Business Insurance Blog

Lloyd’s of London report £516m loss after record year of disasters 2011

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:48:16 +0000

The big news in the British insurance market is Lloyd's of London reporting a massive £516m loss after 2011 was a record year for disaster claims.

However, the Telegraph reported in its article Lloyd's reports £516m loss after record catastrophe claims, Lloyd's CEO, Richard Ward, as saying:

2011 was a difficult year for the insurance industry and given the scale of the claims, a loss (for Lloyds) is unsurprising.

The Telegraph goes on to report that Lloyds, still the world's largest insurance market, made a £516m loss because it had been received claims of £12.9bn in 2011, including a record £4.6bn linked to the devastating tsunami and earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand, as well as Cyclone Yasi in Australia.

Read more of the Telegraph's article Lloyd's reports £516m loss after record catastrophe claims

Lloyd's full-year loss, compares with a £2.2bn profit in 2010, and more favourably with the 2011 £3.11bn deficit following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Any thoughts of instability over Lloyd's future can be dismissed outright, as Lloyd's market remains well capitalised, and as 2001 established, it seems well able to absorb losses of such extraordinary scale. This is something other insurance markets around the world need to be able to demonstrate. For small and medium sized businesses in the UK the business insurance market is monitored, if not controlled, by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Swinton Insurance Full Executive Board sacked (by French parent co)

admin — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:33:16 +0000

French parent Covea has dismissed the entire executive board of Swinton Insurance in an unprecedented move. Swinton is not solely a specialist business insurer, and offers the full retail and consumer insurance cover as its role as insurance broker. Chief executive Peter Halpin and his executive board have been sacked over share scheme dispute, relating to Swinton board’s performance-related share scheme payments.

The insurance times published Covea's statement:

Covea has taken this action because it had lost confidence in the executive board. It was concerned that the former executive board has put their short term interests ahead of the long term interests of the company and its employees.

Many, including ex-Swinton staff and employees, seem to agree with the decision, as tipified by Richard Chapman's comments on the Insurance Times website 13 December 2011, where he states:

As a previous Swinton branch manager I fully agree with this decision that has been made as it appears to protect employees interests. Swinton is run at breakneck speed with little or no regard for employees lifestyles, even though they have a charter indicating they are "mindful of a work life balance " nothing could be further from the truth. In my experience the company had little regard for employees who didn't put Swinton ahead of everything in their personal or private life, with a failure to understand why staff didn't want to work 50 hour weeks including Sunday's?

To check more of the Insurance Times article "Swinton's executive board sacked over share scheme alarm."

Liability Insurer Buys Delphi Financial For £1.7m

admin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:39:59 +0000

Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., Japan’s second-largest liability insurer, agreed to buy Delphi Financial Group Inc. for $2.7 billion in cash in its biggest acquisition in three years as it faces waning demand at home. The Japanese insurer is paying the industry’s third-biggest premium for a cash takeover of more than $1 billion since at least 1995, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The acquisition will boost Tokio Marine’s overseas profit contribution to 46 percent of total earnings from 37 percent, according to the statement. The company said it will fund the purchase through its own cash and debt.

The purchase of the 24-year-old company will strengthen its existing property and casualty insurance in the U.S., and also gives it a foothold in the country’s life insurance market, according to the statement. The U.S. insurance industry is estimated at 89 trillion yen, the world’s largest.