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Thomas Hickey

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With the recent surge in interest for telematicts technology, disputes have begun to emerge over the ownership of the data the devices produce.

To nip the issue in the bud, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has begun an investigation into the legal concerns of the ownership of the data telematics devices produce. The are arguments for the insurer, broker, customer, car manufacturer and telematics providor, causing much debate.

The ABI has started their investigation to avoid these debates escalating into costly legal cases.

A spokesman for the ABI told Insurance Day, “there will almost certainly be issues around different items of data which are judged sensitive and those which perhaps aren’t. Data protection law can be complex, so we need to navigate it carefully.”

According to Insurance Day, the spokesman said it was unlikely that the data used in telematics would become standardised. However, the ABI is investigating whether there could be an industry-standard minimum data set.

“We will assist our members in those areas where we can work collectively, mindful of the strict competition rules on that co-operation. Many insurers are well advanced with their plans, and our aim as ever is to encourage a competitive market while helping our members to understand the common issues, such as data ownership. Guidance would be limited to those areas, rather than for pricing or underwriting,” the spokesman said.

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British skiers and snowboarders are skiing drunk, too fast, and with no practice, causing unnecessary risk and accidents, according to research by Santander Insurance.

The research found that 17% of Brits have hit the slopes having only practiced on a games console and 23% while still drunk from the night before.

The insurer also found that, while one in five skiers and boarders have had an accident that required professional medical treatment, there is still one in seven skiers who are on the mountain without any travel insurance.

“Travel insurance is an absolute must-have for anyone going on a winter sports holiday,” said Moyra O’Doherty, Group Marketing Manager for Santander Insurance.

“While many people may want to cut costs on their ski holiday, we would urge them not to cut back on winter sports travel insurance. Ignoring this is a false economy if you have an accident, and no-one in their right mind wants to start the New Year with a huge medical bill.”

Of those who have been skiing or snowboarding in the past five years, more than half (54%) have been skiing or snowboarding without wearing a helmet, one in four (23%) has been skiing while still under the influence of alcohol from the night before, and 17% while under the influence from lunchtime drinking, the survey found.

Skiers or snowboarders who take to the slopes while under the influence of alcohol or without wearing a helmet may find they are not covered for any accidents, so it is essential that people read their insurance policies closely.

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AIA Group Ltd is exploring the possibility of an acquisition of Dutch ING’s Asian operations, valued at around £3 billion pounds.

AIA, which is about one third owned by American International Group Inc, has invited four banks to pitch for advisory roles for a potential offer, Reuters reported today.

Last week, ING decided against listing its combined Asian and European insurance business, saying it would instead be looking at other options after strong interest was shown in its Asian operations.

According to Reuters, ING hired Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan to advise on the deal.

The potential sale comes as European banks are rallying to sell assets in order to brace the debt crisis.

AIA is a surprise player in the bid for ING, as the company will be branching out slightly from it’s current market. More than three quarters of ING’s new sales are in the established South Korean and Japanese markets while AIA generally operates with fast growing Asian markets.

According to Reuters’ sources, AIA has around £1.95 billion in excess capital over regulatory requirements and would have no trouble raising the funds to make an aggressive bid for ING.

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Multiple arrests, a criminal investigation and a nationwide car insurance scam – these are just three of the many things the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) dealt with in their first fortnight of operation.

Within hours of the new unit opening its doors for business on the third of January a man had been detained in Leamington Spa after claiming £35,000 for a stolen BMW that was still in his possession.

Before the week was out IFED had responded to a number of industry reports of policy holders making bogus claims.

This included a Hertfordshire man who in 2005 claimed a back injury had left him unable to work, leaving his insurance company with a bill running into several hundred thousand pounds.

However, IFED found evidence that disputed the man’s claims and led to the man’s arrest and the departments first criminal charges.

There were also investigations into an internet car insurance company that was pocketing premiums but not providing any cover. These investigations resulted in three arrests. Whether a full investigation on this case will be launched is still yet to be decided.

Another case the department dealt with was a man who staged a burglary in his own home to make a claim for £29,000 worth of electrical goods and jewelery.

