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The European Banking Authority (EBA) said after the market close on Friday that eight banks failed the stress test with a total capital shortfall of 2.5 billion euros ($3.5 billion).

This puny amount in European banking terms sparked a repeat of last year’s accusations that the stress tests were again unrealistic given the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis.

The banks that failed are small, nearly all untraded and mainly in Spain, where banking problems have long been known.

Few analysts and regulators expect a broad sector sell-off when the opening bell rings, while the greater transparency over sovereign debt holdings could lift uncertainty over some stocks.

EBA Chairman Andrea Enria told Spanish daily El Pais he does not expect a rout in Spanish banks on Monday.

“It’s a formidable exercise in transparency, which has not unveiled any great surprises and therefore I do not expect a black Monday. Absolutely not,” Enria said.

The impact of the test is likely to be twofold. Sixteen banks scraped through the test and analysts expect them to come under market pressure to bring capital cushions up to scratch well before the EBA’s April 2012 deadline.

They include Spain’s Bankia — which is planning to list on Wednesday — Popular, Sabadell and four more Spanish banks, Italy’s Banco Popolare, Greece’s Piraeus and Cyprus’s Marfin.

Portugal’s biggest bank Millennium bcp also nearly failed, and it set the tone for swift action by saying late on Friday it would raise 400 million euros.

The second main impact of the EU’s third health check of banks since the financial crisis began revolves around sovereign debt holdings of countries at the heart of the problems.

“The EBA stress test result is of limited value to us as the sovereign banking book exposures are not fully stressed and it is based on a relatively low 5 percent (pass mark),” JPMorgan analyst Kian Abouhossein said.

“However, it offers transparency with excellent new input data, especially in respect to sovereign risk and credit exposure at risk.”

Banks have warned that too much transparency, such as news of BNP Paribas’ 24 billion euro exposure to Italy, may make markets even more jittery.

The sovereign data may come into its own later this week. Euro zone leaders meet on Thursday in a bid to agree a second bailout for Greece and a package to address the broader fiscal woes of the euro zone that last week moved beyond Greece, Portugal and Ireland to Italy and Spain.

This broader package may include measures whereby banks agree to take a hit in some form on the sovereign debt they hold to give euro zone countries more breathing space to recover.

“The test is compatible with the voluntary approach being discussed,” Enria told Reuters Insider. The EBA data showed Europe’s banks held 98.2 billion euros of Greek sovereign bonds at the end of December, with two-thirds of that held by Greece’s banks, 9 percent by German banks and 8 percent by France’s.

Banks’ exposure to Irish sovereign debt was 52.7 billion euros (61 percent held domestically) and to Portugal it was 43.2 billion (63 percent held domestically).

This sovereign debt data has been crunched by analysts at big banks over the weekend in tests that were toughened up with default scenarios — something the EBA was barred from doing by nervous EU finance ministers.

Europe’s banks would need 41 billion euros to keep their core capital ratio above 7 percent, the new global minimum from 2013 under the Basel III accord and already required by markets in practice, according to Reuters’ calculations.

This compares with the 5 percent pass mark in the test. JPMorgan’s Abouhossein said a tougher test of 27 of the bigger banks using EBA data would show 20 are a combined 80 billion euros short of capital.

His test applied a haircut to sovereign bond holdings in the banking book and required banks hold core capital of 7 percent. Credit Suisse analysts said applying larger haircuts on peripheral euro zone bond holdings, including for Italy, as per current market prices, would leave a 45 billion euro deficit for 49 banks it tested.

Without market pressure, some banks may not top up capital levels as some local supervisors dispute test conclusions. Germany’s Helaba pulled out of the test just before the results were announced, disputing it would have been failed. The Bundesbank said it was happy with Helaba’s capital position. In Spain, the central bank says no lender needs to raise capital.

Source : Reuters   

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Liberty Mutual Insurance (LMI) is sponsoring two young motorsport drivers, Alex Brundle and Sam Brabham, for the current racing season.

Sam Brabham is contesting the fiercely competitive Junior Max class (for 13-17 year olds) in Formula Kart Stars with the Project One racing team, while Alex Brundle is racing in Formula 2 and has already achieved two podium results this season.

