US Senate to kick off historic health care debate

The US Senate was poised to formally launch a historic and bitter debate Monday on sweeping legislation to overhaul the country’s health care system, President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

Obama’s Republican foes were united against the plan, forcing his Democratic allies to hold difficult behind-the-scenes negotiations to bridge internal divisions and rally the 60 votes needed to ensure passage.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid needed to unite all 58 Democrats and two independents who often side with the party to overcome Republican parliamentary delaying tactics that could derail the bill.

With senators expected to push dozens of amendments, the debate was expected to take weeks, perhaps pushing it beyond Reid’s Christmas target date for a Senate vote on the broadest such overhaul in four decades.

“We need 60 votes at some point to end debate and will try to do that at some point,” said Reid spokesman Jim Manley, who predicted Democratic amendments “to improve and clarify” some aspects of the legislation.

The measure includes a government-backed insurance program to compete with private firms, tough new restrictions on dropping care for pre-existing ailments, and an end on lifetime caps for coverage.

It is estimated to cost 848 billion dollars through 2019 but cut the sky-high US budget deficit by 130 billion dollars over the same period, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Senate approval of the measure would force the Senate and House of Representatives to reconcile their rival versions of the bill and vote again on whether to send it to Obama.

Reid’s main challenge came from three possible Democratic defectors, Senators Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, and Ben Nelson, and from former Democrat turned Independent Senator Joe Lieberman.

Landrieu, Lieberman and Lincoln have signaled they will side with Republicans to block a final vote on the bill if it includes a government-backed “public option” for health care coverage to compete with private insurers.

Nelson has said he will oppose the bill unless lawmakers include sharply tougher restrictions on even indirect government funding going to insurers who cover abortion — mimicking a last-minute deal that paved the way for House passage of the legislation.

With such tenuous Democratic backing, Reid and the White House have courted several centrist Republicans whose support could also help them sell the bill as a bipartisan measure.

Support from Maine Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are top priorities for Democrats, and Snowe has already publicly indicated some willingness to vote in favor of health reform if certain conditions are met.

The United States is the world’s richest nation but the only industrialized democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens, about 36 million of whom are uninsured.

Washington spends more than double what Britain, France and Germany do per person on health care, but lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Petplan and Allianz launch employment and HR advice service for vets

Petplan, the UK’s leading pet insurance provider has teamed up with parent company Allianz Insurance to develop an HR and employment advice service for veterinary practices called Allianz Practice Protect.

Petplan’s experience of working closely with vets formed the basis of the development and design of a complete HR and employment advice service for veterinary practices. Allianz Practice Protect combines the law expertise of legal expenses insurance provider, Allianz Legal Protection and the HR know-how of its service partner, Employment Services Partnership (ESP), to offer a comprehensive business advice service for vets, which comprises:

• On-site HR and health & safety audits, used to construct specialist-designed action plans

• 24/7 telephone and email access to qualified solicitors and health & safety advisors

• Legal expenses insurance covering the cost of employee claims and prosecution under health & safety legislation

• Access to an online reference library containing HR documents, best practice guides and over 250 legally drafted document templates.

Steve Rowley, BTE business development manager at Allianz Legal Protection commented: “We have worked closely with our colleagues at Petplan to develop a service that specifically addresses the HR and employment issues facing vet practices as businesses. Allianz Practice Protect will provide vets with important access to up-to-the-minute advice and support to help them manage their business through an ever-increasing amount of legislation.”

Russell Guest, director at ESP added: “We have combined our individual strengths and specialisms to create a compelling proposition to the veterinary profession. For years the market has been demanding a truly service-led solution to their practice needs. This solution moves away from insurance advisors and instead offers City law firm standard advice – with the back-stop of insurance cover, if the worst happens.”

APC to launch its most ambitious product to date – commercial combined

Commercial insurance underwriting specialist APC will launch its most ambitious product to date, the week commencing 7^th December, with what will be one of the broadest commercial combined products in the market.

The product will cater for over 250 different trades from a wealth of areas including wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, processors, engineering risks and leisure risks. Any risk in the UK that requires property and casualty cover combined can be processed on the new product.

Commercial combined will be available online to brokers via APC’s QuoteMac system which will allow a wide range of cover variations due to the vast number of optional extensions available. The product will be aimed at the SME market place including larger commercial risks that will utilize APC’s £10,000,000 sum insured authority.

Using the new product, APC aims to target the vast amount of referral business within this area. The new product will incorporate combined cover of material damage and public and products liability as standard. It will also cater for multi locations and chain franchises.

Although the product and delivery are wide ranging it is easy for brokers to access and, because the statement of fact has been designed to capture all the information required for a quotation at the start, brokers no longer need to type up lengthy presentations which saves them time.

APC underwriting director Ian Russell said: “Brokers have been crying out for an online auto-quote commercial combined product for a long time. This has been a year in the making and we have genuinely gone all out to ensure this is a best of breed proposition. With the amount of trades available, brokers should easily be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily.

“A common frustration with auto-rated products and systems is that, unless a risk fits narrowly defined parameters, it cannot be quoted for. What we have done, is build multiple routes within the system to allow quotes that are binding to be issued there and then. As always, APC underwriters are on hand to progress all inquiries beyond that quickly and efficiently.”

Marsh signs exclusive agreement with UDrive Solutions for driver and motor fleet assurance products

Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser, today announced that it had reached an agreement with UDrive Solutions to offer its comprehensive range of driver and fleet assurance products to Marsh’s clients, initially in the UK. These UDrive Solutions products will be available exclusively to Marsh clients.

UDrive Solutions provides a comprehensive set of innovative and powerful vehicle, driver and motor fleet assurance products, offering a high-quality, cost-effective range of fully-insured packages to consumers and businesses.

UDrive Solutions has designed three distinct product packages which are available exclusively through Marsh to facilitate the management and functionality of all fleet operations:

• UDrive Advantage features a range of products that enable companies to ensure they are compliant with latest health and safety legislation in relation to both company-owned and employee-owned vehicles and their drivers

• UDrive Solutions Advantage Plus offers a range of insurance products protecting clients from unknown costs and exposures, such as GAP insurance, excess cover, tyre insurance and loss of keys

• UDrive Solutions Advantage Extra provides a high-quality maintenance and service offering at a low, fixed price

• Optional products available with any of the three main packages:

- Ding & Dent: smart repair service
- Roadside Recovery: comprehensive package

Commenting on the announcement, Kevin Nicol, Development Director at Marsh, said: “As a result of UK legislation, such as the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act and updates to the Health and Safety at Work Act, company directors can now be held personally responsible for injuries an employee sustains while driving at work, regardless of whether the employee is driving a company car or their own vehicle.

“This is particularly the case if a driver’s training or the vehicle’s roadworthiness is called into question. Successful prosecutions can result in unlimited personal fines and custodial sentences in certain cases.

“The UDrive Solutions packages, available only through Marsh, can help companies ensure they are compliant with relevant legislation, freeing up directors and their employees to go about their day-to-day business.”

Automotive insurance industry veteran Bob Blacklee, founder and CEO of UDrive Solutions, said: “I passionately believe that the UK marketplace needs a different approach to the management of motor expenses, and that the consumer is, by and large, hard done by.

“In putting this exclusive package together with Marsh we have sought to redress this, while at the same time helping to reduce the number and severity of road traffic accidents throughout the UK by ensuring that vehicles are safe and fit for purpose at all times. Our joint approach, together with the significant cost savings which UDrive Solutions delivers, makes for a very compelling, compliant and cost-effective fleet proposition.”

ABI proposes changes to critical illness insurance definitions to ensure clarity for consumers

Following an extensive consultation, the ABI is planning to rebrand and standardise definitions of the Total Permanent Disability (TPD) benefit in Critical Illness (CI) insurance policies, to improve clarity for consumers.

It is proposed that a new set of standardised definitions will go hand-in-hand with improved education for consumers, financial advisers and sales forces.

The ABI consultation was focused on measures to improve customer understanding of TPD, and therefore to reduce the number of declined claims. The vast majority of consultation respondents, consisting of insurance companies and other key stakeholders, agreed that the work the ABI was doing to improve TPD was worthwhile.

Following a stakeholder workshop to take this important work forward, the ABI has agreed to:

• Propose a set of clear and easy to understand standard definitions that build on the concept of TPD (for example, removing use of the words ‘total permanent disability’ that cause so much confusion for consumers).

• Produce a standard set of educational materials for insurance companies and advisers to use, explaining clearly the changes and what customers can expect from their policies.

• Test the proposed definitions with consumers.

• Consult all stakeholders on the new definitions.

• Issue a new Statement of Best Practice for Critical Illness Cover that will include the new set of definitions.

Nick Kirwan, the ABI’s Assistant Director, Health and Protection, said: “It is vital that customers understand what their Critical Illness policy does and doesn’t cover. The approach we are adopting builds on our previous work to create more descriptive headings and clearer definitions.

“We were very pleased with the level of response to our consultation. We heard that people want standard definitions, and that education and clarity are key to improving understanding.  We have more work to do, but we now have a clear view of how to go forward and achieve these aims.”

Lloyd’s insurer ARGO International appoints Ciaran O’Donnell as Chief Financial Officer

Argo International, the specialist Lloyd’s insurer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ciaran O’Donnell to the role of Chief Financial Officer. Ciaran will join Argo International on 1st January 2010.

Ciaran joins Argo International from FM Global where he was Chief Financial Officer of the International Division, a position he has held since 2005. He has over 20 years of financial experience in the Property/Casualty insurance industry, specifically in Europe and Asia, and with working for US parented companies, including ten years as a member of Executive Management Teams.

Prior to FM Global, Ciaran was European and Asian Property & Casualty Controller at General Electric and Chief Financial Officer for GE Insurance Solutions (UK).  Previously, he held financial roles with AIG, most notably, CFO Continental Europe, and Coopers & