3 May 2018
Blimey, what a long winter and washout of an early spring we’ve had! However, with the weather finally lifting a little a couple of weekends ago, I was able to give my postage stamp of a lawn a first mow of 2018. As the aroma of freshly cut damp grass my wafted through my nostrils and the sun warmed my back, my mind turned to BIBA. As an...
2 May 2018
BIBA may mean different things to different people, but for ARAG’s Head of Sales, Andy Talbot, the conference and exhibition is all about the conversation.
It may not be particularly fashionable outside the insurance world, but I’m a big fan of the BIBA conference - does that make me a ‘Bel-IBA’? I really look forward to this time of year...
23 Apr 2018
If you’ve spent any time on LinkedIn and other social media platforms you may have seen how job titles are evolving. In fields like marketing, management and IT we’re seeing traditional titles like ‘consultant’ and ‘adviser’ make way for a new breed of ninjas, wizards, gurus and rockstars.
Of course, the job market is changing...
3 Apr 2018
Mental Health in the workplace is under scrutiny and rightly so - the costs to the person, companies and the economy, make for grim reading. Estimates of 12.5 million days lost to workplace stress, depression and anxiety (Health and Safety Executive. 2016), £26 billion lost to companies (Acas 2012) - I could go on but I'm sure you get the picture.
The...
12 Mar 2018
In a guest blog for youTalk-insurance inspirational business coach Margaret Allen explores the issue of diversity within the insurance sector and shares some useful steps that firms can take to ensure the future prosperity of their businesses.
Change is upon us… In fact, the only certainty is change
By April 2018 all companies with more than 250...
5 Feb 2018
“The whole question here is: am I a monster, or a victim myself?”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime was a rallying call to treat the symptoms of criminal – often violent – activity that threatened a civil breakdown in society more than a decade ago. Recently released crime...
31 Jan 2018
NMU Executive Director, Nick Limb, talks 2017 and looks into the future at NMU
2017 was an exciting year for NMU and one full of challenges and opportunities.
We have continued to work far closer with our parent company Munich Re Syndicate as part of their wider International Distribution network, looking at ways to both improve and strengthen our business...
Posted by
Nick Limb |
NMU
22 Jan 2018
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into enforcement from May 25th, 2018. The potential fines that can be levied by GDPR are large numbers. At their extreme they can be as great as €20m or (and this makes it important to companies of all sizes), 4% of global revenue, whichever is the greater.
The (re)insurance market may, however, be...
4 Jan 2018
After the excesses of December, the January detox is upon us. A good time to soberly reflect on the year that was and try and second guess what this year has in store.
One thing you can say is that we were kept ‘entertained’ in 2017 by the first year of the Trump presidency – it’s been different that’s for sure! Is the word ‘...
27 Dec 2017
This means focusing on the basics: on combining both the art and the science of underwriting. The year of the underwriter will celebrate the importance of knowing our clients, of service excellence and building durable relationships, enhanced by investment in best-in-class data and claims analytics. By harnessing these strengths, we can better meet our clients’...
21 Dec 2017
2017. What a year. As many of those who know me will verify, I prefer to look forward rather than back. But I don’t think any insurance CEO – particularly any motor insurance CEO – can fail to reflect on 2017 without a sense of bewilderment at how things played out in our industry. The sector is increasingly being challenged by government,...
18 Dec 2017
“It’s that time of the year again. The shops are full of panicked last-minute shoppers, bars are packed with friends and colleagues drinking a toast to the festive season, and people start turning on their out of offices, ready to switch off and enjoy Christmas with their families.
I’m pretty organised this year (apart from the dreaded wrapping...
14 Dec 2017
As we come to the end of another year it’s good to take stock and look back on everything we’ve achieved in the QBE SME team in 2017.
QBE is regarded as an innovator on e-trade, committed to making it as easy as possible for brokers to trade with us across multiple distribution channels where and when they choose.
We launched Live Chat this year...
11 Dec 2017
“In times of crisis, ordinary people can do extraordinary things”
I was reminded of this recently when I went along to the House of Commons to see the announcement of the winner of the Flood Re Local Heroes award.
I first got involved in the campaign back in July, when Covéa Insurance agreed to sponsor the initiative and I was asked to judge the...
20 Nov 2017
Nigel Evans MP:
Nearly two years ago during the Christmas of 2015, extreme weather and rain caused disruption, destruction and catastrophe for families up and down the UK. For me personally it involved me cancelling my planned travels to America, and holding surgeries and doing what I could to help those affected by the flooding in my constituency. Some of my...
14 Nov 2017
In my ten years in Account Management and Development, I’ve heard a variety of people observe that there’s ‘something different’ about the Scottish Insurance Market, a unique phenomenon that occurs only North of the Wall.
I confess to not being able to define what ‘it’ actually is in succinct form, but for me it’s...
6 Nov 2017
The omni-present Kardashian family are well known for being relentless trend-setters; however the aggravated robbery of Kim Kardashian last October was one trend we would rather not keep up with.
Unfortunately, the scary fact is that this high profile robbery does reflect something we’ve witnessed here at Covéa Insurance. In the past five years I’ve...
25 Oct 2017
As a trainer in cyber insurance, I spend a lot of time speaking to brokers around the country about the many complexities of cyber insurance policies. Often the conclusion from those brokers is that cyber insurance policies seem to have been written with the intent of making cyber insurance as hard as possible for brokers, and their clients.
How do SME level...
11 Oct 2017
Insurers and brokers have a lot on their plate at the moment: Brexit bafflement, Ogden agony, rate reductions and new threats to their business models but everyone from the smallest high street broker to the largest multinational insurer need to know their GDPR subject matter. Failure to plan ahead means you could find the regulator banging loudly on your door followed...
17 Jul 2017
About 18 months ago, I began writing a book about my experiences in the insurance industry. Mike McGavick, the CEO of XL Group Limited and who became my boss after XL acquired Catlin Group Limited, suggested in one of our first meetings after the acquisition that I share my knowledge of the industry with a wider audience. I quickly recruited Jim Burcke, who...