Home insurance
FCA launches review into premium finance “fair value” and barriers to competition
The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a review, known as a competition market study, to see whether people who borrow to pay for motor and home insurance are receiving fair, competitive deals.
Ageas and Saga in £207.5m deal talks
Ageas has entered exclusive negotiations with Saga on a 20-year affinity partnership and buying Acromas in a package worth up to £207.5m.
Allianz promotes to bolster personal lines broker team
The Allianz personal lines broker business has strengthened its leadership team and promoted Victoria Price to director of broker propositions.
Esure owner Bain eyeing up sale – report
Esure is possibly up for sale, as private equity firm Bain Capital has lined up advisors, according to Reuters.
Markerstudy-bound Hughes posts stable turnover and profit for 2023
Northern Ireland-based broker Hughes, currently in a sales process to Markerstudy Group, maintained post-tax profit at £2m in 2023 with turnover consistent of more than £13m.
Moody’s improves outlook for UK property and casualty insurers to stable
Moody’s has changed its outlook for UK property and casualty insurers to stable from negative, noting prices for personal lines cover, such as motor insurance, have risen sufficiently to absorb claims inflation.
Which? sounds the alarm again on “eye-watering” motor and home insurance interest rates
Research by Which? has revealed the average annual percentage rate for motor insurance on monthly premium finance at 22% and 20% for home policies.
Arc Legal and HB Underwriting team up to tackle employer’s liability gap
Arc Legal Group has partnered with HB Underwriting to cater for the latter’s policyholders who find themselves as employers because of their care needs.
Cinven buys half of Policy Expert
Private equity house Cinven has signed up to buy 50% of Policy Expert from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Axa reveals 106.3% UK COR for 2023
Axa Insurance UK has posted an improved 106.3% combined operating ratio for 2023, trimming it from 109.8% the year before.
Ageas Retail revenue ticks up as profit rebounds
Ageas’ wholly owned broking subsidiary Ageas Retail grew post-tax profit by 20% in 2023 to £6.5m, switching back to growth after declining in 2022.
Loss adjusters in spotlight as FOS buildings insurance complaints hit 10-year high
The number of buildings insurance complaints filed to the Financial Ombudsman Service hit a record quarterly high of 2001 between April and June.
Motor FOS complaints stable in Q1 as ombudsman’s workload surges
Car and motorcycle insurance complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service rose fractionally to 3,940 in the first quarter of the financial year as the overall workload soared by 70%.
Ageas delivers 49% growth in UK premiums
Ageas boosted UK gross written premiums by 49% in the first half of 2024 to €992m (£835m) citing customer growth and rate increases primarily in motor with “solid underwriting profitability”.
Home quote prices turn downwards – Consumer Intelligence
The average quoted premiums for buildings and contents insurance fell by 1.1% in the three months to the end of July, according to research by Consumer Intelligence.
FCA warns it might repeat GAP intervention in other product sectors
The Financial Conduct Authority has said that it might need to repeat the intervention it has taken in the guaranteed asset protection [GAP] market in other sectors.
Allianz PL MD George hails LV Broker rebrand a success
Intermediaries are asking Allianz for more personal lines capacity and have welcomed the rebrand from LV, according to Nicola George, the new managing director of the insurer's broker PL arm.
FCA fines and bans broker who failed to pass premiums on to insurers
The Financial Conduct Authority has imposed a financial penalty of £5,021 and banned an insurance broker from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity carried on by any authorised person, exempt person, or exempt professional firm.
Markerstudy to buy Northern Ireland broker Hughes Insurance
Markerstudy Group has confirmed plans to buy Hughes Insurance, just a month after completing its deal with Atlanta.
Cyber outage insured losses estimated at up to $1.5bn
CyberCube has estimated preliminary global insured losses for the standalone cyber insurance market from the CrowdStrike IT outage last week at between $400m (£310m) and $1.5bn (£1.16bn).
Acturis continues personal lines push with Covéa
Acturis has partnered with Covéa to make the insurer’s Home IHP product available on its platform, adding to the previously rolled out motor offering.
Flood Re sees record claims of £241.6m
Flood Re’s gross claims jumped to £241.6m in the past financial year from £45.9m in 2023.
AbbeyAutoline buys Martin Carey Insurance book
AbbeyAutoline has bought the customer book of business of Lisnaskea-based Martin Carey Insurance.
Application and ghost broking motor fraud up 64% at Aviva
Aviva spotted fraud on more than 51,000 motor policy applications last year, up 64% on its 2022 detection figures, the insurer has revealed.