Both drivers’ families have a long connection with motorsport with Alex Brundle’s father, Martin Brundle, a former driver and current commentator on F1. Sam Brabham’s father, David Brabham, was a Le Mans winner and double American Le Mans Series Champion. His grandfather, Jack Brabham, was a triple F1 World Champion.

The sponsorship deal helps both young drivers fund the cost of their participation in this year’s season while providing LMI with a host of client entertainment and branding opportunities – both Alex and Martin Brundle recently attended a broker Q&A session at LMI’s Minster Court office in London.  Sam and David Brabham drove in the LMI Casualty Karting Day.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe Limited Chief Executive Sean Rocks commented: “The sponsorships are a natural fit with our long involvement in providing liability insurance for both motor sport teams as well as tracks. Our brand can only benefit from the marketing opportunities that these two, high profile motorsports offer.”

Lewis Goodearl, LMI’s Vice President for Casualty, added: “Both drivers have a great racing pedigree with names synonymous with motorsport. The F2 and Formula Kart Stars seasons are well under way and we look forward to following Alex’s and Sam’s progress.”

Source : Liberty Mutual

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The government should have the right to remove severely obese children from their parents’ home and place them in foster care, two US doctors argued in a controversial editorial published Wednesday.

“State intervention may serve the best interests of many children with life-threatening obesity, comprising the only realistic way to control harmful behaviours,” wrote Lindsey Murtagh of the Harvard School of Public Health and David Ludwig of Children’s Hospital in Boston.

“In severe instances of childhood obesity, removal from the home may be justifiable from a legal standpoint because of imminent health risks and the parents’ chronic failure to address medical problems.”

Some two million children in the United States are considered severely obese with a body mass index at or above the 99th percentile, the doctors wrote.    “Obesity of this magnitude can cause immediate and potentially irreversible consequences, most notably type 2 diabetes,” they said.    Child abuse laws have long addressed situations in which children are starved or neglected, but “only a handful of states, including California, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas, have legal precedent for applying this framework to overnourishment and severe obesity.”

Murtagh, who is also a lawyer by training, and Ludwig said that while it may be an undesirable option, placing a child in temporary foster care could  allow better habits to take root and avoid the risks of weight loss surgery.    “Although removal of the child from the home can cause families great emotional pain, this option lacks the physical risks of bariatric surgery.”

The opinion piece in the Journal of the American Medical Association made waves in the medical community and US media, and JAMA issued a statement pointing out that the piece did not reflect the institution’s view.

“This commentary does not reflect policy or opinion of the American Medical Association (AMA) or JAMA. The content of this commentary is solely the responsibility of the authors,” it said.

Washington, July 13, 2011 (AFP)

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New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits registered a bigger-than-expected drop last week but still remained elevated amid an ailing labour market, official data showed Thursday.

Initial jobless claims fell by 22,000 to 405,000 in the week ending July 9, the Labour Department said. The prior week’s number was upwardly revised to 427,000.

The average analyst estimate was for a smaller decline in claims, to 410,000.

A Minnesota state shutdown resulted in about 11,500 new claims, the department noted.

It was the 14th week in a row that US jobless claims held above the 400,000 mark, after dropping below that threshold from February to April in a trend that had encouraged hopes that a struggling economic recovery was gaining traction.  The four-week moving average last week was 423,250, down by 3,750 from the week ending July 2.

The jobless claims report for the first week of July followed grim labour data for June that showed job creation stalled in the world’s largest economy and that the unemployment rate rose to 9.2 per cent.

Washington, July 14, 2011 (AFP)

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Jelf Employee Benefit announces the appointment of Tanya Selley as International Healthcare Consultant.  She joins the team reporting into International Healthcare Director Sarah Dennis and her key responsibility will be new business – specifically targeting mid to large corporate clients.

Selley comes from TL Risk Solutions where she has proven expertise in attracting and retaining new business. Her appointment at Jelf Employee Benefits reflects the continued growth of the international side of the company, due to its highly specialised team. In fact, Selley’s appointment is the second senior appointment in the International Heallthcare team within four months.