DCI Dave Wood, who is heading up IFED, said, “We wanted to make an immediate impact and put out a clear statement of intent, and that is exactly what we have done.

“In two weeks we have travelled far and wide to dismantle organised insurance fraud and tackle opportunistic insurance fraud. The challenge for us is to maintain this very high level of performance.”

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Standard and Poor’s has removed it’s ‘AA-‘ rating on France-based insurance group Euler Hermes, after the group restructured. In the move, the company merged 13 subsidiaries into its Belgian operating entity, Euler Hermes Europe.

The specific ratings that were withdrawn were the long-term counterparty credit, and insurer financial strength ratings. All of the ratings were on negative watch before their withdrawal.

The ratings and outlook on the Belgian operating entity Euler Hermes Europe remain unchanged.

Euler Humes underwent restructuring late last year to try and ‘streamline its legal structure’. To do this they merged 13 subsidiaries into its main operating entity based in Belgium, Euler Hermes Europe, including the trade credit insurers Euler Hermes Kredietverzekering, Euler Hermes SIAC, and Euler Hermes U.K. The legal change took effect on Dec. 31 and these three former subsidiaries are now branches under Euler Hermes Europe.

Euler Hermes Kredietverzekering, Euler Hermes SIAC, and Euler Hermes U.K. together represent the trade credit insurance business of the Euler Hermes group, reporting premium volumes of €41.8 million, €148 million, and €150 million respectively on Sept. 30, 2011.

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Towergate Insurance today welcomed Neil Galjaard to the role of Group Change Director.

Previously Neil was Insurance Director of Paymentshield, where he has played a vital role in the substantial profit growth of the business. Prior to this, he spent 3 years at Lloyds TSB Insurance as Partnerships and Product Development Director.

In his new role, Neil will report directly to Group CEO Mark Hodges.

Mr Hodges said today, “As Neil’s job title suggests, these are exciting times for the Towergate Group. Our unique business model means we maintain leadership positions in a number of markets. It also means we need to move quickly in response to the evolving needs of increasingly discerning customers. With change being delivered at considerable pace and allied to a strong acquisition pipeline for 2012, we look forward to driving our business into what is undoubtedly a new era.”

Neil added, “To be tasked with directing change within Towergate is a very special opportunity. The insurance market continues to be fascinated by our growth strategy and execution. I look forward to managing change at the speed in which people have come to expect of an entrepreneurial business like Towergate, in line with well thought through plans for significant success across all of our divisions.”

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While the summer holidays may seem like a life time away, many people are already booking their getaways now while the prices are cheaper. Defaqto, an independent financial research company, has warned about the importance of taking out holiday insurance the moment you buy your plane ticket.

The company said that as soon as you financially commit yourself to the holiday you should insure yourself incase the trip has to be cancelled between the time of booking and departure.

According to Defaqto analysis, almost all single trip and annual travel insurance policies cover cancellation, but the level of cover varies widely across the market. The research found that while 41% of single trip policies cover £5,000 in cancellation cover 7% cover less that £1,000 and only 1% of policies cover the complete cost of the holiday.

Because of these differences it is important to know what your policy will cover, says to Defaqto’s Insight Analyst for General Insurance, Mike Powell.

“To ensure they get the right type and level of cover to protect their holiday, people need to focus first and foremost on pinpointing the features they need from a travel insurance policy and identifying the options that provide that cover.

“Although important, price should not be the primary basis for comparison. After all, buying the cheapest cover available could end up being the most expensive option if it doesn’t provide adequate cover for someone’s holiday if it had to be cancelled due to redundancy or illness for example.”

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Much of the world, even country’s prone to seismic events, is dangerously under insured for earthquakes, a new Swiss Re paper has revealed.

Despite last year bringing with it a number of large and destructive tremors, the report found that low risk awareness was driving under insurance in earthquake-prone areas.

The report, ‘Lessons from recent major earthquakes’, stressed the importance in being insured, especially for those living in earthquake-prone areas. “The insurance industry is playing a key role in post-disaster financing of the countries affected. While insurance cannot replace lost lives and livelihoods, appropriate insurance and other risk transfer mechanisms can greatly accelerate the recovery process.” said Lucia Bevere, Senior Catastrophe Data Analyst at Swiss Re Economic Research & Consulting and co-author of the publication.

The study revealed a stark spread in the amount of cover for different countries. For example, last years Feburary earthquake in New Zealand will be around 80% covered by insurance, but only 17% of the cost of the earthquake disaster in Japan covered by insurance. In Haiti only 1% of their 2010 quake was covered by insurance. Without insurance coverage, post-disaster reparations come from government funds and ultimately must be borne by taxpayers.

Bevere attends this lack of coverage to low risk perception. “The low frequency of earthquake events, compared to other natural catastrophes, tends to shape the perception that earthquake risk is much lower than it actually is, even in places where there have been very deadly and damaging occurrences, like California.”

Source: Swiss Re sigme catastrophe database

 

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Economic risks, business interruption and destructive natural catastrophes are the risks which business fear the most, according to a recent study by Allianz Glabal Corporate & Speciality (AGCS). At the other end of the scale, and perhaps lacking good reason, is cyber risks, with many companies underestimating online dangers.

AGCS, the global corporate and specialty insurer in the Allianz Group, carried out a survey among risk consultants at the end of last year to identify the risks expect to trouble companies most in the future. The most frequently mentioned type of risk was economic (21 percent of respondents). Specifically, companies are concerned about a looming recession and the sovereign debt crisis as well as about rising commodity prices and foreign currency fluctuations.

Business interruption was the second most pressing issue, with 14% of respondents mentioning it as a risk. Centralized procurement, global purchasing, increasing outsourcing to suppliers and just-in-time production reduce costs, but also render companies more vulnerable to process interruptions.

Natural catastrophes came in at third among the greatest business risks for 2012, according to the study. From floods and torrential rains to hurricanes, typhoons or earthquakes – economic development and technological progress multiply the cost of natural catastrophes. In fact, insured claims related to weather-related natural catastrophes have increased from USD 5 billion to more than USD 40 billion over the last 30 years.

According to the study IT risks are almost completely ignored by companies around the world. Just one per cent of representatives surveyed by AGCS mentioned it as a key concern. The study suggested, however, that this lack of awareness could leave companies vulnerable to financial losses resulting from IT issues. Things such as hacking or deficiant internal processes can quickly snowball and cost revenue losses in the millions.

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United Insurance Brokers (UIB) has assigned Stephen Pallett as their new Executive Director, Operations and Administration.

Stephen was promoted from the position of UIB Marine Technical Director and has already worked centrally on many UIB market reform projects. As Operations and Administration Director Steven will report directly to CEO Philip Dalton and will oversee a range of operational changes across UIB.

Mr Dalton said, “We are extremely pleased to announce Steven’s appointment to this important role. With proven technical excellence and a strong track record of delivering complex change projects he is the natural choice to drive these changes at UIB.”

Steven will be responsible for identifying procedural weaknesses and ensuring standardisation of technical and operational procedures throughout the company. As his role develops he will identify and implement new workflow processes to improve efficiency. He will continue to be responsible for all London Market eCommerce initiatives at UIB and act as the focal point for all such projects.

This year, Stephen will work closely with the CEO on a number of central operations, including the implementation of a new operating system, which is set to replace the current TWINS/eBroking system. He will also help develop the operating system strategy for UIB Group.

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MetLife has continued the transformation of their employee benefits business by appointing Stephanie Baillie as the new Director of the department.

Last year, MetLife announced it’s plans to expand their business in the employee benefits sector and this appointment shows they are doing just that.

Dominic Grinstead, Managing Director, MetLife UK, said “We have ambitious plans for further long-term growth in employee benefits based around our core competencies of innovation, financial strength and service capability.

“Stephanie’s appointment underlines this commitment and we look forward to welcoming her to MetLife.”

Stepahnie was previously with Friends Life where she held the role of Head of Group Protection. Working for the insurer for 23 years, Stephanie held a variety of roles including Sales Manager for the Midlands Region, and National Sales Manager for Group Protection.

