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John Stewart

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Social networks contribute to the quality of the customer relationship. Their use is spreading among small-small-insurers.

New tool available for agents and brokers, social networks can increase the points of contact with the client whereas traditionally the issue of insurance is to not offer much time between the subscription and management of ‘disaster. “Social networks have rather been first used for communication of the brand, or as a prospecting tool for HR, but it is also a tool for customer relationship that the insured can ask questions, request opinion exchange with his advisor, “said Patrick Durand, Manager at Solucom. It still underutilized channel of the future.

“In the United States insurance agents already using social networks to establish a direct relationship of trust with the insured. They are friends with their customers on Facebook to inform or advise from a disaster, or they help young people in their professional relationships on Linkedin “recalls Julien Maldonato, consulting director at Deloitte financial industry.

In France, “the younger generations do not hesitate to go ask questions on social networks. Their use is in the DNA of 30-40 years. Agents can use it to respond to complaints in a quick, “said Alain Burtin, director market intelligence & services customers within the unit and Digital Market Management at Allianz.

Social networks thus possible to establish a relationship of trust, relaxed and quick to access, used both to inform the client as to process claims. But real tool service after sales, however limited to a processing simple, standard and is based on a sine qua non: that customers want to enter the community.

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Major UK life insurers appear on track to report strong capital positions under Solvency II, the new regulatory regime that takes effect in January, despite the lack of detailed disclosure in their latest results, Fitch Ratings says.

The half-year results released over the last few weeks were the last significant scheduled opportunity for insurers to provide more detail on their likely Solvency II capital positions before the regime takes effect. However, they made a point of not divulging Solvency II metrics – a sensible approach, as regulatory conclusions on companies’ internal models are not due until December. This may have disappointed investors hoping for detailed guidance, but despite the lack of hard numbers, other factors suggest initial Solvency II capital levels are likely to be strong.

These factors include the Prudential Regulation Authority’s recent emphasis that transitional benefits are a valid part of the Solvency II regime and should be considered as capital, including when insurers assess their capacity for paying dividends to shareholders. The major insurers announced substantial interim dividend increases with their results. This is consistent with their growth in cash generation. But given their conservative approach to capital management, we do not believe these increases would have been announced if there had still been significant uncertainty over likely Solvency II capital levels.

Solvency II requirements are significantly less onerous than initially planned, notably through the introduction of the matching adjustment, which reduces asset charges on illiquid assets held to back annuities, and through transitional arrangements, which phase in the new requirements over many years. It is clear that many insurers will take advantage of the transitional measures, even if they would have a strong capital position without them.

However, while we recognise the benefits of transitional measures from a regulatory perspective, they mean that Solvency II will initially not be a fully risk-based approach. Where an insurer uses transitional measures, Solvency II will start with some elements on a non-risk-based Solvency I basis, and move only gradually over many years to the full risk-based Solvency II basis.

We will continue to focus on our own Prism factor-based capital model (Prism FBM) for our primary assessment of insurers’ capital adequacy. Under this risk-based approach we would expect an insurer achieving a particular Solvency II coverage ratio with transitional measures to have a lower Prism score than one achieving the same ratio without transitional measures.

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Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc (NYSE:AON), has licensed ReMetrica for Life, Health & Pensions to insurer AmTrust at Lloyd’s. ReMetrica is Aon Benfield’s risk and capital modelling platform.

One of the first companies to license ReMetrica for Life, Health & Pensions, AMTrust at Lloyd’s was looking for more detailed analysis of its capital to explore expansion plans. The platform enables insurers to perform ‘what if’ analyses and assess the impact of underwriting new lines of business with different pricing and reinsurance options.

In addition, as an existing user of the general insurance version of ReMetrica for its internal capital model, the new components for Life, Health & Pensions mean that results from both its life and non-life businesses can be aggregated for a holistic view of its capital positions.

ReMetrica for Life, Health & Pensions, which was launched in January 2015, evaluates the risks of long term products to more accurately shape reinsurance purchases, predict cash flow and analyse financial strategies.

George Sweatman, Chief Risk Officer for AmTrust at Lloyd’s said: “ReMetrica’s proven track record with AmTrust meant we were keen to adopt its Life, Health & Pensions edition as our business needs evolve. The platform was quick to integrate and easy to use which has allowed our actuaries to be self-sufficient and undertake more insightful analysis. This will also, crucially, allow us to model our life and non-life liabilities together seamlessly.”

Irfan Akhtar, Head of Development for ReMetrica for Life, Health & Pensions, added: “These new components employ a sophisticated but simple-to-use interface so insurers can quickly and efficiently set-up models. As part of the support package, our life actuaries managed the data conversion process from AmTrust’s existing system to ReMetrica. In addition, we helped with model point groupings. All of this meant that less time was spent setting up the model and more time spent analysing business results.”

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The insurance industry needs to adopt more innovative thinking and forge collaborative partnerships with governments and other service providers if it is to solve the problem of underinsurance, according to a new report from industry think-tank, the Geneva Association.

The Global Insurance Protection Gap report, which builds on Lloyd’s 2012 Global Underinsurance Report and was co-chaired by Lloyd’s CEO Inga Beale, highlights the threat underinsurance poses to economic development and considers ways to measure the gaps that exist in protection and their root causes.

Emerging gap

The insurance industry has a crucial role in helping society manage risks, but considerable regional differences and protection gaps exist, according to Shaun Wang, Deputy Secretary General and Head of Research at the Geneva Association, and co-author of the Global Insurance Protection Gap report.