Sarah Dennis commented: “We are extremely pleased to have Tanya join the team.  We know that she’ll hit the ground running as she has a successful track record in this sector already.”

Source : Jelf Employee Benefitsa

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Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said that it reviewed its ‘BBB-‘ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Irish-based insurer Irish Life Assurance PLC (ILA) and chose to keep them on CreditWatch with developing implications. We also kept the ‘BB’ rating on the €200 million junior subordinated notes on CreditWatch developing.

We originally placed the ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications on Nov. 26, 2010. We lowered the ratings to ‘BBB-‘ from ‘BBB’ on Feb. 2, 2011, and kept them on CreditWatch negative. The CreditWatch placement was revised to developing on April 5, 2011.

Earlier in the year, the Central Bank of Ireland ran stress tests for the Irish banking sector which indicated that ILA’s banking parent Irish Life & Permanent (ILP; BB+/Watch Neg/B) required €4 billion in additional capital. ILP therefore announced that it would sell ILA on March 31, 2011. As a result, we revised our CreditWatch placement for ILA. We are keeping the CreditWatch implications on developing because, in our view, regarding how the separation of the insurer from the bank will unfold, and about the future ownership structure of Irish Life.

ILP continues to pursue the planned disposal of ILA through either a trade sale or IPO. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Irish state, the International Monetary Fund, and the EU requires the group to have started the sale of ILA by October 2011.

In our opinion, a successful separation of ILA from ILP is likely to significantly reduce ILA’s risks and exposures relating to its weaker banking parent. The ‘BBB-‘ long-term rating on ILA is two notches below its ‘bbb+’ stand-alone credit profile to reflect risks relating to its parent. ILP’s stand-alone credit profile is ‘bb-‘.

At year-end 2010, the reported embedded value of ILP’s life and fund management business was €1.6 billion.

We will update the CreditWatch placement as further details emerge about the disposal, including the possibility of a trade sale. The company is required to have commenced the sale of ILA by October 2011. We aim to provide an update by early October, but do not expect to resolve the CreditWatch placement until ILA has separated from its parent.

ILP has not yet decided how it will dispose of ILA, and therefore the rating outcome following the CreditWatch resolution remains uncertain. A successful IPO could see the rating on ILA equalized with its ‘bbb+’ stand-alone credit profile, but ILP is also willing to consider a trade sale. In that case, the new rating would depend heavily on the creditworthiness of the buyer. In addition, should ILP not complete the planned separation, we could lower the ratings by one or two notches.

Source : S&P

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The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority in India should soon be authorising banks to partner-up with up to four insurance companies. Banks, at present, are allowed to have bancassurance deals with only one life insurance and one non-life insurance firm.

An Irda-appointed panel on banassurance recently suggested that banks be allowed to have a bancassurance pact with up to four insurance companies, for life, non-life and health insurance. The move was aimed at offering higher standards of service for the insurance customers.
The move would greatly help banks like Indian Bank, which incidentally also plans to foray into the insurance sector. “When compared to investing in a capital intensive business like insurance, which is a long term game, tying up with more insurance firms can earn higher non-interest income. Once the recommendations are implemented we hope to see many banks, including us, tie up with more insurance firms to step up our fee-based income,” said Indian Bank chairman, TM Bhasin.
With interest rates having been hiked 10 times, many banks are apprehensive about its impact on their NIMs. The 50 basis point increase in savings bank interest rate to 4 per cent is also expected to shrink the margins of the banks further. So many banks have stepped up their efforts in increasing their non-interest income from activities like selling life insurance, mutual fund products and gold coins among others.
“The panel’s recommendations, when implemented, will help small banks that do not have a direct presence in the insurance business. However, it remains to be seen how it helps the insurance sector as it has been witnessing a lot of competition and the commissions are also falling,” says Vaibhav Agarwal, banking sector analyst at Angel Broking.
“We have a bancassurance tie-up with LIC, which is a leader in the overall life insurance business. I doubt if tying up with an additional life insurance company will help us in selling more number of life insurance policies,” N Kamakodi, managing director, City Union Bank asserts.
However, banks, which have an insurance subsidiary, are against the move as increased competition could result in rivals offering higher incentives and commissions to lure customers. Also, bank staff may not be highly trained to explain to customers the difference in features of the products and may result in mis-selling, they say.

