Articles by Martin Croucher
Tradex borrows £7m to meet Solvency II requirements after Ogden rate hit
Tradex has borrowed £7m from its parent to maintain its solvency capital position in the wake of the Ogden discount rate change.
Post People 22 - 26 May 2017
This week's key appointments across the industry.
Covea sees profits treble following Sterling integration
Covea has seen its pre-tax profits almost treble from £12.9m to £38.4m last year despite “headwinds” from the Ogden rate change.
Beazley to open Birmingham office to tap into regional market
Beazley will open an office in Birmingham with 100 staff to target the intermediated regional market.
Interview: Conor Brennan, Zurich UK
Zurich has seen a seismic shift in the last year. A group-wide restructure also saw a reworked operating model in the UK, with commercial, general insurance and life businesses under a single leadership.
No plans to reopen legal challenge against shuttered North Korean insurer
A long-running legal dispute between North Korea’s state-run insurance firm and a group of reinsurers will not be reopened, even as the insurer’s assets were frozen by the UK government.
SSP: Normal service resumes after latest outage
Brokers faced a day of intermittent service on the SSP platform yesterday, in a fault which the software house says has now been fixed.
AIG appoints Duperreault as CEO
AIG has appointed Brian Duperreault as president and CEO, replacing Peter Hancock.
Updated: Markerstudy flagged as credit risk on Biba Litmus Test
Markerstudy has been flagged up as a credit risk on a ‘litmus test’ of unrated insurers by the British Insurance Brokers’ Association.
Week in Post: Bonsai trees, jelly beans and the thousand-yard stare
The majority of the Post team started the week as ‘virgins’ of the British Insurance Brokers’ Association annual conference. This morning, I see most of them have the same look in their bloodshot eyes. War veterans call it the thousand-yard stare.
Allianz in talks over acquisition of LV GI unit: Sky News
Allianz Group is reportedly in early talks for the purchase of LV’s general insurance division.
Axa to use Dragon’s Den labs to grow schemes book to £250m
Axa plans to grow its schemes business to £250m in premium as a result of a Dragon’s Den-style innovation lab.
Lemonade expands to California with backing from Ashton Kutcher
Insurtech poster child Lemonade has expanded into California, its third state, winning plaudits from celebrity backer Ashton Kutcher along the way.
Claims firm fined £400,000 for 100 million nuisance calls
A claims management company has been fined a record fine of £400,000 for making over 100 million nuisance calls.
Swinton invests £45m in IT and digital distribution channel
Swinton has said it is hoping to transform its distribution model with a £45m investment in IT. This follows a restructure that will shut 84 branches and leave 900 people out of work.
Newly-formed Towergate successor to target rapid growth
The as yet-unnamed general insurance group formed out of Towergate and other brokers has ambitious plans to expand its revenue.
#BibaFever: B-B-Q: Aviva, Towergate and Zurich set out insurance industry demands for new UK Government
As the British Insurance Brokers’ Association got underway in Manchester this morning, the #BibaFever team went out to grill senior executives about the issues that matter.
Q&A: Rob Flynn, More Than
More Than relaunched last week with a new advertising campaign featuring fictional Scandinavian founder Mordenn Surenns. Real-life boss of More Than Rob Flynn talks about the developments behind the scenes at the direct insurer.
Towergate backers launch general insurance giant
Towergate backers HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners will consolidate Towergate with Autonet, Chase Templeton, Price Forbes and Ryan Direct to form a general insurance giant.
Three in court tomorrow for murder of Guy Hedger
Three men will appear in court tomorrow for the murder of insurance marketing executive Guy Hedger.
Robo insurance developer seeks MGA partner
An insurtech developer is looking to partner with an underwriter to further develop its Artificial Intelligence-based chatbot.
Beazley to open Barcelona office in Europe expansion
Beazley has launched its Europe expansion with the opening of a Barcelona office.
Finch acquires third business in five months following Broker Network buy out
Finch Group has made its third acquisition since itself being bought out by Broker Network.
Swinton to cut 900 jobs in shift away from high street model
Swinton will likely cut 900 roles from its business by the end of the year as part of a wider restructure.