Articles by Harry Curtis
Interview: Craig Thornton, Lloyds Banking Group and ABI
In June, Craig Thornton, general insurance and protection director at Lloyds Banking Group, was announced as the chair of the Association of British Insurers’ General Insurance Council, replacing Andy Watson as he stood down as CEO of Ageas UK.
Direct Line told to pay former employee £37,000 for unfair dismissal
Direct Line has been ordered to pay £36,998 to a former employee who claimed they were unfairly dismissed, Post has learned.
Analysis: A tale of two mutuals
Eleven days apart in June, two of the UK’s mutual insurers – Police Mutual and LV – made announcements regarding their futures. Their decisions herald challenging times for the mutual model.
Hiscox and action group arbitration to commence following court agreement
Hiscox has agreed to an expedited arbitration process in its dispute with the Hiscox Action Group, a coalition of policyholders that is contesting the insurer’s rejection of coronavirus-related business interruption claims.
Zurich UK reports £140m of Covid-19 claims as it posts H1 loss
Zurich’s UK general insurance business faced £140m in Covid-19 related claims across travel, event cancellation and business interruption lines in the first half of 2020.
Admiral facing 'difficult call' on claims frequency and inflation
Admiral has said it faces a “difficult call” with regard to whether or not claims frequency will return to pre-pandemic levels this year, reporting that it saw a 3-4% increase in road accidents last week alone.
Beirut marine and port insured losses should not exceed $250m, says Guy Carpenter
The combined hull, cargo and port facility insured losses from last week’s warehouse explosions in Beirut should not exceed $250m (£191m), according to an initial analysis by Guy Carpenter.
Government interventions to spare credit insurers the worst of pandemic losses
Credit insurers face pandemic-related claims continuing well into 2021 but will avoid losses on a similar scale to those seen after the 2008 global financial crisis thanks to government interventions, according to Fitch Ratings.
Beirut explosion unlikely to produce Tianjin-scale insured losses
The warehouse explosion in the port area of Beirut on Tuesday is unlikely to lead to insured losses on the same scale as those that followed a similar incident in China in 2015, industry figures have said.
Business enquiries down 14% on last year at Allianz
While market conditions are slowly recovering in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown, the volume of new enquiries for commercial policies remain substantially lower than were last year, according to Allianz Insurance.
Axa offers £50 compensation after walking back BI cover confirmation
Axa has offered a UK policyholder £50 in compensation after rejecting a business interruption claim it had initially indicated would be covered.
Lloyd's to impose business class rota on September reopening
Lloyd’s will limit access to its underwriting room when it reopens on 1 September giving underwriters and brokers in different classes of business set days for face-to-face meetings at One Lime Street.
No evidence of reputation hit to business, says Hiscox global retail CEO
Hiscox has not seen a slowdown in business as a result of its high-profile involvement in disputes over coronavirus business interruption claims, the insurer’s global retail CEO Ben Walter told Post.
NFU Mutual rejects accusation it misbehaved by deducting government grants from payouts
NFU Mutual has defended itself against claims by self-catering accommodation businesses that it is unfairly deducting the value of government grants from coronavirus-related payouts.
High Court approval of Lloyd's EEA transfer not a foregone conclusion
High Court approval of Lloyd’s proposed transfer of European policies to its Brussels subsidiary is not assured, according to an expert with experience of portfolio transfers.
Davies’ captive management arm grows US presence and eyes European expansion
Davies Group is scoping out expanding its captive management presence to Guernsey or Malta, after expanding its US capabilities with the acquisition of Citadel Risk’s captive management business last week.
FSCS appoints three NEDs including former cabinet minister Nicky Morgan
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has appointed former cabinet minister Baroness Nicky Morgan, former Aviva executive Cathryn Riley, and police and fire services inspector Wendy Williams as non-executive directors.
600 jobs at risk as LV commences L&G integration
LV General Insurance has started the clock on a two-and-a-half-year integration of Legal & General’s general insurance business that is expected to impact 14% of jobs across the two Allianz businesses.
Travel insurance policies purchased in recent months unlikely to cover Spain cancellation claims
Holidaymakers cancelling trips to Spain in light of the updated travel guidance issued over the weekend are unlikely to find cover under their travel insurance if they purchased policies after mid-March.
Global health agencies to fund Lloyd's Covid-19 vaccine transport syndicate
Lloyd’s has granted in-principle approval to a syndicate to insure the storage and transportation of a Covid-19 vaccine to emerging economies once one is developed.
Lloyd’s transfer of EEA policies to go down to the wire after hearing delay
The effective date for the Part VII scheme that will transfer Lloyd’s European policies to its subsidiary in Brussels has been pushed back to 30 December following a delay to the final court hearing in the process.
Beazley post $13.8m half-year loss amid pandemic claims surge
Beazley has posted a pre-tax loss of $13.8m (£10.8m) for the first half of 2020 after seeing claims surge for its contingency and property divisions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Action group brands insurers' focus on lack of specific pandemic cover 'a diversionary tactic'
Insurers’ repeated argument that policies were not intended to cover pandemics has been described as “a diversionary tactic” on the third day of the Financial Conduct Authority’s business interruption test case.
Genworth to pay Axa estimated £624m under PPI mis-selling settlement
US insurance group Genworth Financial has agreed a £624m settlement with Axa, bringing to a close a lawsuit over payment protection insurance mis-selling losses.