Source : Mydigitalfc

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Key European officials struggle to stop a disagreement over the terms of a second bailout for Greece from spilling over to big euro countries, such as Italy.

European Union President Herman Van Rompuy, usually in charge of the summits of EU leaders, is having an unscheduled meeting with top finance officials including the president of the European Central Bank and the EU’s monetary affairs commissioner to discuss how to get banks to contribute to a new rescue package for Greece.

The involvement of the private sector could well be interpreted by the credit rating agencies as a partial default by Greece — a notion that unsettled financial markets last week, especially in Italy.

Van Rompuy’s special get-together precedes a regular meeting of eurozone finance ministers Monday afternoon.

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The BRICS group of emerging countries vowed to improve access to low-cost and high-quality medicine — and  called on developed nations to shoulder responsibility in helping the poor.

Health ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa said  they would work with international groups such as the World Health  Organization and UNAIDS to provide “affordable, safe and effective  technologies”.

“We are committed to continue to collaborate in order to advance access to  public health services and… support other countries in their efforts to  promote health for all,” the BRICS group said in a statement.

The five emerging countries together account for more than 40 percent of  the world’s population.

The gathering in the Chinese capital was the first health minister-level  meeting for the BRICS group of nations. It was attended by UNAIDS and the  World Health Organization.

The BRICS called on WHO members, especially developed countries, to boost  funding for the organisation while Brazilian health minister Alexandre Padilha  told reporters wealthier countries should “shoulder” responsibility.

WHO director general Margaret Chan called on the BRICS — major suppliers  of generic drugs used to treat diseases such as HIV/AIDS — to boost  production.

Bejing, July 11, 2011 (AFP)

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Southern Cross, the financially troubled owner of 752 care homes in Britain, said on Monday that it would close, but added that its 31,000 elderly residents would continue to receive care.

The company said in a statement that it plans to cease operating and hand  its homes over to Southern Cross’s landlords after failing to reach a deal to restructure its rental agreements.

Shares in Southern Cross were suspended after the firm finally collapsed,  though shareholders had already lost their investments after a dramatic share  price slump in recent months. The group employs 44,000 staff.

“My objective, and that of my team, is to continue to provide excellent  care to every resident and to manage the programme of transition professionally,” Southern Cross chief executive Jamie Buchan said in the  statement.

British Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman said that no care home  residents would be made homeless following the company’s collapse.

“We have said all along that no-one will be left homeless as a result of  this,” the spokesman told reporters on Monday.

“Local authorities have a duty to ensure people get appropriate care. There  are currently around 50,000 spaces available across the country so there  should be no reason why anyone will be out on the street. We will ensure that  they have somewhere to live and they have appropriate care.    “The department are talking to Southern Cross about precisely what happens  next.”

The spokesman added: “Obviously we want to minimise disruption to anyone  who might be affected by this.”

London, July 11, 2011 (AFP)

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With the summer upon us, many people are heading overseas to other European Union countries for vacation and pleasure, or perhaps business. It is the time of year for summer activities such as swimming, boating and biking, congested highways and travelling throughout different cities and countries. With the adventures of the summer, it is important to ensure that you are adequately covered in the unforeseen circumstance that you require medical care outside of your home country.

An unquestionable benefit to living in an EU member state is the relative ease of travel, business, currency and insurance between member states. In order to ensure hassle free medical coverage outside of your home country, it is as easy as requesting a European Health Insurance Card from your local health authority. Access to the card is free of charge and is accepted in all 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The advantages to having the card is that it allows for direct access to the required medical care you need while outside of your country. The care received is the same as the care experienced by nationals of that country and depending on the member country you are visiting the treatments or services may be free of charge or reimbursed. Without the European Health Insurance Card, while necessary medical care will be provided based on medical laws and ethics, any treatment or service will need to be paid for upfront and the subsequent reimbursement process could be lengthy.

