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George Stobbart

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GlobalOptions, provider of Special Investigative Unit Services to the insurance community, announced its strategic partnership with United Kingdom based firm, CSB (Claims and Surveillance Bureau).  as part of the strategic partnership, GlobalOptions has entered into a definitive license and share option agreement to substantially acquire all of the assets of CSB. CSB provides coverage throughout the United Kingdom for all levels of enquiry; employing a national field force of expert claims consultants, surveillance operatives and fraud investigators.

CSB Managing Director Steve Cook comments, “I am truly delighted that CSB is to be part of GlobalOptions’ expansion across the globe and for the opportunity to align our proven operational capabilities with the most advanced proprietary case management and intelligence system GlobalTrak™.  I believe this technological advancement will transform the way insurers expect our industry to do business and will eventually become the benchmark by which others are measured”.  Steve continues, “There are real synergies and cultural similarities that exist between our respective organisations, which have made aligning operations surprisingly easy.  We are already seeing the benefit this alliance brings to our clients and I am confident this will result in the most dynamic fraud and cost containment solution available to the global insurance industry”.

“This partnership marks a milestone in United Kingdom’s insurance investigation industry,” said Frank Pinder, President and CEO of GlobalOptions.  “As the world’s largest provider, we’ve vetted CSB for their expertise and capability in their respective market and field. They’ve demonstrated their professional competence and we look forward to working together to provide the best solutions to address fraud on an international level. CSB will now be an integral part of implementing comprehensive counter fraud programs to reduce the cost of insurance fraud for consumers in the United Kingdom and will effectively manage all investigations through GlobalTrak™. As indemnity costs continue to rise, GlobalTrak will dramatically increase the speed of decisions on potentially fraudulent claims and give them the required metrics to better predict fraud trends across all lines of business.

Executive Vice President of UK and International Operations, Bobby Gracey, is also excited about the partnership that GlobalOptions has developed with CSB.  Having over 25 years of experience in the insurance claims industry, Mr. Gracey endorses the alliance and believes that the UK is a key strategic location for GlobalOptions international growth.  “I personally have known Steve and CSB for many years; and by following our extensive due diligence, it became apparent that working together, we could jointly create a market-leading response which meets and exceeds the needs of the UK insurance claims industry.  In addition, GlobalOptions’ state-of-the-art technology platform, GlobalTrak™, will help transform the way the local industry transacts with counter-fraud organisations.”

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The Law Society has told the Government that its proposals to increase the small claims limit in personal injury cases stem from propaganda, generated by insurers.

Responding to a consultation on arrangements concerning the small claims limit for such cases, the Law Society said the insurance industry is lobbying the Government into adopting a policy that will see many thousands of genuine accident victims left without the benefit of expert legal advice to assist them in their claims.

Desmond Hudson, Chief Executive of the Law Society, said: “The Government’s sensible objective to reduce fraudulent or exaggerated  accident claims will simply not work if the Government simply adopts the insurance industries’ plans. Different costs limits for some types of personal injury claim and other steps to place obstacles in the way of claimants will  increase shareholder profits for insurers, while victims who have been injured in an accident are faced with little or no hope for justice. Anyone who doubts this should read the E-Sure flotation prospectus.

“These proposals risk penalising genuine accident victims. Restrictions on recoverable costs are simply intended to make it harder to claim and obtain justice.

“Raising the small claims limit for personal injury cases will create an uneven playing field. Ordinary victims who represent themselves will be confronted by insurers who specialise in contesting such claims. That does not assist  access to justice. Instead, it tips the odds in favour of the powerful and yet again unfairly promotes the interests of the insurance lobby whose promises to the Prime Minister to reduce motor premiums is likely to be unfulfilled.”

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2012 results for Kerry London Group show a return to profit for subsidiary Kerry London Limited with an EBITDA of £0.5m.  Sister company Trade Direct Insurance continues to go from strength to strength achieving its most profitable year on record, reporting 14% growth versus 2011.   Both Kerry London Ltd and Trade Direct Insurance have enjoyed significant new client wins including McNicholas Construction and Kingfisher Group UK & Ireland, respectively. 

Joe Kelliher, founder and Chairman of Kerry London Group, returns to an externally focussed and newly created business role as Lifetime President, announcing a new management model which delivers a cohesive leadership structure across all Group companies.  Group wide capabilities, synergies and contacts will be leveraged, driving competitive advantage and providing a spring board for further growth in 2013.

