News
Moody’s ups outlook for French insurers
Moody's has changed the outlook for the French property and casualty sector to stable from negative, but left the French life insurance sector on negative.
Survey shows half of all blocks of flats are underinsured
Block of flats broker Deacon has called for frequent revaluations of flats by residential management companies after a survey found half were underinsured.
Lancashire "best placed" for price rises
Lancashire Holding’s decision to increase its reserves for the Japan earthquake and Thai floods removes uncertainty that exists with other firms and makes it a good buy, according to analysts at Jeffries.
Insurers call for government to tackle flood risks
Insurers have demanded the government “grasp the nettle” and tackle flooding risks after the Public Accounts Committee demanded a renewal of the voluntary flood insurance agreement.
World wide web inventor announced as BIBA conference keynote speaker
The inventor of the world wide web Sir Tim Berners-Lee will be the closing keynote speaker at British Insurance Brokers’ Association conference this year.
Slater & Gordon to enter UK legal market
Australian law firm Slater & Gordon has agreed to acquire the business of UK law firm Russell Jones & Walker for £53.8m subject to the grant of an Alternative Business Structures licence by the UK Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Chubb announces tie-up with National Windscreens
Chubb has today confirmed the appointment of National Windscreens as the high net worth firm’s preferred supplier of vehicle glass repair and replacement services.
Qatar and Luxembourg continue financial services cooperation
Qatar Financial Centre Authority and Luxembourg for Finance, the agency for that promotes Luxembourg as a financial centre, held a joint seminar today as part of the continued cooperation between the two countries in financial services.
Economic uncertainty to impact European construction in 2012
The health of the European construction sector will depend on austerity plans in 2012, according to credit insurer Coface.
Hurst-Bannister joins Xchanging board
London Market stalwart Barnabas Hurst-Bannister is to join the Xchanging Ins-Sure Services board as a non-executive director from March.
Ace boosts claims with Sharp recruit
Ace has appointed Christina Sharp from Van Ameyde Group as claims client relationship manager.
Capita buys PE-backed broker Fish
Capita has acquired Fish Administration from private equity firm Inflexion for a cash consideration of £21m on a cash free, debt free basis.
Weakened capital adequacy behind Generali downgrade
Standard & Poor's has lowered its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Italy-based Assicurazioni Generali SpA and its related core entities to 'A' from 'A+'.
Brightside signs up Britannia Rescue
Brightside Group has signed up LV’s recovery arm Britannia Rescue to provide breakdown cover to the 90 000 road rescue customers within its broker division.
Europ Assistance completes MBO
Europ Assistance Holdings has completed a management buyout to become an independent entity.
Europ Assistance confirms UK MBO
Europ Assistance has confirmed that an agreement has been reached for the management buy out of its UK and Ireland arm.
Cunningham Lindsey expands executive board
Mark Henderson has been appointed as business improvement director at Cunningham Lindsey as the company adds three new appointments to its executive board.
Global tanker fleet hit by EU oil sanctions
New European Union sanctions on Iranian oil will impact around 95% of the global tanker fleet, including those operated by a major Bermuda shipping company, because they are insured under rules governed by European law.
Chartis Europe SA assigned "A" IFS ratings
Chartis Europe SA (France) and Chartis Europe (UK) have been assigned "A" (Excellent) financial strength ratings and "A" issuer credit ratings by AM Best.
Lancashire increases Japan quake loss estimate by 56%
Lancashire Holdings has increased its estimated exposure to the Tohoku earthquake by $42.2m, or 56%, to a net loss estimate of $117.3m (£74.8m).
S&P warns about Aviva, Allianz and Axa
Standard & Poor’s has issued a series of warnings about major insurers’ exposure to the euro debt crisis.
Financial institutions under “relentless attack” from fraudsters
Fraud in 2011 topped £3.5bn, according to KPMG’s fraud barometer, which revealed financial institutions are under “relentless attack”.
Italy's sovereign IDR slashed two notches by Fitch
Italy’s sovereign long-term issuer default rating has been downgraded to ‘A-‘ from ‘A+’ by Fitch.
Lone ranger Northcourt to provide capacity for growing nuclear risk
A coverholder which claims to be the first conventional insurer to bring capacity to the market that is not a mutual or part of a pool is to take advantage of growing demand from the eastern bloc.