News
Ardonagh and Markerstudy’s £1.2bn merger confirmed
The Ardonagh Group and Markerstudy Group have agreed a merger between Markerstudy and Atlanta Group, Ardonagh’s personal lines broking business, to create a “major new player” in the UK insurance market.
Vitality drops out of car insurance market after just two years
Vitality has dropped out of the personal lines motor market after just two years, announcing that it is “no longer offering new car insurance policies,” Insurance Post can reveal.
Heather Smith’s exit sees further changes at top of Allianz
Allianz has named Henry Topham as the new managing director of its UK retail business, following the news Heather Smith will be leaving to head up Axa Health.
By Miles co-founder reveals next project
By Miles co-founder Callum Rimmer has unveiled his latest start-up aimed at tackling “slow” and “expensive” pricing software issues that plague the insurance industry.
PI discount rate consultation closes ahead of 2024 review
The Ministry of Justice’s consultation into establishing a dual/multiple PI discount rate closed yesterday, with the final decision to be made in July 2024.
Three insurance industry challenges for Gen Z to fix
Use artificial intelligence as an assistant, don’t let inclusion be a tick box exercise, and shape your company’s climate change efforts was the advice to Generation Z who attended iCan’s Elevate conference last week.
Top 30 European Insurers revealed
Allianz and Axa have held on to the top two spots on Insurance Post's Top 30 European Insurers 2023 list and accounted for slightly under a quarter of total GWP in the dataset, which was produced by AM Best.
Greenpeace targets reinsurers at Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous
Protesters have disrupted the annual reinsurance meeting in Monte Carlo, pleading with the sector to stop coverage for deforestation and oil exploration in Congo.
Direct Line launches motor ownership app to build customer engagement
Insurance Post can reveal that Direct Line Group is looking to increase engagement with motor customers by bringing services it provides to motor owners into one space with the launch of Caha!
Cyber security is top insurance concern as global attacks increase
As global cyber attacks increased by 38% in 2022 compared with 2021, the potential theft of sensitive data, as well as phishing and ransomware attacks, has been cited as the greatest global threat to the insurance sector.
Poor quality data remains the biggest challenge for insurance data scientists
Insurers have been urged to review their data practices and ensure data is coming from “official or trusted” sources, as research suggests nearly half of data scientists are left stuck with untrustworthy data.
Fraudulent four jailed over 'crash for cash' claims
Four fraudsters have each landed themselves a sixth month jail sentence after taking part in a ‘crash for cash’ scam.
Gallagher expands SME & PL ops; SRG launches sports and media division; RSA appoints commercial CUO
Friday Round-Up: Insurance Post wraps up the major insurance deals, launches, investments and strategic moves of the week.
Protestors urge insurers and reinsurers to block insurance for Republic of Congo oil extraction
Companies which are granted exploration and exploitation rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo oil auction could find they are without financial protection.
Does travel insurance need a revamp?
News editor view: After recent travel stories made front page news, stranded travellers were left without much hope for financial compensation. Could this have been an opportunity for insurance to step in?
Direct Line woes continue into 2023 with £78m H1 loss
Direct Line Group has reported an operating loss of £78.1m for the first six months of 2023, compared with a profit of £197m for the same period in 2022.
Q&A: Tim Hardcastle, Instanda
Tim Hardcastle, co-founder and CEO of Instanda, speaks to Frances Stebbing one year after the startup’s latest fundraising round about upcoming trends in the software development industry and how the company is applying AI within the business.
Marsh appoints Nick Harris as CEO of UK retail
Marsh has hired Nick Harris as CEO of UK Retail, effective from 1 January 2024, subject to regulatory approval.
Preparation is key as insurers look to avoid repeat of 2022’s storm costs
As the Met Office publishes its annual list of storm names for the upcoming storm season, insurers are looking to avoid a repeat of the financial hit the weather brought in 2022.
S&P predicts cyber reinsurance rates to increase
S&P Global expects cyber reinsurance rates to increase as reinsurers look to return to profitability, but predicts primary underwriters won’t pass the rate increase on to customers.
Details of Dive In Festival 2023 revealed
Registration for Dive In, the insurance industry’s festival promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, is now open via diveinfestival.com.
Three-year time limit for new vehicle MOTs set to stay
The result of the Department for Transport’s consultation on the mandatory time limit for MOTs is likely to result in the rules remaining unchanged, Insurance Post can exclusively reveal.
Aston Lark’s latest acquisition; World Nomads’ travel product partnership; and Lloyd’s unveils Women’s Cricket Team
Friday Round-Up: Insurance Post wraps up the major insurance deals, launches, investments and strategic moves of the week.
Direct Line to refund £30m to overcharged home and motor customers
Direct Line has agreed to a past business review after the FCA found it had breached dual pricing rules, having charged some customers at renewal more than if they were a new customer.