Canada counts Alberta flood costs September 23, 2013 The massive floods that devastated swaths of southern Alberta in June are estimated to be the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history, with the Insurance Bureau of Canada pegging the property damage at C$1.7bn (£1.03bn). The bureau, which represents Canadian home, cars and business insurers, said the preliminary estimate for the floods surpassed the C$1.57bn [...]
LV= profits halve due to tough price war in the UK car market September 9, 2013 INSURER LV= yesterday announced a hefty fall in its half-year operating profit, which it largely blamed on tough price competition in the UK motor insurance market. The mutual – which is Britain’s third biggest car insurer and covers more than 3m drivers – saw its operating profit fall to £31.3m from £60.1m for the first six [...]
FCA to study cash savings as part of programme on competition across financial services markets September 9, 2013 Regulators have today announced plans to carry out a market study to assess whether competition is in the interests of consumers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will focus on cash savings accounts, and how frequently the 80% of adults in the UK with such accounts switch between providers. The FCA comments: The cash savings study [...]
Admiral speeds ahead despite motor insurance price battle August 29, 2013 WELSH car insurance firm Admiral yesterday reported a healthy rise in profits – but admitted that fierce competition is affecting its British division. “We didn’t grow the UK insurance business, which was great news because of the competitive environment,” said chief executive Henry Engelhardt. “Any time you can increase profits by six per cent when competitors [...]
Driving down costs of car insurance August 27, 2013 Annabel Palmer on how customers could cut down their hefty London insurance premiums THE AA recently announced that comprehensive car insurance premiums saw their biggest fall since the motoring organisation’s records began in 1994. The average annual quote declined to £594.86 by the second quarter of this year, a 9.8 per cent drop from July [...]
There’s no point in a financial services Trip Advisor unless reputation matters August 22, 2013 ONCE again, a major mis-selling scandal has broken out, with 13 high street banks and credit card issuers facing a £1.3bn redress bill for mis-sold card protection policies. No amount of financial regulation seems to stop the flow. Until 1986, there were no mis-selling scandals. The sales of financial products were regulated by contract law [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 22 August 2013 August 21, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Interns keep working at BofA Bank of America Merrill Lynch gave interns the option to end placements early after a 21-year-old undergraduate died. But they have decided to keep working. The decision by Moritz Erhardt’s peers to stay on highlights the determination of many young people to win a passport into that world. [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 20 August 2013 August 19, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES US top trade official presses Japan The top US trade official Michael Froman pressed Japan to open up its car and insurance markets as transpacific trade talks reach a critical stage, with negotiators trying to seal a deal by the end of the year. Race for Africa investment tax deals The surge in [...]
An era-spanning masterpiece August 15, 2013 THEATRE THE PRIDE Trafalgar Studios | By Xenobe Purvis Four Stars ALEXI Kaye Campbell’s award-winning The Pride gets a powerful revival as part of Jamie Lloyd’s Trafalgar Transformed season at Trafalgar Studios. The play’s protagonists Oliver, Philip and Sylvia exist in two time periods, the 1950s and now, and respond to the social pressures encountered [...]
Any Other Business – 14/08 August 13, 2013 ■ It’s barely 24 hours since BBC Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman shocked middle Britain with his Twitter-trending facial hair, but bookies are already taking bets on how long the interviewer’s designer stubble will last. Ladbrokes is offering 4/5 odds-on that Paxman’s beard sees out the week – while punters who think he’ll go for a [...]