For example, the magnitude seven earthquake that struck New Zealand in 2010 caused $6.5bn in damage, of which 81% was covered by insurance, according to the International Association of Insurance Supervisors. In contrast, when Haiti was hit by a similarly powerful quake in the same year, less than 1% of the $8bn total damage was covered by insurance.

Natural disasters like the Haiti earthquake highlight the significantgap between economic losses and the amount of damage covered by insurers in emerging countries, according to Wang. In its 2012 Global Underinsurance Report, Lloyd’s identified 17 mostly emerging countries as underinsured, with a total coverage gap of USD168bn.

However, there are also sizable pockets of underinsurance in mature markets, according to Wang. The increasing importance of the digital economy and changing business models have given rise to new vulnerabilities, many of which go uninsured. Insurance penetration has also failed to keep pace with rising property values and the development of areas exposed to storms and floods, such the hurricane exposed US southern and eastern coast, he explains.

Mind the gap

Awareness of the protection gap has been increasing among some national governments, as well as within the insurance industry, according to Wang.

“In the past underinsurance has not really been on the agenda for government, but there is now increasing awareness of the problem as governmentsrealise the implications for business disruption and economic growth,” he says.

Governments increasingly realise that insurance not only helps individuals and businesses get back on their feet after a disaster, it is also a facilitator for economic growth, explains Wang. People are more willing to invest and engage in economic activity when they feel secure and protected, he says.

Innovation

Closing the protection gap is not just an opportunity for the insurance industry, but a necessity. According to Wang, the industry will become less relevant to society if it fails to become an important part of the solution to managing risks like cyber or natural catastrophes.

“There are a lot of smart people working in the insurance industry but insurers can be conservative by nature and tend to focus on traditional ways of doing things. But they will need to come up with new solutions – new products and ways of distributing them – if they are to close the protection gap,” says Wang.

Collaboration

Innovation also extends to how insurers engage with organisations outside the insurance industry, predicts Wang.

“The insurance industry needs to change its mind-set if it is to tackle underinsurance, but this is not a problem it can address on its own,” says Wang. “To get a breakthrough, the insurance industry will have to work with other parties, like governments and other service providers,” he said.

For example, there is huge potential for insurers in the area of cyber risk, according to Wang, but solutions will require governments and IT security firms to pool their knowledge and resources.

Further research

Both the Lloyd’s and the Geneva Association reports are just the start of a wider push to close the protection gap, according to Wang.

“Building on Lloyd’s 2012 study, our report gives an overall assessment of the protection gap. But the goal is to produce more in-depth analysis in the areas identified in the report, such as natural catastrophe risk in Asia, flood insurance and cyber insurance,” says Wang.

Risks like cyber and flooding are high on the agenda of governments and are identified in the report as potential areas that could see the insurance industry playing a much bigger role in the future, he adds.

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Allianz Group began 2014 with a strong first quarter. At 33.96 billion euros, Allianz achieved the highest total quarterly revenues in the company’s history.

Compared to the previous year’s first quarter figure of 32.05 billion euros, revenues increased by 6.0 percent. Operating profit reached 2.72 billion euros, 2.6 percent below the previous year’s record figure of 2.80 billion euros. Net income attributable to shareholders was 1.64 billion euros, a decrease of 3.9 percent from 1.71 billion euros the year before.

In Property and Casualty insurance, operating profit grew strongly, benefitting from an improved underwriting result after a lower impact from natural catastrophes. Revenues increased in the Life and Health insurance segment due to strong new life sales, and operating profit remained at a high level. Following exceptionally high results in the previous year, Asset Management performed within expectations.

The conglomerate solvency ratio rose by two percentage points to 184 percent as of March 31, 2014, from 182 percent at the end of 2013. Shareholders’ equity grew over the same period by 6.9 percent to 53.525 billion euros from 50.084 billion euros.

“In the first three months, Allianz achieved results comparable to last year’s highs. This is an encouraging start for the year. While it is hard to predict what kind of economic and political volatility lies ahead in the current environment, we are well prepared for the rest of 2014,” said Dieter Wemmer, Chief Financial Officer of Allianz SE.

Property and Casualty insurance increases profitability

In the first quarter of 2014, gross premiums written in Property and Casualty insurance reached 15.22 billion euros, an increase of 0.1 percent year-on-year from 15.20 billion euros. Excluding foreign exchange and consolidation effects, internal growth was 1.9 percent. Strong internal premium growth came especially from Germany and Turkey as well as from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty and Allianz Worldwide Partners.

The segment’s operating profit rose 12.9 percent to 1.49 billion euros in the first quarter of 2014 from 1.32 billion euros over the same period last year. Growth in operating profit stemmed mainly from a better underwriting result of 705 million euros after 540 million euros in the first quarter of 2013. This improvement was helped by lower natural catastrophe claims and a continued positive pricing environment.

The quarterly combined ratio improved by 1.7 percentage points to 92.6 percent from 94.3 percent in the previous year’s first quarter. Impacts from natural catastrophes were mainly limited to winter storms in the US and floods in the UK. Germany, France and the corporate and credit insurance areas recorded lower claims than last year.

The loss ratio fell year-on-year to 64.6 percent from 66.1 percent. Over the same period, the expense ratio decreased to 28.0 percent from 28.2 percent partly due to operational improvements in various units.

