WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 11, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES INSURERS TO FUND POLICE TEAM IN FRAUD CRACKDOWN Insurers are to spend £8.2m funding a specialist police unit that will be dedicated to cracking down on the growing problem of insurance fraud, which costs an estimated £2bn a year. A new unit of 35 specialist fraud detectives and police support staff will be [...]
Three steps to get cover from summer holiday blues July 6, 2011 1 GET COVERAGE “It is essential that holidaymakers have adequate travel insurance in place before jetting off on their holidays,” says Bob Atkinson of moneysupermarket.com. He adds: “Travel insurance offers holidaymakers the peace of mind that they are covered for lost or stolen possessions, holiday cancellations, personal liability and a range of other costly possibilities.” [...]
Allianz sells first insurer coco bonds July 5, 2011 GERMAN insurance group Allianz sold €500m (£451m) of so-called “coco” bonds to privately-owned Japanese insurer Nippon Life yesterday in the first use of such instruments in the sector. The contingent convertible bonds Allianz created can convert to common equity in the insurer within ten years of being issued, in the event of certain conditions it [...]
Call to end referral fees July 4, 2011 Credit rating agency Moody’s yesterday urged UK motor insurers to follow AXA UK’s lead and stop taking referral fees from car injury claims. Moody’s said it believes AXA’s stance on referral fees was good for the industry and increased pressure on its peers to follow suit. The fees have led to a surge in personal [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 4, 2011 Compact GTL The modular gas solution for oil and gas fields has appointed Simon Clark (pictured) as its first chief operating officer. Clark joins Compact GTL after spending the majority of his career at Centrica, where he developed large-scale energy infrastructure projects such as the North Sea oil and gas production business and the offshore [...]
Stress test finds Europe’s insurers “robust” July 4, 2011 European insurance companies are well prepared for strict new capital requirements being imposed from 2013, the European insurance regulator has said. The latest round of insurance stress tests, designed to see if insurers hold enough capital to be resilient in risky scenarios, found that the industry remains “robust”, according to the European Insurance and Occupational [...]
Banks hit by S&P Greece default blow July 4, 2011 Banking shares took a hit in early trading after ratings agency S&P issued a fresh warning over the Greek debt crisis. S&P said Greece would be likely to default if it follows a debt rollover plan in which French banks would allow the country to pay back its debt to them over decades. Investors were [...]
Jobs boom in financial sector: CBI July 3, 2011 HIRING in financial services hit its highest level since the credit crunch in the three months to June, a survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) will show today. “Similar growth is predicted for the coming three months,” the CBI said in its latest financial services survey, compiled with PwC. Income from interest, investment [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 3, 2011 DTZ Catherine Vasseur, who joined the real estate adviser in January 2011, has been appointed as head of UK property management and a member of the UK executive committee. She will continue to focus on seven service delivery areas covering clients, staff engagement and the market perception of the business. Previous roles include president and [...]
TJ Hughes finally in administration June 30, 2011 Department store chain TJ Hughes finally slipped into administration yesterday, appointing accountants Ernst & Young to manage the process. Endless, the Liverpool-based owner of TJ Hughes, led a management buyout of the chain in March but has been unable to turn it around. Endless said TJ Hughes’ sales were “significantly down” on last year while [...]