Insurance
FeedFlood risk homes get £2.6m defences
Chris Wheal
Mar 12th 2010
Filed under: Insurance
Environment Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies yesterday announced the second round of the £5.5m Property Level Flood Protection Grant Scheme, providing £2.6m to help households protect their homes against flooding.Can those of us not at risk of flooding have some money please? Why do people at risk of flooding get government help but those at risk of other threats - burglary or vandalism, for example - get nothing?
NY and the City clash: London falling
Chris Wheal
Mar 12th 2010
Filed under: Financial Crisis, Insurance, Banking
London and New York are level in the Global Financial Centres Index compiled by Z/Yen for the City of London Corporation for the first time because fears of "a regulatory backlash" and taxes cut London's score by 15 points."London has dropped 15 points in the ratings, from 790 to 775 points - the second largest drop in scores. New York has overtaken London in three of the subindices: Business Environment, People and Infrastructure," the report said. How worried should we be?
Free money for families - get what you're entitled to
Money Magpie
Mar 12th 2010
Filed under: Personal Finance, Savings and Accounts, Insurance
There's free money to be had when you have a baby and start to run a family. It's just as well because you need all the bargains, cut-price deals, cheap offers and other financial help with the cost of bringing up children. Here are tips on how to have a great family life on half your salary.The first thing to go for when you're strapped for cash and running a family is to make the most of any benefits available to you.
Embattled Omega warns on premiums
Chris Wheal
Mar 11th 2010
Filed under: Company, Insurance
Omega - the Lloyd's insurer under attack by major shareholder Invesco Perpeptual - announced pre-tax profits up 67% to $47.1m (2008: $28.2m), based on gross written premiums of $265.8m ($265.4m) this morning.The pre-tax result included a profit of $36.5m (loss of $3.0m) from underwriting activities, $15.9m ($23.5m) from managing agency activities and $16.3m ($21.8m) from investment income. Profit for the year was $43.6m ($22.2m). Its combined ratio was 81.4% (101.4%). It won't be enough to stop Invesco.
Insurers paid out £650m this winter
Chris Wheal
Mar 11th 2010
Filed under: Insurance
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says insurers paid out £650m in 335,000 claims for damage to homes, businesses and vehicles following the coldest winter in 30 years. They paid out £395m for motor accidents - mainly self-damaged slipping on ice and snow - and £255m to homeowners. If there were ever an example of why insurance is so important it is these figures.
More Chile quake insurer estimates
Chris Wheal
Mar 10th 2010
Filed under: Company, Insurance
More insurers have estimated their losses from the Chile earthquake and the recent windstorm in France and Spain called Xynthia. Swiss Re estimates its loss from the Chile quake to be $500m from a total insurance loss of $4bn to $7bn. Its losses from Xynthia will be approximately $100m,it said.Reinsurer Transatlantic Holdings, which is buying millions of its own shares back from an AIG subsidiary, expects to incur between $60m and $90m, net of tax, from the Chile earthquake and European windstorm Xynthia. And PartnerRe has reported too.
Fortis underwriting nosedives
Chris Wheal
Mar 10th 2010
Filed under: Company, Insurance
Fortis UK, which is changing its name to Ageas, announced this morning that its insurance profits fell to £29m from £76m last year and its combined ratio leapt from an excellent 92.2% in 2008 to a dangerously-close-to-loss-making 98.9%.Add to this the fact that the insurer saw record gross written premiums up 6% to £805m from £760m and you have a classic case of an insurer chasing new business by underpricing.
Dogs to be microchipped and insured
Chris Wheal
Mar 9th 2010
Filed under: Insurance
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn and Home Secretary Alan Johnson joined forces yesterday to launch changes to the Dangerous Dogs act that will require all dog owners to have insurance. All dogs will have to be micro-chipped for identity purposes.About time too. I have never met a dog owner who claimed to be anything other than responsible. They all claim their dog is never any trouble. They always clean up after their dog. And so on. Dog owners are like bad drivers. I hope those without insurance are crushed and disposed of like uninsured cars.
