Opinion
Penny Black's insurance week
Penny had to check the date when she received word of a new insurance policy for players of the magical game of Quidditch — championed by Harry Potter and his Hogwarts classmates.
View from the top: The pace of change
Twenty years ago the world wide web was in its infancy. E-mail, if it was used in the insurance industry, was limited and contained within organisations. Letters and faxes dominated. We may have had second generation mobile phones but the first UK text…
Editor's comment: Deadline decision time
It's not something a betting man would have ever wagered against but, as rumours continue to mount that the Solvency II implementation deadline will indeed be significantly pushed back, the UK insurance industry faces some difficult decisions.
Penny black's insurance week
One could be forgiven for losing track of what's going on behind the revolving door at Aviva Towers of late, where the UK insurance giant has been hit by a spate of senior management changes.
Post Europe: View from the Top: No need for European consumer collective redress
The European Commission is continuing to push for a system of collective redress for consumers that would allow a type of class action litigation.
Post Europe: Professional indemnity – the growth market
Professional indemnity was worth almost €6bn across Europe in 2010 and with changes to Italian legislation and increasing negligence claims Alan Leach explains how this market is sure to expand.
View from the Top: No need for European consumer collective redress
The European Commission is continuing to push for a system of collective redress for consumers that would allow a type of class action litigation.
Professional indemnity – the growth market
Professional indemnity was worth almost €6bn across Europe in 2010 and with changes to Italian legislation and increasing negligence claims Alan Leach explains how this market is sure to expand.
Penny Black's insurance week
Last week, Penny caught up with the man of the moment, outgoing Towergate CEO Andy Homer. Modest as always, Mr Homer insisted that for luring Mark Hodges from Aviva he and his colleagues deserved a "pat on the back".
View from the top: Trust is our bedrock
Last month, I attended the funeral of a good friend, Damien Doran, who worked for Perkins Slade, a great broking firm in Birmingham. Damien was the best of our industry. A man you could rely on to do the right thing for his clients, respected by everyone…
Europe: Cyber liability - Iberian peninsula
European firms are increasingly being targeted by cyber criminals but there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to legislation to protect the customer. Paul Skinner examines what firms need to do to ensure they have adequate risk mitigation and loss…
Postbox: High fines favoured for uninsured drivers
It was good to read Transport Minister Mike Penning is liaising with the Ministry of Justice in order to discuss the fines for uninsured drivers in last week's edition of Post.
Penny Black's insurance week
Penny cannot help but feel rather jealous of Josh Mitchell, the graduate who has landed a £40 000-a-year job as an 'ambassador' at sporting and musical events for the creatures from the compare the meerkat adverts.
View from the top: A hard market is coming
I started talking about positive signs of rate movement more than a month ago. While many agreed, not all of the market's 'big three' brokers shared this view. But a few weeks can effect considerable change and now even Aon's soothsayers will probably…
Post Europe: Shared service and competence centers for insurers
In order to reduce costs insurers are increasingly looking at shared service and competence centres. Hendrik Bremer examines the pros and cons of this model.
Post Europe: Rome II – Where are we two years on?
It is now over two years since the implementation of European Regulation 864/2007, better known as ‘Rome II’. Reviewing the legislation, Kelvin Farmaner and Paul Lavelle ask whether everyone is now clear on its scope and application.
View from the top: Together we're stronger
It's always good to reflect back on the Biba conference, given how quickly it goes when you're there.
Penny Black's insurance week
Still fresh in the mind, this month's Biba conference was awash with the usual rumours that started on stands and, by the second night, were sworn gospel.
Postbox: Respect for privacy vital in digital age
More than 30 million adults in the UK are signed up to Facebook, and the number of people using social media such as Twitter is growing at a phenomenal rate. Together with the increased use of e-mail and text, there is a real shift in the way we…
Europe: Cyber liability: the hardest threat to manage
Cyber security is becoming one of the greatest threats to global companies, and one of the hardest to manage.
Post Europe: The challenges of pan-European insurance programme
The European Single Market aims to bring harmonisation of goods and services, however, for insurers working on pan-European deals there are still challenges to overcome. John Bibby explains how working with the airline industry has its own special…
Postbox: Backing reforms was not taken lightly
Your leader of last week 'Are some more equal?', coupled with the comments reported from Elite Insurance over the ABI's support for the recommendations of the Jackson Review, highlights the delicate balance a trade body needs to strike between…
View from the top: A very bad year
Despite reinsurers' initial talk that the Australian floods and the New Zealand & Japanese earthquakes were earnings — not balance sheet — events, and there would be no impact on rates, the chatter has changed recently, with some now actively hinting at…
Penny Black's insurance week
Another year, another Biba conference; brokers nurse their hangovers, hacks try to recall the juicy story slurred in their ear at 2am, and insurers vow to return to the exhibition hall next year with a bigger stand than Aviva, nicer cup cakes than Zurich…