“Our Property and Casualty business has continued on last year’s successful course with very good results. The segment contributed more than half of the Allianz Group’s total operating profit this quarter,” said Dieter Wemmer. “Not every quarter will have this low of an impact from natural catastrophes, but claims are also down overall, so I am very confident.”

Life and Health insurance with increased revenues and stable profits

In Life and Health insurance, statutory premiums rose to 17.16 billion euros in the first quarter of 2014 from 14.84 billion euros over the same period the previous year. This represents an increase of 15.7 percent. Excluding foreign exchange and consolidation effects, internal growth was 16.4 percent.

Premium growth came from all core markets. At 2.56 billion euros, Allianz Life in the US alone attracted some one billion euros more in premiums in the quarter than in the previous year’s first quarter, an increase of 63.6 percent. Germany and the Benelux region also recorded double-digit growth in volumes.

The new business margin grew 0.7 percentage points in the first quarter of 2014 to 2.5 percent from 1.8 percent over the same period the year before. Over the same period the value of new business increased to 360 million euros from 238 million euros.

Operating profit rose 2.9 percent to 880 million euros in the first three months of 2014 from 855 million euros the year before. The transfer of certain entities from Asset Management contributed 26 million euros to this development.

“Innovations in core markets like Germany and the US are lifting our life insurance business to new heights. Customers are responding well to our new products,” said Dieter Wemmer. “Thus, for the first quarter, results were within the top range of our expectations.”

Asset Management on track

Operating revenues in Asset Management in the first quarter of 2014 were 1.52 billion euros, a decrease of 18.9 percent from 1.87 billion euros for the first quarter of 2013, after the transfer of certain entities to other business segments as of January 1, 2014. The first quarter of the previous year had exceptionally high performance fees as the result of the closure of a private fund.

Operating profit reached 646 million euros for the quarter, a decline of 26.3 percent from 877 million euros in the first quarter of 2013, after the transfer of entities to other business segments. This reduction stemmed from one-off performance fees in the first quarter of the previous year and the weakening of the US-dollar. The non-recurrence of these performance fees increased the cost-income ratio to 57.4 percent from 53.1 percent.

Total assets under management rose 1.6 percent to 1,765 billion euros at the end of the first quarter of 2014 from 1,738 billion euros at the start of 2014. Over the same period, third-party assets under management grew 1.0 percent to 1,342 billion euros from 1,329 billion euros.

The development in assets under management was supported by market value increases, which outweighed third-party net outflows of 19.8 billion euros in the first quarter of 2014, compared to net inflows of 41.8 billion euros in the previous year’s first quarter. While PIMCO recorded net outflows of 21.7 billion euros from January to March of 2014, AllianzGI saw net inflows over the same period of 1.9 billion euros.

“As expected, the results in Asset Management came in lower, but the business is in line with our target for the year,” said Dieter Wemmer. “Given its solid performance and the outperformance of both of our insurance segments, we remain on track to achieve our operating profit outlook for the full year of 10.0 billion euros, plus/minus 500 million euros.”

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The four big health insurance companies that control 94% of customers on California’s health care exchange paid $50,000 for a deceptive study, released today, designed to scare voters away from passing an initiative that will mean big savings for consumers, consumer advocates said today. The initiative will require health insurance companies to open their books and justify their rates under penalty of perjury.

Consumer Watchdog Campaign, sponsor of the initiative, pointed out that successful regulation of California’s auto, home and commercial insurance rates, which would be extended to health insurance under the November ballot measure, saved consumers more than $102 billion on their auto insurance rates over the last twenty-five years, according to a 2013 Consumer Federation of America report. The Consumer Watchdog initiative will extend these savings to health insurance rates. View that report here: http://www.consumerfed.org/elements/www.consumerfed.org/file/finance/state_auto_insurance_report.pdf

“California’s price gouging health insurance companies are trying to scare voters away from voting for an initiative that will save them billions on their health insurance bills,” said Jamie Court, President of Consumer Watchdog and the initiative’s proponent. “Health insurance companies simply don’t want anyone looking over their shoulder and looking into their books to make them justify their rate hikes.”

California’s big health insurance companies have given $25.4 million to the campaign to stop the initiative and the study, written by a 25-year health insurance industry executive, is funded by their campaign. The report claims that allowing Californians to review and challenge rate hikes will slow down the Covered California exchange, despite the fact that rate review has occurred for the last year, only without the ability to stop unreasonable rates.

Harvey Rosenfield, author of insurance reform Prop 103 in 1988, the basis for the new health insurance regulation, said, “the insurance industry used the same kind of phony studies from political allies and bought-and-paid-for consultants in 1988, but none of their ‘sky is falling’ predictions ever came true.”

“This study is insurance fraud and its goal is to enable the companies that paid for it to continue soaking consumers while laughing all the way to the bank,” said Rosenfield. See a similar study released by industry partisans during the Proposition 103 campaign here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/02_gillespie_study_1988.pdf.

Today’s study, by 25-year health insurance company executive (Tufts Health Plan, Blue Cross of Massachusetts) and industry consultant Jon Kingsdale, criticizes the right of the public to challenge excessive rate hikes. Consumer Watchdog Campaign pointed that out that while there have been very few legal challenges by public interest groups under Proposition 103, they have produced huge savings for the public. Consumer Watchdog alone has stopped $2.9 billion in unreasonable rate hikes between 2003 and 2014.