In the event that the card is lost, stolen or forgotten, a provisional replacement certificate can be issued confirming that you are covered by a European Health Insurance Card. Additional information can be reviewed through the European Commission website; http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=559

After all the summer should be a time of relaxation and worry free enjoyment.

Written by Sophie Iafrate

http://sophie-cest-mon-voyage.blogspot.com/

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Ecclesiastical warns of fire risks due to unusually dry weather during the spring and early summer.

According to the Gloucester-based insurance company, months of uncharacteristically warm conditions with below average rainfall in England and Wales left thatched roofs drier than usual and therefore vulnerable to ignition.

The warning comes after a spate of thatched roof fires.

Ecclesiastical’s Technical Survey Manager Bob Johnson said: “We’re definitely seeing more fires in thatched roofs this year, which we believe is a result of the weather. Thick thatch is obviously highly flammable, but conditions in the UK mean it’s usually damp, which suppresses the risk. But when it’s dried out like it is now in many parts of the country, fire becomes a much greater risk.

“Once a fire takes hold of thatched roof, it’s incredibly hard to extinguish. Thatch actually repels water very effectively, which makes a fire crew’s job much harder.

“We’re urging owners of thatched properties to ensure their chimneys are swept regularly and ensure their chimneys are properly insulated from the thatch material. It’s our standard advice but this year the weather is making it even more important.”

Over 90% of thatch fires are caused by faulty flues or chimneys. Research has shown that heat transfers through the chimney brickwork into the thatch, which eventually ignites. In the very dry conditions seen this spring however sparks emanating from the chimney falling onto tinder dry thatch are an obvious concern.

Mr Johnson added: “One of the problems we find is that when old thatch is replaced, the bottom layer is not removed and, over time, the thatch becomes deeper until the chimney mouth is barely above the thatch.”

In May, a thatched cottage in Country Antrim which was the ancestral home of the 21st US president Chester Arthur was damaged extensively by a fire in its roof.

According to the Met Office, this spring was the driest in 20 years in some areas. Across England and Wales spring rainfall was 86.9 mm, which is 45% of the long-term average. This is the second driest spring since 1910 and the driest since 1990, which had 85 mm of rain.

On average, 1.5% (750) of the thatched properties in UK and Ireland will suffer fire damage each year with approximately 50 being totally destroyed

Thatch is a traditional roofing material used in approximately 50,000 properties in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is made from three materials: long straw, combed wheat reed and water reed.

Source : Ecclesiastical

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The financial crisis that began to hit Europe in mid-2008 reversed a steady, years-long fall in suicides among people of  working age, according to a letter published on Friday by The Lancet.

Researchers looked at mortality data provided by 10 European Union  countries.

They comprised six countries — Austria, Britain, Finland, Greece, Ireland  and the Netherlands — that had been EU members before 2004, and four — the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania and Romania — that joined afterwards.

In 2008, suicides among people aged younger than 65 in the pre-enlargement  states rose by almost seven percent over 2007, the letter said.

The rise was especially marked in Greece (+17 percent) and Ireland (+13  percent), two of the worst-hit economies.    “This is… consistent with historical studies that show immediate rises in  suicides associated with ‘early indicators’ of crisis, such as turmoil in the  banking sector, which precipitates later unemployment,” the epidemiologists  said.

In the four post-enlargement states, the number of suicides rose by one  percent in 2008, but accelerated from 2009 when job losses started to bite.

In that year, the relative increase was higher than among the  pre-enlargement states, which have a wider social safety net.    The unemployment rate across the 27-nation EU rose by 2.6 points, a  relative increase of 35 percent, between 2007 and 2009.

Only Austria bucked the suicide trend, with five percent less  self-inflicted mortality in 2009 compared with 2007.     Unexpectedly, however, Finland — which like Austria has widespread support  for the unemployed — saw an increase in suicides of just over five percent in  the same period.    Overall, mortality from all causes in the 10 countries remained stable.

This was because deaths from road accidents fell substantially, especially  in the eastern countries, as car use retreated due to the economic crisis and  unemployment.    A macabre footnote to that decline is a slump in the availability of organs  for transplant.