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Assicurazioni Generali, RSA Insurance Group and XL Group, Bloomber – these are three of several companies who insured Carnival Corp.’s wrecked cruise ship off the coast of Italy, according to the news website Bloomberg.

The companies are facing costs of around 405 million Euro’s (£335 million) from the disaster, with Hannover Re saying they alone will suffer losses in excess of 10 million euros, the website said.

“In terms of physical damage, this will be one of biggest claims around,” Bloomberg quoted Eamonn Flanagan, an insurance analyst at Shore Capital Group in Liverpool as saying. “Quite often with these accidents, the real insurance loss comes if people are injured or killed.”

The Costa Condoria, an Italian cruise ship carrying 4,229 passangers and crew, ran aground last Friday. So far five people are confirmed dead and a further 15 are unaccounted for. The ships captain has been arrested and is accused of manslaughter for causing the wreck and abandoning ship.

The ship cost 450 million euros to build, according to a 2004 press release.

The website reported that Aon Corp. was Carnival Corp.’s insurer but the company declined to comment on the issue.

Bloomberg reported XL as being the lead underwriter of the ship at Lloyd’s of London and that RSA’s losses from the incident are expected to be below 10 million euro’s.

Carnival shares plunged today, sliding 17 percent to 1855 pence as of 8:54 a.m. in London. RSA dropped 0.7 percent to 109.2 pence in London, while Generali dropped 0.8 percent to 11.95 euros in Milan, the website reported.

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Many companies and organisations have “worryingly incomplete” and “archaic” risk management practices, according to a new PwC paper launched today.

The report, ‘Black swans turn grey – the transformation of risk’ looked at the issue of risk management and how it can benefit businesses, saying that having up to date strategies provides higher market rating and a competitive edge.

It suggests that businesses need to be more agile and innovative if they are to combat catastrophic, major-impact ‘black swan’ events such as terrorist attacks, tsunamis or major oil spills, by updating and innovating archaic practices to achieve wider risk resilience.

“The risk landscape is changing, and established risk management approaches need to be updated to keep pace. Many organisations currently have the wrong focus,” said Richard Sykes, PwC governance, risk and compliance leader. “They major on financial and operational risks and crucially regard risk and strategy as separate, rather than seeing risk-taking as a key source of value creation.

“But the world where risk events could be predicted – and their impacts controlled – is fast disappearing.”

The paper urged business to change from enterprise risk management (ERM), the practice currently used by most major corporations, to comprehensive risk management practice (CRM). They said companies using the ERM approach develop a box-ticking, process led approach to risk management, whereas CRM made companies “more distinctive and appealing and gives a competitive edge.

Armoghan Mohammed, PwC risk partner, said, “By understanding today’s risk landscape, organisations can progress from managing specific risks to achieving wider resilience. What is needed is a new, more flexible and holistic approach to risk management that develops a risk aware culture and fosters an explicit focus on risk appetite. This will provide a clearer ownership of risks at leadership levels – with risk awareness and accountability shared across the organisation through a common risk culture.

“It can also give a higher market rating. There’s growing evidence that businesses that are seen to truly embed a risk-aware culture and behaviours are valued more highly by the markets.

“Crucially, ultimate responsibility for driving and embedding this change lies not with the risk function, but with the board. It’s their duty to embed the right risk culture and behaviours, supported by an appropriate rewards structure.

“The resulting awareness and scrutiny of risk at all levels in every business decision will help to protect the organisation’s reputation – and further enhance its resilience in an uncertain world.”

A copy of the report can be downloaded from the PwC website.

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QBE, the specialist in business insurance, has expanded its Dubai branch’s underwriting capability into General Liability Facultative Reinsurance for Middle Eastern and North African clients.

Noufal Manzil, Property & General Liability Underwriter, will underwrite this class with a primary focus on developing a profitable book of SME business driven by Public & Product Liability requirements.

