United Kingdom (UK)
Allianz increases fraud savings by 30%
Allianz has uncovered more than £29.6m worth of fraud in the first half of 2019, an increase of £6.9m compared to the same period last year.
Gallagher warns cyber security is the 'soft underbelly' of UK SMEs
Crisis incidents cost UK SMEs a combined £8.8bn in 2018, with cyber-attacks, data breaches and cyber extortion incidents being most prevalent, research from Gallagher has found.
McCafferty welcomes ‘considerable improvement’ at Brightside despite £10.3m loss
Brightside made a loss before tax of £10.3m for the year ended December 2018, but CEO Brendan McCafferty expressed confidence the business was improving.
Trade Voice: Lee Elliston, LMA
Lee Elliston, Lloyd’s Market Association claims director, considers what the claims workforce of the future is likely to look like.
Watchstone files a £63m counterclaim against S&G
Watchstone has filed a counterclaim for damages of £63m against Slater & Gordon, following permission from the High Court.
Blog: Silent cyber - the challenges facing the insurance industry
Following a line of cyber-related regulatory developments, Lloyd's has announced it is mandating that “all non-affirmative policies provide clarity regarding cyber coverage by either excluding or providing affirmative coverage". But according to Barnaby…
Rideshare insurtech Inshur reaches $9.6m total investment
Rideshare insurtech Inshur has raised an additional $1.5m (£1.2m) from Viola Fintech for its Series A funding round, taking total investment in the startup to date to $9.6m.
RSA raises £350m but ‘not for a specific transaction’
RSA is raising £350m through a senior notes offering, which it intends to use for “general corporate purposes”.
Gefion still ‘in the process’ of arranging a capital injection
Exclusive: Gefion still remains “in the process” of recapitalising, more than six weeks after the Danish regulator ordered it to hold off on expanding into new territories until its finances are back on track.
Das UK returns to profitability
Legal expenses insurer Das UK returned to profitability last year, recording a combined ratio below 100% for the first time since 2014.
Insurers face rising application fraud
The industry saw 1300 insurance scams every day last year at an average cost of £12,000 each, according to numbers released by the Association of British Insurers.
Roundtable: Opening up new insurance opportunities using IoT
The Internet of Things continues to offer insurers considerable opportunities in terms of maximising existing data to better understand customers and enter new markets previously considered unprofitable. With this in mind, Post, in association with…
Goldman Sachs/Aston Lark deal to close ‘on Monday’
Goldman Sachs’ merchant banking division’s purchase of a majority stake in Aston Lark is expected to close on Monday.
Aston Lark buys first Manchester broker
Aston Lark has bought Manchester-based commercial lines broker Buckland Harvester.
‘Phantom fraudster’ handed a four month suspended sentence
A man has been handed a suspended sentence after making a fraudulent claim against Cardiff Council in road traffic accident case, despite dropping his initial claim.
Aggregator disruptor Honcho launches
Reverse auction market place Honcho has launched its motor insurance bidding app.
NFU Mutual appoints non executive director
NFU Mutual has appointed David Roper as non executive director, effective from 1 September 2019.
Auto renewals cost motorists £982m a year
UK motorists lose an estimated £982m a year by not shopping around on renewal.
Blog: Flexible working - attracting and retaining talent
The financial services and insurance sector suffers from a higher median gender pay gap than any other sector of the economy. Prina Mashru, head of human resources at Konsileo, argues that for women in the sector flexible working arrangements could…
LV's Pardeep Bassi on how insurers can harness AI
The insurance industry is on the verge of a seismic, data-driven shift due to the quantity of data available and the ability to turn this data into an action via artificial intelligence, writes Pardeep Bassi, head of data science at LV.
Spotlight: SME market: SMEs and cyber risk - a ticking time bomb
SMEs are a prime target for cyber criminals because they are believed to have limited resources and employ less technically aware employees than larger enterprises. Despite this, these businesses, their insurance providers and brokers are not assessing…
Spotlight: SME market: Where do the biggest opportunities lie for brokers in the SME market?
There seems to be a significant number of drivers for change in the SME market, which begs the question how the relationship between brokers and these clients will change. Edward Murray looks at the opportunities available for intermediaries to remain as…
FCA cracks down on misleading CMC ads
Claims management companies must raise their advertising standards to ensure they do not mislead customers, the Financial Conduct Authority has said.
This week: Winners and lasers
Nothing says team building quite like stumbling around a dark maze, falling headfirst into mirrors and haphazardly shooting lasers at your colleagues. Or so the democratic vote we held a few weeks earlier decreed.