Articles by Harry Curtis
Analysis: Changing tactics - The strategy behind Aviva's aggregator push
In August, Aviva announced that it was aiming to roll out a motor insurance product under its main brand on price comparison websites this autumn.
Lloyd’s sees underlying underwriting improvement as Covid weighs on H1 result
Lloyd’s posted a £438m loss in the first half of 2020 driven by £2.4bn of Covid-19 claims, which added 18% to its combined operating ratio.
One in ten jobs at risk as MIB begins latest cutbacks
One in ten jobs at the Motor Insurers’ Bureau are at risk of being cut, with the organisation citing among other factors the need to minimise costs due to challenges posed by the current economic climate.
Big three ratings agencies united in negative outlook for global reinsurers
Moody’s has revised its outlook for the global reinsurance sector to negative, citing weakened profitability in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, bringing it into line with other ratings agencies.
Munich Re calls for governments to back mandatory BI risk pools
Munich Re has called for government-backed risk pools to be created to insure against the effects of future pandemics.
Munich Re expects 'triple-digit million euro' losses from Beirut blast and recent hurricanes
Munich Re expects its losses from August’s warehouse explosion in Beirut and a trio of recent North Atlantic hurricanes to both reach “low triple-digit million euro” sums.
Tulsi Naidu to depart as Zurich UK CEO
Zurich’s Tulsi Naidu is set leave her role as UK CEO to take up the position of Asia Pacific CEO in Singapore from 1 January 2021.
Hurricane Laura insured loss estimates range from $4bn to $12bn
Early estimates of the insured losses resulting from Hurricane Laura range from $4bn to $12bn, with the damage concentrated in southern Louisiana.
Capsicum to rebrand as Gallagher Re from next month
Capsicum Re is to rebrand as Gallagher Re from 1 October in order to align the business with Gallagher’s retail and insurance broking operations.
Updated: Over one million homes at risk as Hurricane Laura brings ‘unsurvivable’ storm surge to US Gulf Coast
Hurricane Laura, which made landfall in Louisiana early this morning as a category-four storm, has the potential to impact 1.1 million homes worth $265bn in terms of reconstruction cost value, according to Core Logic.
Leisure and hospitality sector faces 'plethora' of employers' liability claims
Businesses in the leisure and hospitality sector have been warned they face “inevitable” employers’ liability claims from employees who contract the coronavirus on the job or are otherwise injured as a result of changes made by businesses post-lockdown.
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.