Articles by Mairi MacDonald
Biba and Willis back social media site
Social media platform My Slipcase has signed up members from 342 insurance and reinsurance organisations since it launched nine months ago.
Esure aims for £1.14bn market cap
Esure has set its indicative price range for its proposed float at set at 240p to 310p per share.
Aviva's rating affirmed by S&P
Standard & Poor's has confirmed that Aviva's ratings and outlook are unaffected by the company's after-tax loss of £3bn for 2012.
Zurich wins crash-for-cash conviction
The driver of a Porsche who has admitted deliberately causing a crash with a council van has secured the City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department its first crash-for-cash conviction.
Spencer warns tough broker action ahead
Aviva UK & Ireland general insurance chief executive Robin Spencer has warned it will have to take some “tough calls” on its broker relationships if the insurer is to reduce its commercial lines combined operating ratio to a sub-100% position in 2013.
Novae 'rebalances' book to deliver £49m profit
Novae has reported underlying profit before tax of £49.3m (2011: £6m loss) while the underlying pre-tax return on equity was 17.6% (2011: negative return of 2.1%).
Digital Insurance Strategies: Bennetts reaps the benefits after setting up its own social media site
Insurance firms must embrace social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter as a means of “getting in front of” and engaging with customers – but they are no match for setting up a social media site of one’s own.
News review: British insurance staff could lose jobs
Staff at mortgage payment protection insurance provider British Insurance has been put on redundancy notice by the firm's parent company Towergate Insurance.
L&G to re-enter motor insurance market
Legal & General is considering re-entering the UK motor insurance market in 2013 following moves to diversify its portfolio beyond its core household lines.
L&G general insurance profit falls to £30m
Legal & General's operating profit increased to £1.09bn (2011: £1.05bn) while operating profit from divisions - excluding capital and financing and investment projects - rose to £1.12bn (2011: £1.06bn).
Keelan Westall aims to increase e-trading brokers by a third
Keelan Westall aims to increase the number of brokers trading on its e-trading platform from the current level of 400 to 600 by the end of the year.
JLT increases revenue by 7% and unveils new transformation programme
JLT increased revenue to £880.1m in 2012 with 7% coming from organic growth and 1% through acquisitions. This was offset by 1% foreign exchange movements compared to 2011.
ABI: young driver proposals could cut premiums by 20%
Teenagers' annual motor premiums could be cut by up to 15% if the government adopts proposals to improve young driver safety, according to the Association of British Insurers.
RSA beats peers to eighth place in Sunday Times best employer list
RSA has become the highest ranking insurer in the Sunday Times Top 25 Big Companies to Work For in 2013, coming eighth overall, compared to sixth in 2012.
Marsh restructures UK & Ireland corporate practice
Marsh has amalgamated its national corporate and risk management practices with its UK & Ireland operation along with Marsh Risk Consulting in its newly created corporate division.
IFB boosts fraud fight with new member
Car and van insurance provider Octagon Insurance has become the latest organisation to sign up as a member of the Insurance Fraud Bureau.
Lancashire leads pack with "thumping" 2012 result
Lancashire’s 2012 results place it “firmly at the front of its peers in terms of underwriting delivery and return of capital”.
CGSC reveals US management changes
Shaun Hooper has succeeded Neal Abernathy as president and chief executive of Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford's wholesale, reinsurance broking and underwriting operations in North America.
Willis appoints new European captive head
Lesley Harding has been named chief executive officer of Willis' global captive practice in Europe, effective 1 March.
Airclaims names new MD post-McLarens merger
Mark Hunter has left his post as chief executive of Airclaims by mutual agreement amid a restructure of management roles, 18 months after the aviation management specialist merged with loss adjuster McLarens.
DLG improves combined ratio to 99.2%
Direct Line Group has reported a 9.3% rise in operating profit for ongoing operations to £461.2m (2011: £421.9m) including an underwriting profit of £28.2m compared to a loss in 2011 of £72.3m and a combined operating ratio of 99.2% (2011: 101.8%).
Rate hikes the only answer to CL market’s poor results
The dismal state of the UK commercial lines market can only be remedied by insurers inputting rate rises in 2013 and resisting their natural urge to compete on price, the heads of major firms have said.
Brit has "natural opportunity" to grow top line as it eyes new markets
Brit group chief executive Mark Cloutier said the insurer is likely to see top line growth in 2013 having repositioned the business to "opportunistically" target profitable specialist lines business.
Bluefin Ebitda increases 27.5%
Bluefin Insurance has reported a 27.5% rise in Ebitda to £22.7m (2011: £17.8m) and a 54.3% pre-tax profit of £17.9m (2011: £11.6m).