Home insurance
Bspoke signs up to buy Police & Forces Mutual personal lines books from Royal London
Bspoke Insurance Group has struck a deal to buy the personal lines elements of the Police & Forces Mutual businesses – Police Mutual Healthcare and Police Mutual General Insurance – from The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society.
Fear of AI often comes from fear of change, says Ignite MD MacLachlan
Having surged forward in the past two years, Ignite plans to continue growing by strengthening partnerships with insurers, expanding with brokers, via its Ignition programme and through the integration of its artificial intelligence-powered chatbot.
Tesco enters non-standard home with Prestige partnership
Tesco Bank has moved to offer non-standard home insurance to customers via a partnership with Prestige Underwriting.
Aviva uncovered £120m of fraudulent claims in 2022
Aviva has revealed that it uncovered more than 9,250 instances of fraud in 2022 – saving customers £120m.
Atec tops 300,000 policies as turnover nears £20m in drive to double
Atec Group, which includes wholesale B2B property specialist Ceta Insurance and managing general agent Arkel, has revealed 34% organic growth in turnover – a record for the business.
Source adds Prestige Underwriting to home panel as it rolls out first own product
Source Insurance has unveiled Source Home, the first home insurance product it has created, and confirmed that Prestige Underwriting has joined its panel as the inaugural underwriter of the new common worded offering.
EY forecasts 8.5% premium income growth for UK insurers in 2023
UK insurers are expected to end this year reporting strong overall premium income growth ahead of further, but slowing, expansion in 2024 and 2025, according to EY.
EY: 2022 was worst year on record for UK home insurer profitability
The UK home insurance market faced the worst performing year on record in 2022 with a loss-making net combined ratio of 122%, according to EY’s annual UK Home Results Analysis.
Moody’s stays negative on outlook for UK insurance
Ratings agency Moody’s has kept its negative outlook on the prospect for UK property and casualty insurance warning of higher reinsurance costs and pressure on personal lines margins as price growth lags inflationary cost increases.
Arkel Underwriting targets landlord growth with Applied expansion
Arkel Underwriting has rolled out its landlord product, Premier Let, on Applied Systems in its second partnership with the software provider in a matter of months.
One Call boosts policy count and profits in 2022
Doncaster-headquartered One Call Insurance Services has posted double digit increases in profits and policy count for 2022.
R&Q in ‘advanced’ talks for sale of Policy Expert capacity backer Accredited
R&Q Insurance Holdings has admitted that it is in advanced discussions with Canadian investment business Onex for the sale of its fronting business Accredited.
FCA hammers GAP insurance as it issues general warning on high commission levels
The Financial Conduct Authority has written to insurers, calling on them to take action, as it released the latest set of fair value data and again brought the spotlight onto the issue of high commission levels.
Markerstudy deal will deliver steroid like boost to Atlanta, says Donaldson
Ian Donaldson, Ardonagh Retail CEO and inbound Markerstudy Retail CEO, has hailed the proposed merger as being able to boost growth, product footprint and acquisitions but declined to be drawn on any interest in RSA’s personal lines business.
FOS slams insurer payout delays as motor and buildings complaints hit five-year high
The Financial Ombudsman Service has criticised insurers delaying claims payouts as complaints about buildings, car and motorcycle insurance hit a five-year high.
Turnover and profit drop at Ageas Retail in 2022
Turnover at broker Ageas Retail, which includes the Ageas Direct and Rias brands, fell in 2022 to £73.27m from £76.44m the year before.
Gallagher snaps up leisure and holiday broker Lifesure Group
Gallagher has gained ‘additional scale’ in the leisure sector following the purchase of a specialist broker.
Direct Line customers in line for £30m refund as insurer reviews past pricing in regulatory first
Direct Line has agreed to a voluntary review of previous home and motor insurance pricing having charged some customers more for their renewal than they would have done if they were a new customer, the Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed.
Ageas posts 25% growth from ongoing UK business
Personal lines broker-focused Ageas grew its ongoing UK business by 25% in the first half of the year to €651m (£558m).
Allianz commits to investing in local structure to support brokers
“The strength of the Allianz commercial business in the UK is without doubt our local, regional capability in those markets and the ability to deliver,” Allianz Holdings CEO Colm Holmes told Insurance Age.
Profits drop at Allianz Holdings in first half 2023 as GWP tops £2bn
Operating profit fell 5.5% at Allianz Holdings in the first six months of the year to £112.8m as the combined operating ratio deteriorated to 96.6% from 96.0% in the same period of 2022.
‘Disappointing’ – brokers react to Zurich personal lines broker exit plans
Brokers have expressed disappointment at Zurich’s plans to exit personal lines motor and home on broker panels.
AA Insurance Services switches to CDL from inhouse legacy system
AA Insurance Services has gone live on CDL Strata, kicking of a phased programme to migrate about two million car and home policies, Insurance Age can reveal.
Insurance drives half-year revenue growth at Moneysupermarket
Moneysupermarket grew insurance revenue by 23% in the first six months of the year to £105.6m.