The letter is authored by five specialists in public health, led by David  Stuckler of the University of Cambridge. The data is preliminary, and further research will cast a wider net across Europe.

Paris, July 8, 2011 (AFP)

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The insurance industry’s determination to protect honest customers from insurance fraud moved up a gear  with the announcement of a national Insurance Fraud Register.

It is estimated that insurance fraud costs £2billion a year, adding, on average, an extra £44 a year to the insurance bill for every UK policyholder.
Funded by ABI members, the register will be an industry-owned database enabling insurers to share information on known cheats. The database will enable insurers to identify anyone who fails to declare a previous fraudulent insurance claim and follows a six month pilot exercise. It should be fully operational by early 2012.

Nick Starling, ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health, said: “This initiative demonstrates how seriously insurers take reducing insurance fraud, and their determination to protect honest customers. The database will build on existing industry databases that help insurers check previous claims history to ensure that there is no hiding place for anyone caught making a bogus or exaggerated insurance claim.”

David Neave, Chairman of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, (IFB) said: “This important initiative is the next key strategic step in strengthening insurers’ tough approach to this problem. The IFB is at the forefront of a concerted drive to tackle organised insurance fraud. The work of the IFB with insurers and police forces throughout the UK has led to the prosecution of many organised insurance fraud gangs, so helping save money for insurers and honest customers alike.

Source : ABI

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The farming industry being branded as the most unsecure for health and safety, farmers should focus on reducing accidents.

The fact that nearly 750 people – 98 of them members of the public – have died in farmland accidents in the past 16 years was revealed this month in a Parliamentary answer by the work and pensions minister, Lord Freud.

Equally, the National Farmers’ Union has recently launched its Farm Safety Charter to help cut the number of fatalities occurring in the sector.

Aviva has issued new risk management advice aimed at farm working as part of its Simply Safety campaign – with special guidance for working at height.

Falls from height are the joint second highest cause of death in agriculture and, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 60 people have been killed as a result of a fall in the past decade (16% of all fatalities in the sector).

Phil Grace, liability risk manager at Aviva, said: “Falls from height can result in serious and disabling injuries and in the worst case can be fatal.  As well as causing pain and distress, accidents at work cost employers time and money. Those planning or supervising work have a responsibility to do all they can to prevent falls. Failure to do so can result in an investigation from the HSE whether or not an accident or injury has resulted.

“Every year there are a number of successful prosecutions brought against agricultural businesses.  In a recent case one farm was fined £8,000 plus £5,000 in costs when an employee suffered a broken collar bone, bruising and concussion after falling twelve feet from a roof.”

With Aviva’s experience suggesting that incidents most commonly occur when farm employees are carrying out building maintenance or repair, working on vehicles or accessing silos, the insurer is urging those responsible for managing farms to put controls in place to manage the risk of a fall.

Grace continued: “Working at any height carries a risk and employers should undertake a full assessment before work starts to avoid putting employees in unnecessary danger. Jobs should be completed from ground level wherever possible and, if work must be carried out at height, it is essential that workers are properly trained, competent to do the job and appropriately supervised at all times. Planning is key and a few simple steps can significantly reduce the risk of an accident.”

The HSE has put together specific advice for those responsible for supervising farm workers on some of the most common dangers faced by agricultural workers4:

– Work on roofs: Ensure workers are appropriately trained and never walk on the purlins or stand on fragile fibre cement roofs and take steps to prevent falls from ladders or crawling boards. Check the weather forecast before starting work since high winds have been known to cause accidents.

– Work on vehicles: Take particular care when climbing down from vehicles – use the steps and handholds and never jump down. Check that access to the high parts of the machine is well-designed when choosing which vehicle to buy so that maintenance work can be carried out safely. Ensure that well-fitting, slip-resistant safety footwear is worn at all times.

– Stacking bales: Plan carefully when loading bales on to trailers. Use end racks or hay ladders and ensure loads are built to bind themselves. Keep stackers away from the side and use sound bales for all edges. Make sure loads are well-secured and that no one rides on top of them.