Noufal has been with QBE’s Dubai operations since May 2009 and has been developing a book of Property & General Liability business locally. Prior to QBE, Noufal was at Hannover Re and Allianz Reinsurance where he held underwriting roles including development of Casualty Portfolio.

Commenting on the developments, Khalil Eid, General Manager explains: “We’re delighted that we can now offer a local service to brokers and cedants in the region that is backed by our significant capacity and financial strength.

“The move increases our ability to offer business insurance for companies operating in a broad range of trade and industry segments and in wide-ranging territorial and jurisdictional environments.”

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Sterling Insurance is expanding their business reach, with the opening of a new regional branch in Manchester.

The new office is expected to be operational by March this year, and employees will be phased in over March and April. The company is recruiting a team of both internal and external employees, including existing regional development managers James Leigh and Louise Welsh, as well as commercial development underwriter Anita Fenna.

The decision will further increase the company’s northern presence and enable Sterling to work more closely with existing brokers.

“We are excited to bring a more local presence to Sterling in the northern regions and to bring our expertise and professional levels of service much closer to our brokers in the north,” said David Sweeney, Sterling’s director of home and commercial insurance.

“We want to further understand the local market and to be on hand to help brokers grow their business by providing our usual great service, great products and now some more great people.

“This announcement will undoubtedly result in Sterling forging even closer relationships with our brokers in the North. It is only by giving our decision-makers more visibility in local markets that we can expect brokers to offer us even greater support.”

Opening a Manchester office has been a long-standing goal of Sterling, as the city is recognised as a central hub and gateway to the northern market.

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Liberty Syndicates Brazil, a member of Libert Mutual Group, has joined the likes of Sony, Coke and adidas in sponsoring the FIFA world cup in 2014.

As part of an agreement with FIFA, both Liberty Syndicates (Brazil) and Liberty Seguros (another member of Liberty Mutual Group), will be officially recognised as National Supporters of both the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil and the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013. The sponsorship agreement runs until October 2014.

“This is a unique opportunity to raise the profile of Liberty Syndicates’ Brazilian business,” said Liberty Syndicates CEO Nick Metcalf. “Football is almost universally recognised as the world’s most popular sport, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup represents the pinnacle of the professional game.

“With such a strong tradition of passion and support for football in Brazil, this sponsorship offers us the rare chance to reach a huge potential audience.”

Liberty Syndicates has only been trading in Brazil since 2009 but they already have offices in both Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Florian Kummer, Liberty Syndicates’ Manager of Latin America Operations, said, “No-one thinks of Brazil without associating it with the ‘beautiful game’ and its colourful supporters. Football is a national obsession in Brazil; the people here eat, drink, and breathe the sport.

“To be recognised as a National Supporter of the 2014 FIFA World Cup will not only help strengthen our already significant market presence, but will also demonstrate our long term commitment to the country and our clients in the insurance sector.”

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The British Insurance Brokers Association welcomed the publication of the Treasury Committee’s report on the Financial Conduct Authority today.

Eric Galbraith, BIBA chief Executive, said, “The Treasury Committee should be applauded for the breadth of this report. The formation of the FCA is a real opportunity to get the right regulation in place,”

The report offered a number of recommendations for the government’s consideration ahead of the drafting and publication of the Financial Services Bill this year.

Among the recommendations was the promotion of competition in the regulatory framework. The treasury said that the Government should legislate to give the FCA a primary objective to promote effective competition for the benefit of the consumer.

Galbraith continued: “As the leading trade association representing the interests of professional insurance intermediaries, we have been actively engaged with Ministers, politicians, civil servants and the regulator to discuss a more appropriate, proportionate and cost-effective approach to the regulation and supervision of our low risk yet vital sector.

“Independent research we presented to these parties as part of the development of the new regulatory architecture demonstrated that despite insurance brokers making a direct and indirect contribution of 1% to UK GDP, we have faced an increasingly over-burdensome approach from a regulator designed for much more riskier markets than ours.”

Steve White, BIBA Head of Compliance and Training, added, “We welcome the report’s comments on costs. Our members have faced an ever increasing regulatory cost burden since 2005. Indeed, the independent research highlighted that this burden is some three times higher for UK insurance intermediaries than for the second dearest state in the EU (Ireland). We have repeatedly stated that this position is simply unacceptable.”

