Post magazine – 6 February 2014

In this week's edition a handful of brokers are likely to be part of a government investigation into allegations six employment agencies have been mis-selling personal accident policies, according to compliance experts.

Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna MP claimed last month in the House of Commons he had evidence that agencies Blue Arrow, Staffline, Acorn, Taskmaster, Randstad and Meridian were profiteering from selling personal accident insurance to workers who did not need it.

In other news the Association of British Insurers has predicted the levy on employers' liability premiums within the mesothelioma payment scheme will decrease after 2015, despite suggestions that maintaining the tariff could provide maximum compensation for sufferers; high-net-worth insurers and brokers have hit out at the decision to exclude homes in the highest council tax band from the Flood Re scheme despite the fact affected policyholders will have to help fund the programme through its levy; and The ABI has been urged to use its ticket to a government-hosted summit on driverless cars next week wisely after futurist suggestions that insurance could be "ripped apart" by innovation.

In the C-Suite QBE managing director for UK & Ireland, Matthew Crane asks why risk management is still so hit and miss, despite research showing businesses in general throughout the UK perceive there to have been an increase in the overall risks they face; and Gary Duggan, chief executive of the network division at Towergate Insurance looks at how the network model needs to adapt and adjust its approach in order to ensure its proposition remains relevant.

Also in this issue, having returned to broking, Willis UK retail head David Martin talks to Francesca Nyman about his plans to rethink the broker's strategy of resource deployment and focus more on specialisms.

The countdown to the twentieth BIA continues with the first ever winner of the Achievement Award, Peter Wood, reflecting on his achievements since his win, and how the industry has changed since he collected the accolade in 1995.

In addition, with nine motor manufacturers exhibiting autonomous car prototypes at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, David Worsfold asks what this technological leap means for the future of motor insurance; despite its 326-year history, could factors including economic growth in the East and increasingly burdensome UK regulation see Lloyd's Asian hub in Singapore oust its London counterpart as the global centre of insurance; and with economies recovering across Europe, the property market is beginning to show signs of movement again; - but with the credit crunch still fresh in people's memories, insurers are seeking to reassure those feeling cautious about property transactions with title insurance.