs. August ’09). Data analysis shows that 85% of all policy holders have a compulsory excess on their policy. There are 25,342,105 policy holders in the UK (ABI 2006). 85% of 25,342,105 = 21,540,789.

    6. AA insurance index.

    7. uSwitch.com customer database analysis (August ’08 vs. August ’09). The average voluntary excess is currently £197. £197 + £170 = a total excess payment of £367 in the event of an accident.

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    The Met Office has issued weather warnings for :

    • Grampian, heavy rain is expected from 00:01 Thursday 21 Oct to 12:00 Thursday 22 Oct.
    • Central, Tayside & Fife, Heavy Rain is expected from 0001 Wednesday 21 Oct to 2359 Wednasday 22 Oct.

    Risk of disruption:

    Wed 21 Oct – Grampian – Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire: There is a moderate risk of a severe weather event affecting parts of east Scotland during Wednesday. Outbreaks of heavy rain may give 40 mm on low ground and 60 to 75 mm over high ground during the day.

    Thu 22 Oct- Grampian – Aberdeenshire: There is a moderate risk of a severe weather event affecting parts of east Scotland during Thursday. Outbreaks of heavy rain may give an additional 15 to 25 mm over high ground during the morning with overall totals through Wednesday and Thursday of 80 to 100 mm.

    Wed 21 Oct – Central, Tayside & Fife – Angus, Fife, Dundee, Perth and Kinross: There is a moderate risk of a severe weather event affecting parts of east Scotland during Wednesday. Outbreaks of heavy rain may give 40 mm on low ground and 60 to 75 mm over high ground during the day.

    Thu 22 Oct – Central, Tayside & Fife – Angus, Fife, Perth and Kinross: There is a moderate risk of a severe weather event affecting parts of east Scotland during Thursday. Outbreaks of heavy rain may give an additional 15 to 25 mm over high ground during the morning with overall totals through Wednesday and Thursday of 80 to 100 mm.


    To take action to prevent or protect your home or business against potential flooding you can find all you need to know about flood and natural disaster insurance by clicking here

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      Zurich Financial Services Group today received the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Marketer of the Year Award.

      The DMA Marketer of the Year honors an individual or company who has contributed to direct marketing excellence in the last 12 months, and has exhibited corporate and environmental responsibility. Established in 1968, the award recognizes the achievement, innovation, and leadership of a company whose work represents the very best in marketing directly.

      Zurich’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Arun Sinha said: “This award is a great honor for Zurich and the entire marketing and communications team globally, all of whom have enacted meaningful change that can be seen and realized”. “What’s been most rewarding is to see as a company, Zurich not only experiencing significant growth in brand awareness and consideration of our products and services in markets and segments across the board, but also integrating a cultural shift with employees to become more customer centric that is paving the way for the entire insurance industry.”

      Marketer of the Year award recipients must have shown a significant impact on the marketing community by demonstrating leadership within the marketing community through the implementation of new products or services, processes, or personal growth.

      Barbara Parker, DMA’s Director, Award Programs, commented: “Zurich is an innovative organization that has made a significant impact with its marketing focus over the last year,”. “The Company’s HelpPoint campaign has been transformative to the culture and perception of the business and serves as a benchmark for others trying to strengthen important rapport with their customers. Their efforts exceed our requirements for this distinction.”

      Launched in September 2008, the Zurich HelpPoint global campaign is one of the largest global marketing initiatives. The campaign has spanned more than 140 countries, over six media channels and hundreds of individual executions.

      The Zurich HelpPoint campaign is based upon extensive market research to enable a precise understanding of insurance customers’ wants and needs. In total, the research involved more than 39,000 customers in 12 countries. The marketing and communications efforts aim to transform the image, perception and brand of Zurich from simply a traditional insurance provider to a customer-centric enterprise, differentiated from other insurers by placing its customers at the center of everything the organization does, from underwriting to finance to marketing to compliance.

      The term ‘Zurich HelpPoint’ captures the company’s commitment of delivering when it matters in an easy-to-understand, highly recognizable approach that would be meaningful to customers across all lines of business and geographies.

      A truly 360-degree initiative, Arun Sinha’s team is also driving a global internal HelpPoint awareness campaign to enable all employees to understand their individual role in delivering for the customer when it matters. The internal campaign has several initiatives including ‘managers toolkits’ to provide support and context to help managers to engage teams and drive action and advocacy. Keeping with the technology and innovation aspect of the campaign, an effective HelpPoint e-learning module for employees provided a twenty-minute interactive experience, which was completed by over 30,000 employees. And most recently Zurich held Customer Celebration Month internally as a way for employees to understand and honor customers.

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      Towergate Partnership today announces the acquisition of Scottish insurance broking firm, Moray Firth Insurance Brokers Limited.  Under the deal, all 12 staff and Directors have made the move to Towergate.  The team will continue to be led by Managing Director, Duncan Scott.

      The acquisition further strengthens Towergate’s position in Scotland where it already has broking offices based in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Kirkcaldy, Berwick, Jedburgh and Galashiels.  Moray Firth’s offices in Inverness and Elgin will now join forces with Towergate to further enhance a strong regional broking capability and extend its geographical coverage into Morayshire, Speyside and the Highlands.

      Moray Firth Insurance Brokers Limited controls premiums of circa £3.5m with a strong and well established commercial and retail client base.

      Alan McEwan, Towergate’s Regional Managing Director said, “Duncan and his team at Moray Firth are a great addition to our expanding business in Scotland, where our focus is on further strategic acquisitions and strong organic growth to ensure we continue to build a significant presence in Scotland.”

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      Aon Corporation today announced that John Bayeux, an industry veteran with over 22 years of experience as a risk manager and insurance broker in the financial institutions sector, has joined Aon Risk Services as Managing Director.

      In his new role, Bayeux will work with clients, the financial institutions markets and other financial institutions specialists to design coverages that address the exposures caused by the current financial crisis.

      Eric Andersen, Chief Executive Officer of Aon Risk Services U.S. Retail said: “We are excited to have John rejoin our firm, Aon is very focused on our industry specialties and John’s knowledge of the financial institutions markets will add tremendous value to our clients and our team.”

      Prior to joining Aon in August, Bayeux served as Executive Vice President and Financial Institutions Industry Leader for Willis, a position he had held since 2004. Previously, Bayeux had spent 14 years at Aon Risk Services and its predecessor companies, ultimately serving as Managing Director of the firm’s Financial Institutions Practice where he led the efforts to deliver products and services specifically geared to address the risk management needs of sophisticated financial institutions. Bayeux also has served as risk manager for several major financial firms.

      Bayeux earned an M.B.A. in Finance and a B.A. in History from Seton Hall University.

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      Aviva, the world’s fifth largest insurance group*, starts trading today on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “AV”. Andrew Moss, group chief executive, will ring the Opening Bell at the NYSE to mark Aviva’s first day of trading accompanied by Lord Sharman of Redlynch, chairman of Aviva.

      Aviva has established a level two American Depositary Receipt programme in conjunction with Citibank. Each Aviva ADR represents two Aviva ordinary shares. No new Aviva ordinary shares will be issued in connection with the listing and Aviva will retain its current primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.

      Over 20% of Aviva’s shareholders are in the US and the listing gives Aviva further access to a wider potential shareholder base and provides US investors with a more convenient and cost efficient means to hold Aviva’s shares.

      Aviva has established a competitive position in North America. In the US, the world’s largest savings market, Aviva is the leading provider of indexed annuity and indexed life insurance products. The company is also the second largest property and casualty insurer in Canada. The listing will give further momentum to Aviva’s brand in the US as it looks to grow retirement savings and insurance products, accelerate life insurance sales and benefit from the country’s attractive demographics over time.

      Aviva has completed the preparations for listing as part of its ongoing global finance programme.  This enhances Aviva’s financial processes, controls and risk management frameworks, bringing with it Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and broader risk management benefits for the group.

      Andrew Moss, group chief executive, commented: “Listing on the New York Stock Exchange is an important development for Aviva. The US is the largest savings market in the world and represents a major growth opportunity for us over the long term. Listing now is a natural step as more than 20% of our shareholders are in the US and we expect that number to increase.”


      * based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2008

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      Hardy Underwriting Bermuda Limited, the specialist Lloyd’s insurer and reinsurer, and Arab Insurance Group (B.S.C) (“Arig”) are pleased to announce the formation of Hardy Arig Insurance Management (W.L.L) (“HAIM”).

      HAIM is a joint venture company based in Bahrain and owned equally by Hardy and Arig.  It will develop reinsurance business primarily from the Middle East and North Africa region on behalf of Hardy syndicate 382 and Arig.

      As a coverholder for syndicate 382 (Hardy’s managed syndicate at Lloyd’s), HAIM will have the ability to offer significant line capacity and underwriting expertise.  The new company will initially focus on construction and engineering business along with onshore energy risks, and will look to develop further lines in due course.

      HAIM will commence writing business incepting in 2010 with effect from Q4 2009, and will operate from Arig’s existing offices in Bahrain.

      Commenting on the establishment of HAIM, Barbara Merry, Chief Executive of Hardy, said: “HAIM offers the Hardy Group an exciting opportunity to provide reinsurance in the MENA region in conjunction with an established and well respected local partner.  We are delighted to be working alongside the Arig team and look forward to a long term partnership.”

      Yassir Albaharna, Chief Executive Officer of Arig, said: “With the combined underwriting expertise and capacity of the two groups, HAIM will be able to make a valuable contribution to the reinsurance market as some of the most dynamic economies in the region are preparing for the future. We are extremely pleased taking this step with Hardy, a company that is so widely recognized for its professionalism and success. HAIM will significantly enhance the palette of services we are able to offer to the regional customer.”

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        Private medical insurance usually means you can get treated quicker than going on the NHS. But make sure you check what is and isn’t covered.

        Like all insurance the cover you get varies – but basic private medical insurance may pick up the costs of most in-patient treatments (tests and surgery) and day-care surgery, and some extend to out-patient treatments (such as specialists and consultants).

        Cover can be purchased on a full medical underwriting basis, which means you will be asked a number of questions about your health and, based on the information you provide, the insurer will decide the conditions of your cover. You can also apply for cover on a moratorium basis, which means you will not be asked any questions about your health, but if you have suffered from any health conditions in the last five years, these will automatically be excluded from cover initially.

        What isn’t covered?

        • You can’t take out cover now for treatment you know you’re going to need.
        • If you’ve had health problems in the past (pre–existing conditions), your insurer may also exclude those conditions from your cover. If you are asked to disclose these when applying for the insurance you must do so, or you could invalidate your policy, which means the insurance company won’t pay out if you make a claim.
        • It does not cover the treatment of chronic medical conditions. There are various definitions of chronic conditions depending on the policy, but broadly it is a long–term medical condition which is likely to continue to need regular or periodic treatment.
        • Some exclude certain types of treatments such as out–patient treatments, routine treatments (such as health checks), dental care or experimental treatments.
        • Most also exclude routine pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, fertility treatment, mental or psychiatric conditions, and elective treatments you may choose to have, such as cosmetic surgery.

        Keeping costs down

        Shop around – it’s a competitive market out there and both cover and costs vary from company to company. Many policies have a standard excess charge which means you agree to pay the first part of any claim, for example the first £50 or £100. If you agree to pay a higher excess you might get a cheaper policy. Or you could choose cover that only kicks in if NHS services are not available within a certain timeframe.

        Be clear about what you need. You may not want the highest level of cover. Always compare what’s covered by a policy, not just the price. Some may be cheaper than others, but they may not offer the same level of protection.

        For more information see the private medical insurance guides provided by the Association of British Insurers – see Useful links.

        Top tips

        1. Read the paperwork and ask questions if you don’t understand anything.
        2. Make sure you check what you’re covered or not covered for.
        3. Tell the insurance company if you have any existing medical conditions.
        4. Find out if your employer provides health insurance as part of your benefits package.

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        Standard Life today announces that David Nish will succeed Sir Sandy Crombie as Group Chief Executive with effect from 1 January 2010.

        David joined Standard Life on 1 November 2006 as Group Finance Director and a director of Standard Life plc.  Prior to joining Standard Life, David held senior roles at Scottish Power plc including Finance Director and Executive Director, Infrastructure Division.  Previously, he was a partner at Price Waterhouse.

        This appointment follows an extensive worldwide search.  Gerry Grimstone, Chairman of the Company, led the search, establishing an Appointments Committee consisting of the Company’s non-executive directors.  The FSA has approved this appointment.

        Gerry Grimstone, Chairman of Standard Life commented: “I am delighted to announce that David Nish will succeed Sir Sandy as Group Chief Executive of our business.  David has a proven track record in our business, and has played a pivotal role in the delivery of our strategy since he joined the company.  His unrivalled understanding of our business, his leadership capabilities and strategic vision make him the ideal candidate to lead Standard Life into the next phase of its development.”

        Sir Sandy Crombie, Group Chief Executive, commented: “Since he joined us in 2006, David has made an outstanding contribution to Standard Life and I am delighted for him that he has been selected to lead this business. I will continue to work with David and the executive team to deliver against our strategy in the next few months, ensuring the business is in the best of shape when he assumes his new role in January.”

        David Nish, Group Chief Executive designate, commented: “I am immensely proud of what our organisation has achieved over the past few years and I am excited to be given the opportunity to lead Standard Life.  We have built a strong, resilient and successful business.  In these challenging markets, it is vital that we maintain the momentum we have built and I am very much looking forward to taking over from Sir Sandy to lead the company to what I hope will be even greater future success.”

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        Insurer Aviva said Monday it would float 42 percent of Delta Lloyd in Amsterdam next month in an initial public offering that values its Dutch unit at 2.6-3.1 billion euros (3.9-4.6 billion dollars).

        Aviva, which first revealed plans for the partial flotation in August, added in a statement that it hoped to deliver gross proceeds of about 1.2 billion euros in what would be Europe’s largest IPO so far this year.

        Delta Lloyd shares will begin trading on the Euronext Amsterdam market on November 3.

        “This step, which will be the largest IPO in western Europe this year, will free up capital for us to use elsewhere and will give us the option of exploring further growth opportunities,” said Aviva Chief Executive Andrew Moss in the statement.

        Delta Lloyd offers financial services including life insurance, general insurance, fund management and banking products, mostly in Belgium and the Netherlands.

        The insurance giant will offer institutional and retail investors about 63.5 million ordinary shares at 15.50-19.00 euros each. Aviva will retain a 57-percent stake in Delta Lloyd, and 53 percent of voting rights.

        “The IPO will enable Aviva to monetise part of its holding in Delta Lloyd, giving Aviva greater financial flexibility, including the option to explore balance sheet restructuring and further growth opportunities,” it added.

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          Customers who change their healthy lifestyle is now rewarded with a with a 15 per cent discount off their health insurance policy.

          Aviva is rewarding customers who make simple, healthy lifestyle changes with a 15 per cent discount off their health insurance policy.

          People taking out the MyHealthCounts policy, part of Aviva’s Health Solutions plan, will receive the money off their renewal premium as part of the insurer’s latest advertising campaign.

          The initiative, which aims to encourage people to improve their health, also includes a free health check to anyone taking out a Health Solutions policy before the end of November.

          Dr Doug Wright, Aviva’s principal clinical health consultant, said: “We want to help people to improve their health and protect themselves and their loved ones.

          “We also want to support and reward people for putting proactive measures in place to improve their healthy. That is why we introduced MyHealthCounts.”

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            Lloyds TSB Commercial is staging nationwide roadshows and has published a ‘Preparing for the Upturn’ guide to help businesses understand the steps they need to take.

            British businesses, still reeling from the effects of recession, are ill-prepared to face a return to economic growth, even though they are aware of the need for action, according to a new study [1] from Lloyds TSB Commercial.

            The research reveals that a third of firms (31 per cent) have not taken any steps whatsoever to prepare their business for the upturn, and even more (36 per cent) don’t believe they need to do anything to ensure their business is ready to benefit as the recovery starts to gain momentum.

            Amongst the 31 per cent of firms that have not taken action to prepare for a recovery, 17 per cent admitted that they had not even thought about the steps they might take, and yet there was widespread recognition (43 per cent) that taking such steps would be essential if they were to survive in the long term. Almost half the firms questioned claimed they did not need any more help to prepare for the recovery.

            A ‘wait and see’ attitude seems to prevail even though half of the businesses surveyed (51 per cent) have seen the lead that well prepared businesses benefited from during the last recession. This attitude prevails despite widespread recognition amongst businesses of several risks which might leave them unable to exploit the upturn.

            Two thirds (64 per cent) believe their business will suffer from low cash resources, while a quarter (23 per cent) believe depleted capital will be an issue. A similar number (22 per cent) fear they will lack the capacity to meet demand for their products and services, while just over one in ten (13 per cent) are concerned about potential management or strategy gaps.

            Those businesses that have started to prepare for recovery are clear about the importance of taking action. Two thirds (66 per cent) say they need to act now in order to benefit, while two fifths (42 per cent) say they don’t want to lose out when the recovery arrives. A further 14 per cent say they learned their lessons in the last recession.

            The steps taken by those firms who have begun preparing is varied. A quarter (27 per cent) have sharpened up processes and working practices, and the same number have made efficiency improvements. One in ten (10 per cent) have sought additional funding, while six per cent have boosted research and development efforts. Small but significant numbers (5 per cent) are working to establish international networks, with a view to improving export prospects. The same numbers are looking more closely at the opportunities presented by the green economy.

            John Maltby, managing director, Lloyds TSB Commercial said: “Recession has weighed heavily on UK businesses and it is easy to see why talk of a recovery might bring welcome relief. But in the same way that we have encouraged firms to take action to survive the downturn, they will also need to prepare for the return to growth.

            “The shape and scale of any recovery is still uncertain, but one thing is clear – those businesses already looking towards the upturn and planning how to make the most of it, are the ones which will thrive. And those firms that sleepwalk towards recovery risk not just losing out but falling into the overtrading trap.”

            In order to help business across the UK benefit as the recovery gathers pace, Lloyds TSB Commercial has launched a nationwide series of roadshows, as well as a comprehensive guide – ‘Preparing for the Upturn’. Both the roadshows and the guide aim to help businesses understand the benefits of planning for the upturn, the risks of failing to plan and the steps they need to take from now on.

            James Caan, entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den judge, said: “Those businesses that have adapted, diversified and are prepared for the upturn are well placed to prosper and grow as the economy recovers. Businesses without a plan seldom go far and that’s especially true in times like these. It’s important that companies act now to plot how they’ll approach the opportunities that exist in the prevailing economic climate.”

            The roadshows are taking place in towns across the UK throughout October and November and Lloyds TSB Commercial’s new guide, ‘Preparing for the Upturn, is available to download here

            [1] Ciao research conducted in September 2009, amongst 500 senior managers within SMEs, for Lloyds TSB

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            New research released by Lloyds TSB Insurance has revealed the serious impact of driving breaks on accident rates, as nearly 100,000 crashes caused last year were by drivers taking to the wheel after a long break from driving.

            Lloyds TSB Insurance commissioned road safety experts to test the roadworthiness of licensed motorists who had not driven for six months or more. The results revealed that these drivers made four times as many serious safety errors as regular drivers, worryingly increasing their crash-risk by a quarter.

            The insurer estimates that 98,000 accidents last year can be directly attributed to lack of driving practice, causing over GBP200 million worth of damage. Yet public awareness of the risks is low, with half a million ‘rusty drivers’ planning to take to the road in the next 12 months.

            Driver ability in all key areas is impaired, according to the findings, with serious deficiencies in observation (86 per cent), speeding discipline (27 per cent), clutch control (33 per cent) and steering (13 per cent).

            Crash risk is also heightened by the length of the driving ‘break’, with those taking to the wheel after a year nearly twice as likely to have an accident.

            Despite the experiment revealing no marked difference in performance between the sexes, further research suggests women are more likely to take extended driving breaks than men (58 per cent vs. 42 per cent).

            Commenting on the research, Karen McCarthy of Lloyds TSB Insurance, said: “There is no substitute for practice and anyone thinking of getting behind the wheel after a long break needs to think really carefully about the risks. A simple refresher lesson or practice in a low traffic area can make a huge difference to your confidence and road awareness.”

            0 0

            NEOVIA Financial, the independent global online payments business, today announced it has been chosen by RSA as the standard to process payments for all its brands, including its leading MORE TH>N insurance brand with two million customers.

            In the initial deployment, NEOVIA will use its payment suite to process card payments online and by telephone for MORE TH>N’s consumer-facing insurance services. This includes both one-off and scheduled bill payments, and features NEOVIA’s industry leading NETBANX Unified PayPage technology which delivers PCI DSS compliance out of the box together with a highly customisable user-experience.

            A key reason why RSA chose NEOVIA for MORE TH>N is its multiple physical data centres, providing improved resilience, lower risk for payment processing and high levels of business continuity. Only a few “enterprise-class” payment providers can offer multiple data centres in different geographies with failover and disaster recovery capabilities. These multiple data centres are ready configured and primed for the unlikely event of one of the other sites going down though a downstream supplier problem or major disaster.

            Mark Christer, Managing Director at MORE TH>N, said: “NEOVIA was able to offer a flexible payment system that gives us options for future development, coupled with the security of multiple data centres and thorough business continuity plans, with the stability from an enterprise-class payment solutions provider.”

            Dan Starr, Executive Vice President at NEOVIA, said: “This contract win with a major insurance brand demonstrates RSA’s confidence in the NEOVIA Payment Suite to efficiently and robustly handle payments. We also expect RSA to gradually roll out the Payment Suite across multiple brands over the next few months once MORE TH>N has gone live, enabling more customers to benefit from its capabilities.”

            MORE TH>N is a brand of RSA, one of the world’s largest insurance companies and a FTSE 100 company. MORE TH>N provides its customers with access via the telephone and internet to an extensive product range including home, motor, pet and travel insurance.

            The NEOVIA Payment Suite features the NETBANX international payments gateway, the NETELLER e-wallet and Net+™ cards. NETBANX allows merchants to accept card and non-card payments through multiple channels including online, contact centres, mail order and via automated phone systems. The NETELLER e-wallet allows consumers to spend securely online as well as allowing merchants to increase customer lifetime value. Net+ cards allow merchants to extend customer loyalty and lifetimes. As well as cards, the NEOVIA Payment Suite supports online payments direct from consumers’ online bank accounts.

            0 0

            ING announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell its Asian Private Banking business to Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC Bank) for a consideration of US$ 1,463 million (around EUR 1 billion) in cash. OCBC Bank is Singapore’s longest established local bank and offers a wide range of specialist financial services.

            Jan Hommen, CEO of ING: “Today’s announcement reflects the momentum and the strength of our strategic transformation. Through the Back to Basics Programme, ING will simplify its organisation and will reduce its geographic and business scope, focusing on its positions in markets with the strongest franchises. After today’s transaction we have completed the divestment programme of our Private Banking business. ING Private Banking in the Benelux and Central Eastern Europe remain integral parts of ING.”

            The transaction will generate an estimated net profit for ING of approximately EUR 300 million and is expected to free up around EUR 370 million of capital. Completion of the transaction between ING and OCBC Bank is subject to a number of regulatory approvals and is expected to occur around year end.

            ING’s Asian Private Banking has around EUR 11 billion of assets under management. The Asia franchise offers private banking services in 11 markets, including Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore.

            Eli Leenaars, CEO Retail Banking, commented: “With OCBC Bank we found a solid new owner for our Asian Private Banking Business. OCBC Bank is a professional player offering a wide range of specialist financial services. ING remains confident about Asia’s long-term financial and economic prospects and potential and we are committed to our other existing Asian banking positions.”

            ING remains active in Asia with retail banking, insurance, wholesale banking, investment management and real estate.

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