White added, “The competitive position of the UK’s insurance intermediary sector is significantly threatened by the nature and costs of the current regime and it is very important in the development of the FCA that this issue is not overlooked.”

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Hundreds of people are driving in Britain uninsured – and many of them don’t even know it.

Aston Midshires Insurance, an internet based seemingly-legitimate insurance company, has been selling bogus insurance policies and people who bought them are now out of pocket and uninsured.

“A number of police forces across the country have received complaints from members of the public who believe they have fallen victim to a car insurance fraud,” said a spokesman from the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Bureau (IFEB).

“Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards has identified drivers insured with Aston Midshires as potential victims.”

The company, which claimed to be based in Enderby, has taken down its website and is no longer answering calls. According to the land lord of the building where they claimed to be based, the company has no offices there and never did.

Keith Regan, from the county council’s trading standards team, said there had been 30 complaints from people who had paid for insurance and found it to be invalid.

“I think we’ve only got the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “There may be hundreds and possibly thousands of people out there who have got vehicles that aren’t insured,” Mr Regan said.

“There’s consequences not just for them but also for those people they may have an accident with.”

Mr Regan urged anyone who had bought insurance with the company to stop driving immediately until they have legitimate cover.

Anyone holding an insurance policy with Aston Midshires should call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or go to the Action Fraud website

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Aon Corporation is set to assert their dominance in the risk management world this year, as they move their corporate headquarters to London, the company announced today.

The group said they are making the move to gain greater access to emerging markets and to take advantage of the strategic proximity of Lloyd’s and the London market, as one of the key international hubs of insurance and risk brokerage.

As part of the move Chicago, the groups current headquarters will continue as the head office for the Americas. Aon will move their Chicago based employees into a new location. They expect to create more than 1,000 jobs over the course of the year.

“The decisions we make today will help drive our global strategy and strengthen our growth opportunities in the years to come,” CEO Greg Case said today.

“The continued investment in our international operations and emerging markets is important to the growth of our firm.”

The group said the move will strengthen their ability to drive future growth, build innovative products, develop talent and deliver shareholder value.

What does this mean for shareholders?

The move, if approved by stockholders, will result in a transaction of stocks for all current shareholders. All shares will be converted one for one from the current common Aon shares to the common shares of the newly formed English company.

Aon UK expects to be listed on the NYSE and to report earnings and other financial statements in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, including dollar denominated financial statements. The transaction is anticipated to close in the second quarter of 2012.

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Over half of UK doctors have noticed an increase in the amount of patients attempting to make fraudulent claims, LV car insurance reported.

60% of the GPs surveyed noticed an increase in the amount of patients who they believed were exaggerating their injuries, with 87% even reporting ‘patients’ who completely made their injuries up.

The study comes after criticism from both the Prime Minister and insurance companies about the countries growing ‘compensation culture’.

According to the research, the rise in attempted fraudulent claims can be partly attributed to the strong arm tactics of personal injury lawyers and claims management companies. Half of all Brits say they were contacted out of the blue last year by one of these companies stating they may be able to make a claim, regardless of whether they had been in an accident or not.

As for those who have been injured in a car accident in the past 12 months, 60% say they were pestered by a lawyer or claims management company following the incident trying to persuade them to make a claim using their services. This could suggest claims companies are being passed information from third parties ‘in the know’ at the scene of the accident.

In fact, 53% of GPs said that they were contacted in 2011 by claims companies asking to buy patient details.

The research suggests a worrying attitude exists towards fraud in the UK, despite authorities taking a tough line on financial claims in 2011.

“Attempted fraudulent personal injury claims waste time and money,” said John O’Roarke, managing director of LV car insurance.

“GPs have increasingly large workloads and should not have to deal with fraudsters attempting to make a fast buck at the expense of law abiding motorists. Attempting to make a compensation claim when you do not have an injury is against the law and could lead to a hefty fine or prison sentence.”

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