The Kerry London Group board is strengthened by the addition of a panel of Executive Board Directors, responsible for determining the strategic direction of the Group.  Mike Coulbert is appointed as Chairman of the board and Imogen Coggan as Group Chief Operating Officer. Mike and Imogen are both Executive Directors of Kerry London Ltd and their appointment to these newly created roles at Group level consolidates the Group board.  Senior Non-Executive, Colin Calder is joined by Roger Donegan as Non-Executive Director and together they will oversee the Group’s strong corporate governance practices.

Mike, Imogen and Colin will also be providing board level consistency across Group subsidiaries: Mike as Executive Director and Chairman of both Kerry London Ltd and Trade Direct Insurance; Imogen as Executive Director and Colin as Senior Non-Executive Director to both subsidiaries.  Lindsey Visconti, Group HR Director, also joins both subsidiary boards as Executive Director.

Joe Kelliher comments: “I look forward to my renewed external focus in the knowledge that Kerry London Group has regained its competitive edge. We have a strong Board to drive forward organisational growth and a robust executive team implementing our alignment strategy and operational delivery.   The recently established Group Operating Committee is focussed on leveraging all elements of the Group from direct, retail and wholesale.  The committee is sharing expertise, information and capabilities to deliver a blue print for a truly customer centric and highly efficient operating model.  At the same time we are investing in our people with training and mentoring programmes and our IT infrastructure with e-commerce facilities, ensuring that we are bringing innovative thinking and exceptional service to every client and every prospect.   We have a powerful team and a winning strategy for 2013.”

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1st Central Insurance has promoted Andy James to the role of CEO of the UK Business (First Central Insurance Management Ltd).  Andy takes up the new position with immediate effect, alongside his current role of Group Marketing Director at the company. Andy joined 1st Central in August 2012 from Allianz Insurance where he headed up the direct motor and home business.

Founder and Group CEO, Ken Acott, will continue to be deeply involved in the UK business through his new role as Chairman.  1st Central launched in 2008 and has quickly grown as a motor insurance provider with a turnover in excess of £100m GWP.  This restructure is aligned to the company’s commitment to delivering a good service experience, maintaining strong underlying business performance, and making 1st Central a great place to work, all of which combine to deliver against its 2013 objective to increase market share.

Commenting on his appointment, Andy said: “This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the 1st Central business as we move into our next phase of growth.  Insurance is all about selling and delivering on a promise and it is great to be given the opportunity to ensure we can become a more marketing led organisation.  Within 1st Central we have a team of extremely talented people and I look forward to working closely with them to deliver our group aspirations.”

Ken Acott said: “Andy’s vision, leadership and industry experience will contribute enormously to our business momentum.  We have ambitious plans in the coming year and Andy is well placed to drive the business forward towards its strategic goals.”

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The MCA (Management Consultancies Association) has linked up with leading insurance broker IHN to provide MCA member firms with research and advice on risk management in the consulting sector. IHN will also be the Association’s approved provider of specialist insurance broking services.

The MCA is the UK’s trade association for the management consulting industry. It chose to partner with IHN following an extensive examination of the risk and insurance marketplace and consultations with member companies about their needs. Both organisations have committed to working together for at least 5 years.

The partnership between the two organisations will focus on three areas of activity:

– Research into the business and other risks facing management consulting firms and the effectiveness of their strategies for managing those risks

– Bespoke advice for individual MCA member firms on risk management in consulting

– Specialist insurance broking services to cover the full range of risks and the needs of MCA member firms

As part of this agreement, IHN will sponsor one of the Awards at this year’s MCA Awards event on 18 April. These awards celebrate the best projects in UK management consultancy and attract entries from large numbers of the country’s leading consulting firms.

Welcoming the partnership, Alan Leaman, CEO of the MCA, said: “Our relationship with IHN will help insurers to understand the business needs of management consultancies and provide our members with access to the best in risk and insurance advice. There are potential benefits for everyone.”

Liz Foster, Managing Director of IHN, said: “I am delighted that IHN has been selected by the MCA as its insurance broker partner. We intend to create a sustainable relationship delivering expert advice coupled with excellent service standards. We look forward to meeting members in the coming months.

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Cooper Gay has appointed Graham Dick as a Director of its Professional Risks Division.

Based in London, he joins to target financial institutions business emanating from the UK, Europe and offshore jurisdictions and will report to Dan Barton, Managing Director of Professional Risks.

Mr Dick started his insurance career in 1986 at Sedgwick plc. Since 1998, he had worked at Jardine Lloyd Thompson, where he managed a book of professional risks business mainly focused on the UK and Europe.

Dan Barton, Managing Director of Professional Risks at Cooper Gay & Co said: “We recognise that clients and markets alike are continually raising the bar regarding what they expect from their broker. We aim to exceed those expectations; Graham’s knowledge and experience will contribute significantly to those aims”.