– Access: Never use pallets, potato crates or other makeshift equipment as a means of gaining access to high places. Similarly the buckets of JCBs and telehandlers are not a safe means of access for working at height. Wherever possible, use purpose made work platforms rather than ladders. If using scaffold, use competent workers to erect it. Ladders can be used if there is no alternative, but make sure that they are well-secured and/or footed, resting on level and firm ground and not leaning against fragile surfaces.

Source : Aviva

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New research commissioned by Gocompare.com shows that a ‘trust gap’ is developing between companies and cash strapped UK consumers.

Responses of the 3000 adults from across the UK who took part in the survey show that far from believing that ‘we’re all in this together,’ over a third (36%) of Brits think that companies in various sectors are using ‘inflation’ as an excuse to increase prices and improve their bottom line.

An even higher 38 per cent of Brits think that fuel companies use situations such as unrest in the Middle East as an excuse to push up the price of petrol and diesel and increase their profits.

Half (50%) of consumers want the Government to do more to control the price of petrol and diesel and 44 per cent think the Government should reduce fuel duty to help cut motorists spiralling costs.

When asked about their own financial situation, 41 per cent of consumers said they feel worse off now than they did this time last year, and 45 per cent feel their situation has remained about the same. Just 13 per cent feel better off now than they did 12 months ago when the coalition Government came to power.

With nearly a quarter (24%) of consumers saying they are having to make cutbacks just to make ends meet, the majority of Brits who expressed their opinion do not want to see an interest rate rise. 26 per cent are happy for interest rates to stay where they are and 17 per cent would like them to fall still further.

Overall around 1 in 5 (22%) consumers would like to see interest rates go up, but that figure more than doubles to 46 per cent for respondents over 55, perhaps reflecting their reliance on savings income.

John Miles, Gocompare.com’s business development director commented, “It’s clear that many consumers are struggling to cope with the effects of high inflation and high fuel and energy costs. However, this research shows that a significant number of customers believe companies are taking advantage of the tougher economic climate to pass more costs on to them and boost their profits. This mistrust may well prompt more consumers to ditch their long held loyalties and shop around for better deals and we would certainly encourage this. Companies which know they have to compete for your business will be forced to offer more competitive deals and prices and consumers should shop around for everything.”

Source : Gocompare.com

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Eight employees from the BGL Group have graduated with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Level 7 Certificate in Strategic Leadership and Management.

This was the second cohort of graduates for the nationally recognised, post-graduate course, which BGL offers to senior managers across the business. The programme covers topics such as Strategic Leadership Practice, Financial Management, and Personal Development as a Strategic Manager.

Carol Davies, BGL Group Associate Director for HR and Learning and Development said: “All of our courses are delivered on-site to an extremely high standard by the CMI. Our Learning and Development Team works closely with the Institute to build a programme that helps our people achieve their personal career goals and identify potential leaders of the future. The course is no picnic – it’s a very challenging 12 months, but all the delegates have been very positive about how much they have learned in the process.”

Allen Seldon, Senior Manager, Commercial Delivery for Junction, one of the BGL Group’s businesses, was among the graduates of the CMI course. He said: “It’s been an extremely rewarding programme. The study of strategic thinking and leadership disciplines has helped me to think differently about my day-to-day contribution to ensure BGL Group remains a successful company. The course has allowed me to build on my current role and develop strong relationships with new people across the business.”

The course culminated with an in-house graduation ceremony, where the successful employees were presented with their certificates. In addition, all of the students gave a presentation on a business related topic to their Line Managers and the Board, demonstrating their learning and how related changes could impact the future of the organisation.

Source : BGL

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Aon Risk Solutions has won the British Insurance Award for the Commercial Lines Broking Initiative of the Year for its unique Trio proposition. The awards ceremony was hosted in London on Wednesday, 6 July.

Trio was developed based on client feedback. It delivers a competitive combination of premium cover and service on property, casualty and motor wordings, pushing the boundaries of the mid-corporate segment.

Jim Herbert, Managing Director of Aon’s UK Corporate division commented: “This is a fantastic achievement for Aon, and highlights the hard work of the entire team over the past several years. Trio is the perfect example of how Aon continues to innovate, and leverage our position in the market to the benefit of our clients.