Bupa results up on corporate growth
Chris Wheal
Mar 9th 2010
Filed under: Company, Financial Crisis, Insurance
Private medical insurance (PMI) and healthcare provider Bupa announced revenues up 17% to £6.94bn, with organic growth of 5%, favourable foreign exchange movements of 7% and the full year effect of recent acquisitions of 5%.It said its surplus before tax was up 117% to £416.5m and its underlying surplus before tax was up 4% to £428.2m. For a recession year those are impressive figures. Expectations would be that PMI sales would fall but Bupa signed up foreign and business customers.
Potholes costs insurers £2.85m in Feb
Chris Wheal
Mar 9th 2010
Filed under: Insurance
AA Insurance says the number of claims for pothole damage has rises more than 600% over three years. Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance says: "Nationally, the damage to cars caused by potholes in February alone cost insurers around £2.85m - the equivalent of about 1,900 claims."But that's just the tip of the iceberg, because it takes serious damage to make it worth insurance claim. Garages and tyre centres are dealing with countless thousands of punctured tyres, damaged tracking or broken springs which don't justify making a claim. And it's the public who pay for that.
Hamiltons speed more than Buttons
Chris Wheal
Mar 8th 2010
Filed under: Insurance
Online insurer Elephant.co.uk has calculated which of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton will win the F1 title this year by looking at its own insured drivers called Button or Hamilton.Drivers on elephant's books called Button are more likely than Hamiltons to cause an accident. And, it looks like Hamilton could be faster around the track than Button too, as Hamiltons are more likely to be caught speeding than Buttons. They ride like they're in a race.
Chaucer's new profit, FD and home
Chris Wheal
Mar 8th 2010
Filed under: Company, Insurance
Lloyd's insurer Chaucer announced profit before tax and foreign exchange on non-monetary items of £75.3m after making a loss last year of £59.5m. Its pre-tax profit was up too, to £42.0m from a loss of £26.2m. Gross written premiums were up 15.3% to £795.6m (£689.9m), up 5.4% without currency.
Underwriting profit was £45.8m before the impact of foreign exchange on non-monetary items, up from £33.0m, and its combined ratio fell from 94% to 93%. New boss Bob Stuchbery (pictured) must be pleased.
Funeral planning better than saving
Chris Wheal
Mar 5th 2010
Filed under: Personal Finance, Insurance
The Co-operative has reported a 21% increase in funeral plan sales in claiming it reflects the loss of confidence in other types of savings and investments, traditionally relied on to cover funeral costs.The Co-op always used to joke that if it didn't get you when you were alive it would get you when you were dead - because it arranged so many of our funerals - currently about 100,000 a year. Now it seems people are planning in advance.
Chile quake does not shake insurers
Chris Wheal
Mar 4th 2010
Filed under: Insurance
Bermuda-based Lloyd's reinsurer Lancashire Holdings this morning said it has exposures to the earthquake in Chile, including onshore energy, property retrocession, property direct and facultative and property catastrophe. Dow Jones reports that reinsurers in Europe could bear upwards of three-quarters of insured losses from the Chilean earthquake, which could be one of the costliest quakes in history. UK insurer RSA has already said it will pay out £30m even after reinsurance claims.
Aviva's GI falls as life/pensions grow
Chris Wheal
Mar 4th 2010
Filed under: Company, Insurance, Pensions
Aviva announced its overall operating profit fell from £2,297m to £2,022m and general insurance declined by 20% making just £960m compared with £1,198m last year. Profits in its life insurance business improved to £1,887m, from £1,694m.UK net written premiums for general insurance fell from £5,413m to £4,298m in the year and UK profit fell to £535m from £656m. The overall combined ratio worsened one point to 99%, meaning it only made a penny profit for every £1 it took in premiums.
NY and the City clash: London falling
Economy doing worse than suspected?
