Insurance Age blog
Condiments to Aviva?
Condiment is undoubtedly my favourite word.
Keep calm and carry on
Within the space of 10 minutes yesterday more than 350 jobs were effectively chopped.
There's no need to worry
The Motor Accident Solicitors Society has branded the IFB’s findings on crash for cash scams “astonishing”, and some of the figures really are shocking.
The £50K resignation
If your boss were to offer you £50,000 what would you do? Well, the correct action would of course be to resign.
Don't be the last to the party
You will all have seen the new Professionalism website Insurance Age launched this week.
Plus ça change but will it be the même chose?
Last Friday Ageas announced that it was in exclusive talks with Groupama about the UK business. The latter had been formally on the market since the start of this year and linked with pretty much every provider going, private equity and MBOs.
Silly season
So here we are again, in the midst of silly season.
Brokers saving the UK economy
There is nothing nice about brokers being hit for payment protection insurance mis-selling refunds.
Time for brokers to rise above the customary bashing
During a week in which the Insurance Age newsdesk was largely consumed by the usual swathe of half-year financial results, one piece of broker bashing still struck a chord.
The Quinn quandary
Olympic fever has the UK in its grip, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a news story in the national press that isn’t somehow related to the games.
God said to Noah
Everybody loves to talk about the weather, really, don’t they? They like to have a good moan, and compare horror stories. And recently, there have been some great reasons to do so.
All change at Aviva
At first glance losing one CEO might be thought to be unfortunate, losing two clearly carelessness. Aviva have lost loads.
Fortune favours the brave
As the dust settles on a hectic first few weeks at Insurance Age it is clear to see that a common issue afflicts many brokers across the board.
Social media insurance? No, thanks.
Social media insurance is the new market the industry will apparently soon be embracing, according to research from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).
Hello and welcome
Well, in a flash of ATEs, D&Os and IMDs my first week as an insurance reporter is almost at an end.
The piñata strikes back?
Roughly a year ago we conducted a network spotlight series where we interviewed the heads of all the main general insurance broking networks and each and every one predicted consolidation in the sector within a year.
Ever heard of this thing called the internet?
Insurers are losing out on customers because of their shoddy websites, according to research carried out by Global Reviews.
Commission disclosure, it's a question of politics
Let me share with you the major reason why I think brokers need to get ready for commission disclosure.
The week that was
This was a bad week for the insurance industry in terms of press – consumer group magazine Which? in particular had a field day, accusing insurers of charging customers exorbitant ‘hidden fees’ to make run of the mill changes to policies.
Where have all the skateboards gone?
As a child I had a skateboard, and so did pretty much everyone in my school class. Then along came Back To The Future (number 2 to be precise) and promised us hoverboards, which by the way I am still waiting for.
Broker's Ark
If you’ll excuse the mixed metaphor, I think the topic most likely to explode in insurance land this year is flooding.
So long, brave new dawn
The FSA is looking for nearly £580m in fees from the industry in its final year of existence, a 15% increase on the previous year.
A Festivus for the rest of us
A couple of years ago I bought a bank. You probably did too. Ever since I have been paying out generous bonuses, none more so than the £1m I gave to Stephen Hester yesterday for kindly running the Royal Bank of Scotland so well.
A New Year footballing insurance prediction
While the memories of sitting crushed against the sofa by the weight of too much turkey are starting to fade, my New Year prediction is unfortunately also one of being crushed, but this time it involves brokers and debt mountains.