The consumer advocates pointed out the following significant problems and factual inaccuracies with the health insurance industry funded study:

Very few property casualty insurance company rate filings are challenged by public interest organizations, despite the industry study’s false contention that more than 5% of proposed rates are challenged. 6500 rate filings were made last year, for example, at California’s Department of Insurance and only 14 petitions were made to challenge those rates – that’s 0.2%. The 7 rate challenges brought by Consumer Watchdog produced $240 million in savings.
Contrary to the study’s threat that every rate will be tied up in lengthy court battles, only two Proposition 103 rate cases were appealed to the court system over the last ten years.
Given the small number of health insurance company rate filings allowed under the Affordable Care Act – there will be just dozens of the required annual filings – any review and/or rate challenges for health insurance can be easily processed. By comparison, there are 6,000 to 8,000 property casualty rate filing in any given year.
Department of Insurance staff and experts in the process of public challenges to rate hikes report that any delays during rate challenges are due to insurance companies’ stonewalling data requests. Most rate disputes are informally resolved quickly, but the challenges to rate hikes that drag on do so because insurance companies delay the proceedings to continue charging higher rates than allowed for as long as possible. If they fail to supply information and data needed, as they often do, the higher rates that are in effect continue until the case is resolved. Rate challenges almost always result in rate decreases so insurance companies have every incentive to stall rate proceedings.
Under the rate regulation initiative, health insurance companies will have no incentive to delay data requests in any rate challenges for Covered California products because the products will continue to be sold at the old rate, until a new one is approved. Under state rules, health insurance companies will have to make refunds for excessive rates to consumers but will not be able to increase rates in the middle of the year, so they have every incentive to make the process smooth and timely.
Ample time for rate review and intervention exists under current law given the small number of health insurance rate filings annually and the incentives for health insurance companies to not delay. The public has a right to hearing in a rate challenge only if rate hikes are greater than 6.9% and these hearings can be expedited.

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A new investment app has been launched today by AXA Wealth to help clients view their current investment portfolio on the move.

The My Elevate for investment App is available now as a free download in the Apple store for advisers to promote to their clients. The app is the latest technology development from AXA Wealth to help advisers engage with their clients to make investing easier.

The new app will give a quick snapshot of:

total portfolio holdings
holdings and contributions by tax wrapper
overall asset allocation
individual fund holdings with performance levels.

The app has been developed in partnership with AXA Wealth technology partner FNZ and web developers Monitise.

David Thompson, managing director, Elevate, AXA Wealth, said: “It is important that we continue to improve the usability of our Elevate platform to help advisers keep their clients up to date with their investments. The new app is part of our continued programme of enhancements to the platform, which have included new pension illustrations and faster payment systems.

“With today’s ‘on demand’ culture, many consumers don’t want to wait for six months to review their finances. With the new app, clients an access their up-to-the-minute information wherever and whenever they want. Making investing easier is at the heart of the AXA Wealth business and we believe embracing the latest technology used by advisers, and their clients, is essential to this.”

While the App puts clients in control of their investment information, it may also benefit advisers, helping face to face client reviews, and reducing the need to generate reports prior to meetings.

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Giants and net telephony will they become major players in the banking business?
This is essentially what suggests the latest projects implemented in the field of e-payment.

With the development of smartphones, access to major web platforms became fully mobile offering an opportunity for Net giants become key intermediaries between consumers and traders, thus relegating traditional banks actors seconds zones .

Always eager to ease the client- company giants net today trying to develop tools to facilitate the purchase paperless payment .

Apple is working on online payment

According to the website RE / Code Box Apple hundreds of millions of users of its purchase music and video applications services clients seek to develop online payment .

It is true that the firm at the apple has a considerable advantage with its 600 million iTunes accounts with a majority is connected to a bank account. It only remains for him to offer a service online payment for which it would receive fees as an intermediary.

According to Re / Code, to achieve this , Apple would try to recruit a specialist in mobile payments and is in talks with PayPal .

Another sign of its strategy towards the development of a payment service, willingness to buy Square , the company’s founder of Twitter , specializing in payment service.

Facebook and banking in Ireland

In early April , the Irish Central Bank has allowed Facebook to develop financial services in Ireland.

Facebook would be allowed to store virtual currency on its servers. This virtual wallet could be used to make online payments across Europe or to make money transfers. Of course this is not free , then Facebook receives a commission on the payment or transfer.

Google: credit line and e -wallet

In 2012 , Google was testing the United States and the United Kingdom provision for companies to monthly credit line of between 100 and 200 thousand U.S. dollars used only for the purchase of advertising space on Google Adwords . The rate applied was 8.99% while the United States and 11.90 % in the United Kingdom. To offer this service , however, Google had to develop a partnership with Barclays which provides funding .

In 2011 , Google launched its Google Wallet software that allows its users to store credit cards and loans , and other loyalty cards. The aim is to compete with Paypal.

Amazon and registers shelves.

Amazon has announced the development of tablets for use cash registers for merchants Kindle.

It would also work no less than 600 people in its payment department to avoid too many drop-outs during the act of buying by simplifying the process through a payment system with one click.

These giant net they pose a threat to traditional banks ?

It is true that the boundaries are refined increasingly among web players and banks. Dematerialisation of payment made ​​banks less necessary in the act of trading with merchants .

Giants have a net financial strength seems limitless in order to develop all e -banking projects.

Especially they have a much larger customer portfolio that all French banks combined . Facebook with its billion users would be able to shake the entire banking sector.

However, the extremely heavy regulatory constraints imposed on banks , as well as the potentiality of its players who have no physical agency by example restricts their field of action only means of payment .