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Plexus Law has made two key hires as it gears up to providing a bespoke sector service to its insurer, broker and corporate clients.

Jason Spencer, an insurance partner at Hill Dickinson for 15 years, and Laurence Ives, formerly strategic and development director at Hill Dickinson, have joined Plexus Law this week to spearhead the new initiative.

Sector Solutions will be driven from within Plexus Law and will provide a comprehensive range of corporate motor and casualty claims insurance services to clients.

“This development enables Plexus Law better to align its services to the insurance market which is increasingly organised along sector lines,” said Jason. “Clients will not only benefit from the market leading infrastructure provided by Plexus but also from their commercial confidence and desire and flexibility to adapt to a fast changing market typified by the imminent MoJ reforms.”

“Leading client service means organising your business for the benefit of the customer.  Our desire is to increase the depth and quality of the service we can provide to our clients whilst focussing on their business objectives,” added Jason.

“Experience shows that different sectors demand different responses to common issues,” said Laurence. “It’s an enormous boost for an insurer or corporate to partner with an adviser that understands how their sector works and what they need.”

Tim Oliver, Senior Partner of Plexus Law, said: “We’re delighted to be joined by two such experienced insurance professionals in Jason and Laurence. Their knowledge of the market and strong commitment to growing client relationships will help to keep Plexus Law at the forefront of innovative service development for clients – the motivation which drives this business.”

Jason Spencer spent 20 years with Hill Dickinson, 15 of them as an insurance partner. In 2001 he joined the Board of Hill Dickinson and was involved in shaping the strategic direction of the wider LLP. He was Head of the firm’s insurance practice nationally from 2005-2010. Latterly he has been focussing on developing client relationships.

Laurence Ives has worked within the insurance industry for over 20 years within a variety of roles within insurers, brokers and legal services. As Strategic and Development Director for Hill Dickinson he was responsible for the generation of new business and the account management for some of the firm’s largest clients. Prior to Hill Dickinson, Laurence was Head of UK Retail Claims at Marsh.

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GlobalOptions announced today that Roger A. Day has accepted an appointment to GlobalOptions’ Advisory Board. In this capacity, Mr. Day will offer strategic guidance as to GlobalOptions global leadership in the marketplace.

Prior to accepting the position, Mr. Day served as Executive Vice President for ACE Group for 10 years where he was responsible for the company’s international claims operations. He supported ACE’s property and casualty, as well as accident and health insurance businesses in 50 countries in the Asia Pacific and Japan; Latin America; and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions. Prior to joining ACE Group, Mr. Day served as Managing Director of Claims in the United Kingdom for Zurich Financial Services, and served a variety of senior international claims roles with AIG for 25 years.

Commenting on the appointment of Mr. Day, Frank Pinder, President and CEO of GlobalOptions stated, “We are extremely excited about Mr. Day joining our Advisory Board. Mr. Day brings with him over 40 years of experience in international claims and will work closely with GlobalOptions’ executive team to continue to develop our international Counter Fraud and Special Investigation Unit programs. Mr. Pinder continued, “The complexity of investigating claims in a global program, coupled with the need to generate quantifiable metrics while maintaining considerations for variations in culture, currency, and data protection means that multi-national insurers need an experienced team they can rely on managing investigations on a global basis. Mr. Day’s extensive experience in structuring global programs internationally will be invaluable in maintaining GlobalOptions’ position as the global leader in combating insurance fraud.

Roger Day commented, “I am very impressed with GlobalOptions’ capability to provide fully outsourced comprehensive counter fraud programs on a multi-national level. This ability, coupled with GlobalOptions’ GlobalTrak technology platform will give multi-national insurers and corporations with the ability to consolidate investigative programs on a global basis and provide the key metrics and financial data to make effective decisions in how they manage claims and reduce the ever rising cost of insurance fraud.”

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Aviva has announced a three-year partnership with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) across their Fit for Work initiative, with a programme of activity and resources designed to improve the wellbeing of the UK workforce and to highlight the importance of physiotherapy in preventing and reducing work related ill-health and sickness absence.



The health insurer, which has placed rehabilitation and early intervention at the core of its corporate healthcare provision for a number of years, has seen significant success and improvement of clinical outcomes for employees with musculoskeletal disorders. Through its close work with physiotherapists and its award-winning Back-Up1 service, over 40,000 corporate customers have gained quick and easy access to a consultation and treatment for their condition, aiding a prompt recovery and return to work.

The launch of the partnership is marked by the publication of a refreshed ‘Fitness Profits’ document for employers, which provides advice for managers on how physiotherapy can help keep staff safe, healthy and productive at work.