“I would like to thank and congratulate the entire team for their hard work, and look forward to even more success in the future.

“As always, the British Insurance Awards is a fantastic evening. It demonstrates the breadth and depth of knowledge and expertise in our industry, as well as the power of our industry to help shape our economy.”

Source : Aon

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The Insurance Fraud Bureau welcomes three new members to its team. Katie Hill joins as an Intelligence Researcher, Chris Hamley as a Fraud Analyst and Rosemary Wheeler as the Customer Relationship Manager.

Katie graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a Degree in Criminology and has spent the last three years working in Lloyds Banking Group as a Technical Claims Advisor where she was responsible for identifying and investigating all types of suspect home insurance claims. Her duties also included training other staff and liaising with a variety of internal and external stakeholders. Katie joins the IFB to further strengthen the Intelligence Team and will be very well placed to assist identify and investigate home insurance frauds.

Chris worked for the last six years in the Talk Talk Group, where he was a Fraud Analyst Team Leader. Chris assisted in creating the Fraud Team in Talk Talk and has considerable experience in analysing large datasets to identify trends and patterns. In addition, Chris played a key role in designing and implementing the business processes and controls within the analytics team. On a day to day basis Chris will be responsible, along with the existing IFB analysts, led by Natalie Ball, recently appointed Lead Analyst, for identifying and developing high fraud risk networks and supporting IFB customers identify and disrupt organised insurance fraud.

Rosemary will take up the newly created role of Customer Relationship Manager, joining the IFB after 7 years with BUPA, where her last role was Sales & Service Operations Manager. Rosemary’s role with BUPA required her to manage stakeholders at all levels, to research the customer journey and develop new products and services to help improve the customer experience. Her focus with the IFB will be on the creation of a customer relationship management model, to ensure the IFB provides and maintains optimum counter-fraud services to each of its insurer and non-insurer customers.

Glen Marr, IFB Director, comments:  “The IFB has and this continues, been focused on strengthening and enhancing its core capability to disrupt organised insurance fraud, and Katie, Chris and Rosemary with the valuable knowledge, experience and expertise they bring, will each play an important part in the team”.

“It is essential that the IFB has the ability to not only understand its customer’s needs, but also to have the diversity of knowledge, experience and expertise within the team to then be able to deliver”.

Marr concludes: “On behalf of the IFB I am pleased to welcome Katie, Chris and Rosemary to the team.”

Source : IFB

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As part of its review of locations Friends Life has outlined plans to close its office in Basingstoke and consolidate its offices in Manchester by the end of 2012. The proposed site changes are in line with Friends Life’s future strategy for the combined group of heritage businesses.

The majority of the work undertaken in the Basingstoke office is linked to the administration of the corporate pensions business acquired from AXA UK plc in September 2010 and is now being migrated to the heritage Friends Provident corporate pensions platform, New Generation Pensions (NGP). This migration has already begun and is due to complete in 2012. Once complete, the intention is to close the Basingstoke office.

Following the acquisition of Bupa Health Assurance Limited, the enlarged Friends Life business now has two sites in Manchester – the heritage Friends Provident office in Spring Gardens and the acquired office in Salford Quays. The decision has been taken to consolidate into the Salford Quays office by the end of the second quarter 2012.

Within both offices, Friends Life will consider appropriate opportunities for relocation based on the skills required at the company’s other office locations. Trained advisers and counsellors will be located in both offices to help manage employees through the period of change.

David Hynam, Executive Director Operations at Friends Life said:

“The proposals announced today are part of a review of our office locations across the enlarged business to rationalise sites and reduce fragmentation of our operations. Our strategy to reduce our cost base can be achieved by consolidating into fewer office locations and today’s announcement helps us to achieve this objective. These decisions, whilst necessary, are extremely difficult ones to make and we are very mindful of the impact on our people. We will do all we can to help them through this period.”

In total 140 people are employees at the Friends Life Manchester Spring Gardens office and a further 155 people are employed at the Basingstoke office. The company consulted in advance with Unite, the union representing many of its employees.

Source : Friends Life

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