Google recently tried to launch a comparator insurance in France without success. This attempt demonstrates all the will of giant net to penetrate the retail portfolio .

It may be a matter of time before we see these web players take the place of our traditional banks or banks eventually become full-fledged online .

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XL Group plc (“XL” or the “Company”) (NYSE: XL) today announced that it intends to release its First Quarter 2014 results after the close of regular stock market trading hours on Thursday, May 1, 2014. A conference call to discuss the Company’s results will be held at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, May 2, 2014.

The conference call can be accessed through a listen-only dial-in number or through a live webcast. To listen to the conference call, please dial (210) 795-0624 or (866) 617-1526: Passcode: “XL GLOBAL”. The webcast will be available at www.xlgroup.com and will be archived on XL’s website from approximately 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on May 2, 2014, through midnight Eastern Time on June 2, 2014. A telephone replay of the conference call will also be available beginning at approximately 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on May 2, 2014, until midnight Eastern Time on June 2, 2014, by dialing (203) 369-0868 or (866) 424-7880.

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U.S. bank misjudged products inherited from Merrill Lynch. It must submit new data to the Fed and should revise its dividend.

This is a very embarrassing admission for Bank of America ( BoA ), whose share price dropped suddenly by almost 5 % yesterday morning on Wall Street : the bank made an accounting error that resulted in levels of equity “hard” lower than we previously thought . And especially below the data transmitted to the Federal Reserve in the last “stress test” that Bank of America had narrowly passed . Result: Bank of America must submit to the central bank, very particular about all these issues , new figures by thirty days. The bank will use the services of a third party to certify the accuracy of the new valuations. Especially , BoA will have to scale down both its allocation plans dividend and redemption of shares. Bank of America had previously increased its dividend by one cent per ordinary share to 5 cents, the first increase in five years, eagerly awaited by its shareholders. The bank also wanted to repurchase up to $ 4 billion of its own shares . All this is now being questioned.

The accounting error in question is related to securities issued by Merrill Lynch before its acquisition by Bank of America in 2009. Two internal units obviously wrong statement on the valuation of these securities .
A very sensitive issue

The case is very significant because , since the financial crisis , the Federal Reserve is very attentive to the solvency of the so-called ” systemic “, whose failure would endanger the entire financial system banks. In March , the central bank has rejected the plans of Citigroup, on the grounds that the bank misjudged the risks associated with its international operations .

Already in March 2011 , Bank of America was denied by the regulator increased its dividend for the second half of the year. Jaret Seiberg , an analyst at Guggenheim Partners, however, puts the incident yesterday : ” Bank of America has apparently done everything from when the error has been detected correctly. We do not see this as a threat to long term, we believe that the Fed will allow the increase in the dividend and share buyback after receiving new data . ” Remains to be seen how high .

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Between 2010 and 2012, credit card fraud rose 44%. The law protects consumers by ensuring the amounts stolen by banks.

More than 700,000 households were reported victims of at least one fraudulent charges using the credit card in 2012, an increase of nearly 44% compared to 2010 , according to a report released Tuesday ONDRP .

” The proportion of households who reported being victims of fraudulent charges on their bank account increases very significantly between 2010 and 2012,” points out in his study of the National Observatory of crime and criminal justice responses ( ONDRP ) . In 2010, 500,000 households declared themselves victims of credit card scams , against 718,000 two years later.

The amount stolen was less than 300 euros in half the cases , and greater than 1,000 euros for 20 % of victims. In general, the victim of theft of banking data is protected by the law which obliges banks to repay their customers are all lost, even if they have not complained and even without the means insurance payment. Imposes a condition : they must not have committed serious misconduct such as losing their card with their code example above . In case of gross negligence of the customer, an excess of 150 euros applies.
60% of victims know the procedure thief

Another lesson from this survey : nearly a third of the victims were notified of one or more transactions on their behalf by their bank, while 65% are looking preview their accounts.

Uncertainty remains: the vast majority of households (60% ) do not know how the offender has obtained confidential information about the bank account.

The greater the flow and the greater the propensity of households to file a complaint increases.

Thus , 54 % of these victims said they reported the incident to the police or the gendarmerie in 2012 , marking a slight increase compared to 2011 and 2012 surveys . Nearly 80 % of victims recognize also file a complaint for a refund of harm by their bank.

INSEE and ONDRP interviewed 14,500 households residing in metropolitan France as part of an annual survey ” Quality of life and security,” conducted between April and June 2013 on the statements of 2012.

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The German group Munich Re , the world’s reinsurance , said Wednesday expect a slight decline in its net profit in the first quarter, however, should not prevent it from achieving its objectives in 2014 .

Bavarian reinsurer , which officially release its financial results for the first quarter on May 8 , expected to record a profit after tax of approximately € 900M over this period, said Wednesday his patron, Nikolaus von Bomhard , to the shareholders of the group met in general meeting. His remarks were reported by AFP a spokesman of the group.

This result , a slight decrease compared with 979m euros posted in the first three months of 2013, is also lower than the forecast of analysts compiled by Dow Jones Newswires , which focuses on a net profit of 967m euros consensus excluding minority interests .

At the Frankfurt Stock Exchange , the announcement came as a cold shower for investors that have put the title in Munich Re tail featuring Dax index. At 12:05 GMT , the action of reinsurance ceded 2.24% to 166.16 euros.