Aviva and the CSP will join forces on a number of awareness campaigns, including the CSP’s UK-wide Workout at Work Day event in June. Now in its third year, the day sees physiotherapists across the UK encouraging people to get more physically active in the workplace, while providing their employers with an understanding of the business benefits of having an active and healthy workforce.

Mark Sharpe, rehabilitation clinical lead, Aviva, UK Health, says: “Aviva is delighted to join forces with the CSP to help employees become fitter and healthier through the Fit for Work campaign. At Aviva we have a clear focus to help customers get the right treatment at the right time through our clinical and rehabilitation expertise and we are a keen champion of early intervention. 

“Musculoskeletal disorders continue to be a leading cause of employee absence and by working with the CSP, we hope to highlight to employers the real business benefits of having effective physiotherapy advice and treatment services in place for their staff.  In providing employees with prompt consultation and treatment for musculoskeletal disorders, our Back-Up and Back-Up Plus services aid a quick return to work and help large corporate clients manage the total cost of musculoskeletal claims on their private medical schemes.”

James Hale, Director of Marketing and Communications at the CSP says: “The CSP is delighted to be working in partnership with Aviva. We welcome their drive to improve the health of the workforce and their recognition that early intervention services, like physiotherapy, are key in reducing or even preventing the time people need to be absent from work.

“We are very much looking forward to working together on our shared goal of ensuring faster access to health advice and support for workers.”

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Aon Risk Solutions announced that it has formed Aon Risk Solutions’ Transaction Liability Practice in order to capitalize on the exponential growth in the transaction liability insurance market.

While Aon has been servicing this market and placing transaction related insurance products for more than a decade, the dedicated practice will leverage existing expertise and will be complimented with additional resources to support the complex nature of these placements. The practice will provide comprehensive transaction liability solutions to organizations such as private equity firms, organizations focused on mergers and acquisitions as well as clients who are seeking innovative solutions for contingent liability exposures that impair their balance sheet or impede a potential transaction.

“Transaction liability insurance products have become increasingly important as firms more aggressively focus on strategic acquisitions and divestures of non-core,” said Tom Fitzgerald, CEO of Aon Risk Solutions’ U.S. Retail operations. “The ability to substitute insurance capital to address deal risks including representations and warranties, tax liabilities, litigation and other contingent risk can increase the probability of a deal closing. Given the increasing level of sophistication of these solutions, we expect adoption to increase significantly in the coming years.”

In addition to delivering best-in-class transaction risk solutions by working directly with existing markets, the Transaction Liability Practice will also focus on developing new products to further expand Aon’s suite of solutions and continue to broaden the transactional risks that can be addressed with insurance capital.

“We estimate more than $6 billion of transaction liability limits were purchased globally in 2012,” said Michael Schoenbach, managing director and practice leader of the Transaction Liability Practice. “We believe this was attributable to a combination of lower cost, enhanced coverage, favorable performance of the products and better awareness of how to utilize them strategically.”

The practice will leverage a coordinated, global team that pulls together Aon’s diverse group of professionals, tapping into the expertise of attorneys, CPAs, former underwriters and financial services professionals. Gary Blitz and Nancy Rodrigues will be brought onto a unified platform with Aon’s transaction brokers Matt Heinz and Allyson Coyne. Aon has plans to significantly expand the team to meet continuing demand.

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Despite little sign of economic recovery and low consumer confidence, the travel market remained relatively steady in 2012, with UK residents having made an estimated 50.3 million visits abroad, unchanged from 2011.

Package holidays are on the rise with nearly half of Brits (48%) booking a package holiday in 2012 compared to 42% in 2011 and 37% in 2010.  70% of consumers said ‘good value’ was essential when booking a holiday with 59% looking for low prices in 2013. This trend is believed to be fuelled by the 35-44 year age group, with over half (51%) booking an overseas package holiday in 2012. In addition, the research showed that 34% of consumers booked their holiday in advance with 68% stating it was to secure a better deal or cheaper price.

Greg Lawson, Head of Retail at  Columbus Direct, said: “With the current economic uncertainty expected to continue through 2013, it is no surprise that people are looking for ways to stretch every penny. This is why there has been an increase in the number of people choosing holiday packages, and all-inclusive holidays in particular, instead of arranging their own flights and hotels independently.

With families struggling to get away, there is always a temptation to make travel insurance a lower priority. However, with less money around at home, the last thing anyone needs is a bill as a result of an accident, illness, lost phone or break-in on holiday. We always recommend taking travel insurance whenever you travel overseas but there are products to suit every pocket.”