“We can meet the challenges of 2014, which will no doubt considerable , with optimism and confidence,” said von Bomhard shareholders . The boss of the group confirmed the previously announced target of a net profit of 3 Bn euros in 2014, down from 3.3 billion euros last year. This result should be supported primarily by reinsurance , the net result is expected in the range between 2.3 and 2.5 billion euros. These targets are ” ambitious ” but ” achievable ,” said Mr. Bomhard .

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Beale comes to Lloyd’s with three decades of international insurance and reinsurance experience.

Most recently, she has been Group Chief Executive of Canopius, the prominent Lloyd’s managing agent. Prior to that she spent four years with Zurich Insurance, including a period as Global Chief Underwriting Officer, and was Group CEO of Converium Ltd, the Swiss mid-sized independent reinsurance company.

While at Converium, she led a major turnaround of the business before it was acquired by SCOR in 2007. Beale started her career as an underwriter with Prudential before spending 14 years in a variety of international roles for GE Insurance Solutions.

John Nelson, Chairman of Lloyd’s, said: “I am absolutely delighted that we have appointed Inga as Chief Executive. She has 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry. Her CEO experience, underwriting background, international experience and operational skills, together with her knowledge of the Lloyd’s market, make Inga the ideal Chief Executive for Lloyd’s. I very much look forward to working with her.”

Beale will start at Lloyd’s in January 2014 and is looking forward to both the opportunities and challenges she will face in the new role.

She said: “Lloyd’s is already an international leader, but this unique market has an extraordinary opportunity to increase its footprint and to cement its position as the global hub for specialist insurance and reinsurance. I’m looking forward to working with the Lloyd’s team and the wider market to deliver a strategy for profitable and sustainable growth alongside Lloyd’s robust market oversight.”

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Robert Gregg, Claims Manager at Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA), tells us about the new Electronic Claim File (ECF) website.

What is the purpose of the ECF website?

The new website provides a single source of all ECF related information, from basic user guides to technical documentation. The purpose of the site is to provide users with information on system stability in real time, frequently asked questions and System Process and Procedures (SP&P). Technical documents are available to download, as well as an interactive facility for users to submit change requests.

What prompted the formation of the new website?

The website was conceived and created by members of the ECF User Group and ECF Best Practice Group. These groups are populated by individuals across the Lloyd’s market and corporation.

It was developed as a result of feedback from the market’s ECF User Group calling for improved communication. Based on this feedback, the group took the initiative to launch its own site focussing purely on ECF. The website does not require a password so the information is easily accessible and open to anyone working in the London market. However, users will be required to use their Single Sign On/ECF2 log on and password to access the document repository held within the website.

What improvements have been made to the previous website?

This is the first time a separate e-initiative resource has been created in addition to the informative and collective information stored within the London Market Group website.

New information has been added to the website, which in the past has not been available to access from one central resource. This includes user guides, technical documents, information on the market-related ECF groups and links to key websites (as well as the offerings mentioned in Q1).

The site will continue to be updated regularly, and key market communications will be added to the site. There is also a latest news feature on the front page to keep users updated on the latest ECF news, service updates and announcements.

An RSS feed will be added to alert of system challenges and forthcoming events, as well as a schedule of change requests.

Who is the website aimed at?

The website is aimed at all claims professionals, the end users as well as senior management within each organisation. The two words ‘information’ and ‘communication’ are often used in today’s working day, however they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through. It is the latter that we are hoping to achieve with this website.

What are you hoping to achieve with the new format?

We feel we have created a really useful resource for the market which allows users to access all the relevant documentation, news and programme updates from one site. In the past, users have found it very difficult to navigate to their chosen documentation/topic which can be both time consuming and confusing. This website will help to reduce these issues, and allow us to push out all the key information through one gateway. Users are directed to any relevant external sites via the links page, such as the Xchanging service screen and service centre as well as all of the associations and Lloyd’s websites.

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• Hyperion Insurance Group (Hyperion) is seeking to place a $250 million term loan B, using the proceeds to repay $153 million of its existing debt (including its Windsor Loan Note), and about $74 million to fund an acquisition that it expects to complete soon.
• We are therefore assigning our preliminary ‘B’ corporate credit rating to Hyperion.
• At the same time, we are assigning our preliminary ‘B’ issue rating to the $250 million term loan B to be issued by the group’s subsidiary, Hyperion Financial S.a.r.l.
• The stable outlook reflects our expectation that the company will continue to grow organically at a healthy rate and improve profitability as it expands its geographic and customer base.

LONDON (Standard & Poor’s) Sept. 16, 2013–Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services today assigned its preliminary ‘B’ long-term corporate credit rating to U.K.-based insurance intermediary Hyperion Insurance Group Ltd. (Hyperion). The outlook is stable.

At the same time, we assigned our preliminary ‘B’ issue rating to the proposed $250 million term loan B to be issued by Hyperion Financial S.a.r.l., a subsidiary of Hyperion. The preliminary recovery rating on the proposed loan is ‘4’, indicating our expectation of average (30%-50%) recovery for creditors in the event of a payment default.

The final ratings are subject to the successful closing of the proposed issuance and depend on our receipt and satisfactory review of all final transaction documentation.

The preliminary ratings reflect our assessment of Hyperion’s business risk profile as “fair” and financial risk profile as “highly leveraged.”

We consider Hyperion’s business risk profile to be constrained by it being smaller than peers, having relatively lower profit margins, and running the implicit risk of losing key personnel. It is also limited by the highly fragmented, competitive, and cyclical industry in which it operates. These risks are partly offset by the group’s relatively diverse customer, product, and geographic base. Its good client retention record, ability to attract and retain top talent in the industry, and strong leadership are further mitigating factors.

Pro forma the proposed transaction, we forecast the group’s Standard & Poor’s-adjusted debt to EBITDA for financial 2013 to be about 7.1x (5.8x excluding a liquidity put option of £48 million). However, we forecast this ratio to improve to 5.9x (4.7x excluding the liquidity put option) by the end of financial 2014. We include deferred earn-outs of £17 million and the liquidity put option in the calculation of debt. However, we do acknowledge that the liquidity put option is highly contingent–option holders will decide whether to exercise the option in September 2017–and it is currently deeply subordinated.

In our base case, we forecast the group’s revenues and EBITDA at about £167 million and £36 million, respectively, for the financial year ending Sept. 30, 2013 (financial 2013). For financial 2014, we expect the organic revenue to grow by a mid-single digit figure, while maintaining a steady EBITDA margin as the group focuses on specialized insurance products and new geographic regions (mainly emerging markets) which have historically achieved high growth rates.

The group has in the past demonstrated good cash flow generation, which we expect to continue. We also expect the group to generate EBITDA cash interest coverage of more than 3x. We view positively the fact that 66% of the group’s shareholdings are held by the group’s staff members and do not consider any substantial shareholder-friendly payments likely at this stage.

We expect the group to undertake bolt-on acquisitions on a regular basis, as it seeks to further diversify its product range and geographic reach. In our base case, we expect the group to undertake bolt-on acquisitions of about £10 million annually (excluding the £49 million acquisition expected to be completed in October 2013). (The bolt-on acquisition spend is not considered in our liquidity calculation because it is not contracted).

The stable outlook reflects our view that the company will continue to grow organically. We anticipate that it will do this by utilizing its wide geographic and product diversity to attract new customers and enable it to generate positive free operating cash flow of about £10 million.

We could raise the rating if Hyperion can demonstrate a consistent improvement in its operating performance including organic revenue growth of high single digits along with a steady increase in EBITDA margins as the newly acquired companies, as well as the start-ups, integrate efficiently. We might also consider an upgrade if the group can improve its credit metrics so that they are in line with an “aggressive” financial risk profile, including adjusted debt to EBITDA of less than 5x.

We could lower the rating if increased competition and loss of key personnel were to stifle the group’s profitability and cash flow generation, which could result in negative free operating cash flow. We could also lower the rating if the group were to undertake a substantial debt-financed acquisition or if its financial policy became more aggressive than we currently consider it to be.

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Covéa Insurance has announced that Garry Fearn will step down from his role as Executive Deputy Chairman with effect from 15th September 2013.

Garry Fearn originally joined Norman Insurance in 1989, became Chief Executive in 1996 and continued in this role when the company changed its name to MMA Insurance in April 2000 up to September last year, when he became Executive Deputy Chairman of Covea Insurance.

In addition to his Chief Executive role, he was a founder Director of the startup MGA Saturn Professional Risks Limited, as well as the online broker It’s4me plc. He was also a Director of Medical Insurance Company Limited, a Dublin based medical malpractice insurance company.

He led the Group’s acquisition of the Swinton Group in 2000 and has been a Director of that company since that date.

In his current role as Executive Deputy Chairman, Fearn has been working closely with both Chairman Graham Doswell and the board. Commenting on the announcement, Doswell said: “I’ve very much enjoyed working with Garry and have found his market insight and experience invaluable both to me and the business. Garry has delivered a great deal for the business over many years and the board joins me in thanking him for the major contribution he has made.”

Fearn commented: “We’ve achieved a huge amount since I joined the business in 1989 and I’ve very much enjoyed the part I’ve played in that success. Integrating the former two businesses has been well managed and as a result Covéa Insurance is now focusing on putting all the building blocks in place to achieve its ambitious plans. As such the time is right for me to step down and I wish the new team every success”.

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Thomas Miller, the international insurance, professional and investment services group has appointed Kevin Sweet as group marketing director. Based in London, Kevin will be responsible for global marketing, and planning for the Group.

Kevin brings extensive marketing strategy, development, implementation and infrastructure experience in multi-distribution financial services businesses. Having first joined the Thomas Miller Group as a consultant in 2010, he has over seen a number of high profile projects including harmonising the marketing strategy and external communications across the Group’s companies.

Prior to joining Thomas Miller, he was director of marketing for the specialist life assurer Partnership (2008 – 2010) and also held the role of head of marketing at Cofunds (2005 – 2008).

Bruce Kesterton, Chief Executive Officer Thomas Miller says: “Kevin’s broad marketing and strategy knowledge makes him the ideal person to develop Thomas Miller‘s brand presence internationally. This is crucial to the successful implementation and delivery of our ambitious corporate plan.”

Kevin Sweet, group marketing director, Thomas Miller, says: “I am very happy to be given the responsibility of developing Thomas Miller’s external profile at this important and exciting time for the business.”

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Canopius Group Limited (“Canopius”), a leading specialist (re)insurance underwriting business, is pleased to announce the appointment of Barbara Turner as Group Head of Human Resources. She takes up her new position with immediate effect.

Barbara has over 25 years HR management experience at major international financial services organisations. She is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and development.

Inga Beale, Group Chief Executive Officer of Canopius said: “This is a terrific appointment and I am very pleased to welcome Barbara to Canopius. Investment in people reflects our ongoing commitment to excellence right across the Canopius Group. Barbara will play an integral part in maintaining this ethos, and will ensure that we continue to attract the best the market has to offer to complement our existing expertise.”

Barbara Turner said: “Canopius has rapidly become a leading Lloyd’s player in large part due to its smart people. Canopius has a clear vision for talent management and places people at the core of its ambitions for growth. It is an exciting time for the company and I’m looking forward to contributing my experience towards achieving further success.

Barbara joins Canopius from Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd where, as Head of HR for the EMEA region, she managed the HR process for over 1800 employees across 17 locations. She has also held senior HR positions at UBS and ABN AMRO.

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More than half-a-million (557,200) collisions have taken place on local roads within a 500 metre radius of British schools in the past six years, resulting in 85,814 child casualties (fatal, seriously injured and slightly injured).

As the new school year approaches, AXA Car Insurance and Road Safety Analysis – a leading provider of road safety research and evaluation services – have launched Britain’s first Local Road Safety Index. It will help parents better understand the risks associated with the roads around their local schools to keep their children safe.

The Local Road Safety Index has been developed by analysing a total of 200,000 pieces of data relating to the immediate areas surrounding Britain’s 29,142 schools. This data reveals the total number of collisions and casualties in these areas, including children and adults, and if they were pedestrians, cyclists or vehicle occupants.

A recent report by AXA Car Insurance revealed that almost nine out of ten (86 per cent)* parents want the ability to access road safety information relating to their local school area, yet there was previously nothing to enable them to do so. Today’s Local Road Safety Index provides parents, schools and local authorities with the information they need to understand how safe – or not – their local roads are. It will also help to develop and tailor road safety education while determining the specific road infrastructure required – such as speed bumps, crossings or other road calming measures – to further reduce collisions and casualties.

The data, relating to the 500 metre radius around British schools and covering the last six years, revealed some concerning statistics, which can be broken down by local authority, region, and city:

Overall, there have been 557,200 vehicle collisions
There are, on average, six collisions per school per year
37 per cent of local school areas have had at least one child casualty each year
85,814 children have been casualties on local roads around British schools – equating to as many as 1,190 every month
Fortunately, 5,831 schools (20 per cent) have reported no child casualties in the past six years

Further Analysis – regional snapshot

Collisions

Nationally, there have been an average of 37.1 collisions within 500 metres of British schools within the past six years.

There are some significant differences from city to city. The roads around Nottingham schools for example, have an average of seven road collisions per year whereas those in Swansea have just two. Roads around London’s top ten for collision rates see an average of almost nine collisions per year, believed to be at least partly because of their position in relation to busy areas.

Child casualties

Some of the lowest child casualty rates on British roads within 500 metres of schools were found in Swansea and Cardiff, with 3.6 and 3.3 incidents in the last six years, respectively.

However, Manchester and Liverpool local roads faired the worst with 7 and 6.8 child casualties in the past six years – more than one child per school area, per year. Considering there are 201 schools in Manchester alone, it equates to more than 1,000 in the past six years.

London

In the past six years within a 500m radius of London schools, there were 11,181 child road casualties (13 per cent of the national figure) and 121,795 road collisions (22 per cent of the national figure).

Considering London has a very different road network and geographical challenges than other cities around Britain, only three cities (Liverpool, Nottingham and Manchester) would appear in the top ten list of London Boroughs with the highest number of road collisions per school, considering the past six years. Liverpool, with 56.5 road injuries per 500 metre radius around schools, would feature fifth behind Kensington and Chelsea (57.5), Islington (67.1), Lambeth (71.9) and Westminster (89.8).

However, just two London Boroughs (Barking and Dagenham – 5.9, and Newham – 5.3) would get in the top ten cities in Britain for the highest child casualty rates considering the same distance and timeframe. Newham has the same road child casualty rate as Nottingham (5.9 in the past six years) and is higher than Bolton, Derby, Sheffield and many other cities across Britain.

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Comparing rates for motor vehicle insurance is one strategy that drivers use to find out if current rates are more expensive than rates that apply to an existing policy. One auto company online is offering access to its auto repair insurance rates data online at http://www.autoprosusa.com/insurance.

The Auto Pros company has created its database for repair insurance rate data that is now accessible by auto owners online. This company has researched hundreds of providers to list the very best policies and prices for consumers online.

The information that is extracted from the company website comes from a database search tool that receives updates in real time from brokers and other agents in the insurance industry.

One exclusive feature of this new tool relies on a zip code instead of the personal information of each driver requesting prices.

“Drivers become discouraged when giving out personal information just to receive a price quote for an insurance policy,” said an insurance expert for the Auto Pros USA company.

The new method of retrieving information from the company database requires only a zip code entry to establish a location where a vehicle will be used for coverage purposes.

One additional unique feature that is found in the database of providers is the review of local, national or regional companies. Some websites online providing insurance quotes rely on national companies to supply rate information.

The new system in place provides a review of hundreds of companies that are matched using the zip code entered by each car owner regardless of company size.

“Our system lets car owners choose what companies they’d like to receive price information from and it is displayed entirely online with zero effort or phone calls required,” the insurance expert confirmed.

The creation, programming and publishing of this tool online is in addition to the automotive warranty database system that was launched earlier this month for car owners. Each of these tools now brings necessary information into the hands of consumers when purchasing important automotive related services online.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1444086#ixzz2dcvTJBXw

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