Interestingly, younger travellers are taking more holidays, with those aged 15-24 taking an average of almost five breaks in the past 12 months, above the average of 3.5 breaks across all age groups.

Lawson continued: “The outlook for the high street continues to look positive this year with the number of people booking an overseas holiday through a high street travel agent rising to 27% in 2012, compared to 25% in 2011. With many making their first holiday booking on their own, this growth is most likely fuelled by the 15–24 age group which may suggest that social media and technology could be a worthwhile investment to enhance the travel agent experience.

“In addition, there has been a growth of investment by travel companies in mobile booking platforms as tablets and smartphones continue to grow in popularity. To grow in tandem, travel insurance companies need to be equally mobile to ensure they remain connected to this distribution channel.

“The risks of travel are always changing, as are the ways customers want to interact, and Columbus Direct believes that we have to change with our customers and our products reflect both the way customers want to buy insurance and what they want covered.”

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According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, with 1-minute sustained winds of 136 km/h and gusts to 170 km/h, Tropical Cyclone Rusty came ashore as a severe tropical cyclone—a category 3 storm by the Australian system of cyclone classification (approximately equivalent to a category 1 storm on the U.S. Saffir-Simpson Scale). Rusty made landfall in Pardoo, which is located approximately 110 kilometers east northeast of Port Hedland. Rusty is weakening as it moves further inland, but still wind gusts of 165 km/h were expected near the center of the storm overnight as well as widespread heavy rainfall overnight and on Thursday. Significant insured losses from this event are not expected, primarily because of the region’s relatively sparse population, stringent building codes, and preparations in advance of the storm.

“Although Rusty did briefly intensify to category 4 storm about 10 hours prior to landfall, it did not maintain that strength,” said Dr. Peter Sousounis, senior principal atmospheric scientist at AIR Worldwide. “Rather, as Rusty approached shore, the eyewall weakened right around landfall. In addition, the trajectory was more southward than southwestward, as was originally forecast. These developments in the evolution of Rusty plus a small radius of maximum winds of 38 km spared Port Hedland from a more destructive situation. Still, there have been reported wind gusts over 100 km/h in Port Hedland along with about 100 mm of rain thus far. While the wind intensity at Port Hedland was not as great as feared, the duration of the winds has been significant, as Port Hedland has received gale force gusts for more than 36 hours—an all-time record.”

Dr. Sousounis continued, “Cities and towns in the path of the storm will experience destructive winds overnight including gusts in excess of 125 km/h. These winds should reach Marble Bar by early Thursday with gale-force winds extending further inland to Nullagine and possibly Newman and Telfer. Widespread flooding, which is exacerbated by Rusty’s massive size and slow movement, is also expected in both the Fortescue and DeGrey catchments in Pilbara coastal streams. Today’s high tide could also bring damaging waves to coastal areas between DeGrey and Wallal. Rusty is expected to weaken below cyclone intensity overnight Thursday.”

According to AIR, most residential and commercial structures in the Port Hedland area should withstand today’s storm with very little damage as these structures performed well during tropical Cyclone George in 2007, when wind gusts reached 200 km/h.  Fewer than 2% of buildings sustained damage as a result of George’s force, and most of these buildings proved to have weaknesses due to poor maintenance. Still, Port Hedland has a number of trailer (caravan) parks for visitors and residents, and these structures are particularly vulnerable to damage. Also, if there is damage to residential structures, it will likely be to roofing as residential roofs are typically made of metal and are thus susceptible to wind damage.

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Britain’s workers remain undecided on retirement saving despite growing awareness of the government’s reforms, which will see millions of people automatically enrolled into a pension for the first time – Aviva’s second Working Lives report shows.



The success of the new workplace pension changes, which started to roll out in October 2012,  hangs in the balance as many workers focus on making ends meet in challenging economic times, the research into UK private sector employees and employers outlines.

Compelling, relevant and ‘personalised’ communications and engagement within the workplace will be critical to convincing employees to prioritise retirement saving.

Mark Noble, Aviva’s Managing Director Health and Corporate Benefits, said: “Getting millions more people saving for retirement for the first time during difficult times is a real challenge – but automatic enrolment presents us with a once in a generation opportunity to get this right.

“Automatic enrolment will only become game-changing if employers, their advisers and the wider industry create sustained communications and engagement in the workplace to encourage employees to save.

“It’s about understanding the needs and the circumstances of the actual employees in each business, not as a single group but in an individual way through face-to-face conversations and personalised planning tools.”

Awareness about automatic enrolment increases – but doubt remains

Employee awareness about automatic enrolment (59%) has almost doubled compared to 31% in May 2012 when the first Working Lives report was released. However, Britain’s workers do not show any more sign that they are likely to actively start saving for retirement.

Overall, 37% say they will opt out when they are automatically enrolled, which is unchanged from May 2012, and an increasing number (28%) are undecided (up seven percentage points from 21% in May 2012). Slightly fewer employees plan to stay in their employers’ schemes (36%, down seven percentage points on 43% in May 2012).

Despite this uncertainty, there are early signs that Britain’s workers can see the benefits of the pension reforms, with almost two-thirds (65%) saying automatic enrolment will encourage saving.

However, almost half (45%) of employees who do not contribute to a workplace scheme they are currently offered say they simply cannot afford to. Nearly one in five (19%) say they do not save into a pension because they are repaying debts and 17% are saving for other things, such as a house or a holiday.

‘Personalised’ communication is the way forward

When asked about the types of communication that would encourage them to save more for their retirement, almost a quarter (23%) of employees say being ‘personally’ shown what they need to save. This compares with 14% who say being shown the benefits of saving would make the difference, and 12% who say being shown how to manage their money better.

Money is king for employees – but can businesses respond?

Two-thirds of employees (65%) say their key workplace concern remains how their pay compares to the cost of living (up from 53% in May 2012), and 65% say their salary is the most important aspect of their job (up 15 percentage points on 50% in May 2012).

For 55% of employees – a pay increase would encourage them to save more. However, rather than focusing on pay increases, a third of employers (32%) are looking for ways over the next year to motivate employees without unduly increasing remuneration.

As they tighten their financial belts, an increasing number of employers (19%) are concerned about cutting jobs (up from 6% in May 2012), and over the next 12 months 20% are focused on maintaining headcount despite the economic downturn (up eight percentage points on 12% in May 2012).

Confidence in the UK economy is lower among employees than employers, with 60% of workers saying they are ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ confident, compared to 45% of employers.

Only 37% of employees are confident about their personal financial situation, whereas 68% of employers are ‘extremely’ or ‘quite’ confident in their businesses’ financial situation.

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Covéa Insurance has renewed its risk management partnership with RiskSTOP for a further 3 years.

RiskSTOP, who are an independent risk control service provider, will continue to carry out site surveys and manage the implementation of risk improvements on behalf of Covéa Insurance.

Mike Clothier, Commercial Underwriting Manager at Covéa Insurance, said: “Providing a great service to our brokers and their policyholders is a real focus for us and working with RiskSTOP fits well with our service ethos.

They provide our brokers’ clients with specialist advice on how to protect their businesses and they also help with the sourcing of products, services and contractors.  This means that we can ease the workload for our brokers and reduce the chance of interruption to business for our policyholders.”

“Renewing our contract also means that we maintain consistency in our approach to risk management, as they understand our strategy and work well with our customers to minimise risk”.

RiskSTOP Managing Director, Danny Lillington, commented: “We’re delighted to have extended our partnership with Covéa Insurance. They’re a great insurer to work with.”

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Slade Edwards Insurance Brokers has transferred its exclusive insurance scheme for the mobile catering industry to AXA Commercial Lines & Personal Intermediary.

The scheme, which provides insurance for ice cream, sandwich and burger vans and other catering vehicles, is expected to produce in excess of £2m premium over the next three years and came about in part as a result of AXA’s relationship with Broker Network.

The deal, which takes effect on 1st April, follows Ecclesiastical’s decision to exit the broker motor insurance market.

Anthony Birch, Managing Director at Slade Edwards, comments: “We’re really excited at the prospect of working with AXA. With our long-standing knowledge of this sector of the motor market and AXA’s experience and expertise, we’re confident that we can build on the success we have achieved so far and grow the profitability of this scheme. We’ve already taken the opportunity to explore new avenues and complement the current scheme further with the introduction of a facility for catering trailers and associated liability covers.”

Karen Osborne, Branch Manager at AXA’s regional office in Leeds, comments: “We’re delighted to be able to support Anthony and his team at Slade Edwards. We’re open to considering any type of risk no matter how niche or unusual purely on its merits. The decision comes down to whether we believe that we can build a mutually profitable relationship. This particular book of business has experienced healthy growth and we believe that working in partnership with Slade Edwards, it can achieve its full potential.”

She concludes: “Brokers may not have thought of approaching AXA for this niche type of scheme in the past, but this deal reaffirms that we are absolutely open for business and happy to sit down with brokers to discuss risks across a broad landscape.”

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    The European Parliament plenary meeting to consider, and hopefully approve, the Omnibus 2 amendments to the Solvency II directive has been moved back from 10 June to 22 October 2013. Whilst no explanation of the rationale for the delay has been announced, this delay will allow the results of the current impact study on the impact of Solvency II on products with long-term guarantees to be considered and, where applicable, resulting amendments to the legislation to be drafted. 

    The study was launched last month, with the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (‘EIOPA’) due to provide its findings to trilogue parties by 14 June 2013, with the Commission expecting to draft its own report for co-legislators by 12 July 2013.  It has therefore been clear for some time that the plenary session would need to be delayed.

    Peter Ott, European Head of Solvency II at KPMG, commented: “Whilst we have been expecting for some time that a delay would be inevitable, it is disappointing that the opportunity has not been taken to provide a clear timetable for the remaining process to make Solvency II a reality.  European insurers are ostensibly fatigued by the many delays that have happened throughout the last decade and the discussions whether the Directive will ever become a reality in its current form are becoming more intense.  A clear timetable is needed on the remaining steps to industry compliance.”

    Janine Hawes, Insurance Director at KPMG, added: “Yesterday’s rescheduled plenary vote means that a second ‘quick fix’ directive will need to be put in place quickly, as the transposition of Solvency II into national legislation by 30 June 2013 is clearly impossible.  This will amend both transposition and implementation dates and will therefore end the speculation around the actual implementation date.  Given the process that will be required to put the level 2 and 3 requirements in place once Omnibus 2 is finally enacted, we are working on the assumption that industry compliance will be moved to 1 January 2016.

    What will now be critical for insurers are EIOPA’s proposals for the interim period.  In December, EIOPA published its opinion regarding procedures that supervisors should put in place from 1 January 2014 and is due to follow this with guidance in the spring of this year.  The focus is heavily on the pillar 2 requirements of Solvency II such as governance, risk management and ORSA principles, so insurers should continue to further develop and stabilize these areas throughout this year. ”

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    Fitch Ratings has placed Irish Life Assurance plc’s (Irish Life) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘BBB+’, Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Rating of ‘BBB+’ and subordinated debt rating of ‘BBB-‘ on Rating Watch Positive (RWP).

    KEY RATING DRIVERS

    The RWP reflects the announcement that Irish Life is going to be acquired by Great-West Life Assurance Company (Great-West; IFS ‘AA’/Stable) and Fitch’s view that the new ownership is likely to improve Irish Life’s credit profile.

    The ratings continue to reflect Irish Life’s high exposure to Irish government (‘BBB+’/Stable) and bank debt. Although these investments make up just 16% of the company’s non-linked investments, they amount to 53% of Irish Life’s shareholders’ funds. The ratings further reflect the importance of the Irish economy to Irish Life’s business. Irish Life will remain rated as a standalone entity during the pending sale to Great-West and is subject to sovereign constraint as 99% of its business is domestic.

    Irish Life’s ratings also reflect its strong standalone capitalisation (regulatory solvency ratio of 184% at end-HY12), comparatively low-risk business (over 90% of Irish Life’s insurance liabilities are unit-linked, with investment risk borne by policyholders) and strong market position (around 30% share of the Irish life insurance market). However, in view of the weak operating environment in Ireland, Fitch expects the company’s earnings to remain under pressure for several years.

    Until June 2012, Irish Life was part of the permanent tsb Group (PTSB; formerly Irish Life & Permanent Group). As a result of the recapitalisation of PTSB’s banking operations, which needed state support during the financial crisis, Irish Life was sold to the Irish Minister for Finance for EUR1.3bn and was held as a commercial business.

    RATING SENSITIVITIES

    The closure of the sale to Great-West is likely to lead to an upgrade of Irish Life’s ratings. The amount of uplift will depend on the strategic importance of Irish Life to Great-West. Fitch will assess the strategic importance when the sale is completed. Any change in Ireland’s sovereign rating could also change Irish Life’s ratings.

    The key rating triggers that could result in a downgrade include the macro-economic environment having a greater than expected adverse impact on policyholder surrender rates, new business or profitability. These threats could include the impact of the Irish government’s austerity package, high unemployment, reduced consumer confidence and lower than expected GDP triggering higher policyholder surrender rates and lower sales volumes.

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    Fitch Ratings has affirmed Legal & General Assurance Society Ltd’s Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating at ‘AA-‘. Fitch has simultaneously affirmed Legal & General Group Plc’s (L&G) Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A’. The agency has also affirmed the senior unsecured debt issued by Legal & General Finance PLC and guaranteed by L&G at ‘A-‘ and L&G’s subordinated debt ratings at ‘BBB’. The Outlooks on the Long-term IDRs and IFS rating are Stable.

    KEY RATING DRIVERS

    The affirmations reflect L&G’s strong positioning and franchise in the UK, its robust capital position and its strong operating cash generation. Liquidity at the holding company level is solid with short-term liquidity arrangements in place and a resilient dividend stream from the operating companies. Fitch also considers capital to be strong on a risk-adjusted basis and relative to peers.

    L&G is one of the UK’s largest life insurance groups, with a widely diversified product range including savings, protection and annuities, and an asset management business with GBP391bn of assets under management at end-Q312. L&G’s sales have remained strong throughout the past three years, and increased by 6% (on an annual premium equivalent basis) in 9M12 relative to 9M11, despite adverse economic conditions.

    Two key risks to L&G are credit risk and longevity risk. L&G has high exposure to the credit markets through the large portfolio of corporate bonds that backs its annuity business. However, at H112 the company credit default reserve was at GBP1.6bn against the assets backing its main UK annuity business (GBP31bn at end-2011), equivalent to 60bps of defaults over the life of the portfolio, even though net default experience remains negligible with no defaults in the past two years. The annuity business also carries risks of higher-then-expected increases in longevity.

    RATING SENSITIVITIES

    The ratings could be downgraded in the event of significant deterioration in credit default experience, worsening credit quality in L&G’s bond portfolio, a significant increase in expected longevity for annuity policyholders, an increase in financial leverage to more than 35% or a sustained fall in interest cover to below 5x.

    An upgrade is unlikely in the near term, given the group’s concentration in the UK market and financial leverage of 27%, which is high for L&G’s rating level.

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    The combination of the consultation by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on law firm cost recoveries and the impact of Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act on success fees is likely to expose claimants without legal expenses insurance to significant levels of deductions from damages, as a result of Damage Based Agreements (DBAs), according to Arc Legal Assistance (Arc Legal).

    New regulations for DBAs and Conditional Fee Agreements (CFAs) will come into force on 1st April 2013, as part of the LASPO Act which will see claimant solicitors no longer able to recover a success fee from the third party but having the option to deduct this from damages payable to their client. As a result, Arc Legal believes that claimants without legal expenses insurance will face potentially significant deductions from their damages.

    In addition, if the MoJ do significantly reduce the level of solicitor’s costs recoverable from the third party, as per their recently issued Consultation paper, solicitors may look to make up the shortfall from DBA’s.

    Commenting on the implications for claimants, Richard Finan, Director of Arc Legal, said: “The ‘double whammy’ of success fees being deducted from claimant’s damages and new levels of costs deductions will expose those claimants without legal expenses insurance to the prospect of significant reductions in the compensation they would receive.”

    The new regulations on DBAs and CFAs confirm the levels of costs that can be deducted from claimant’s damages for personal injury, employment and other types of claims. These will range from up to 25% of general damages in personal injury claims, up to 35% of the sums recovered by the claimant in an employment matter and up to 50% for other types of claim.

    Finan continued: “These levels of cost exposure demonstrate what an important role legal expenses insurance will continue to play in protecting the damages received by claims while improving their access to justice. Arc Legal is committed to ensuring that cover continues to ensure claimants will receive 100% of their compensation or damages awarded.”

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    Over 1,300 customers a day were helped by insurers to recover from flood and storm damage in 2012 according to figures released today by the ABI.

    During 2012, the wettest recorded year in England and Wales and second wettest in the UK, insurers handled 486,000 claims for flood and storm damage from homeowners, businesses and motorists – 1,330 each day. The cost of these claims is £1.19 billion, the highest annual figure since the £3 billion paid in 2007.

    The average claim payout for flood damaged properties (domestic and commercial) was £18,200 and, in respect of storm damage, £1,300.

    Of the overall figure, insurers:

    – Dealt with 411,000 claims for flood and storm damaged homes, paying out £690 million to repair damage and replace ruined possessions.

    – Handled 47,000 business property claims following flood and storm damage, paying out £373 million. In addition, insurers paid out £40 million in business interruption payments to help firms continue trading while their premises were being repaired.

    – Dealt with 27,000 claims for flood and storm damaged vehicles, paying out £84 million to motor insurance customers.

    Nick Starling, ABI’s Director of General Insurance, said: “2012 may have been a record-breaking wet one, but it was business as usual for insurers, who helped thousands of customers recover from the trauma of flooding. Insurers expect bad weather to strike anytime, anywhere and last year highlighted the vital role insurance plays in helping communities recover from our increasingly volatile weather.”

    “Flooding is greatest natural threat facing the UK and the risk is rising so political consensus and commitment on investment in flood defences, sensible planning decisions and working with the insurance industry is essential”.

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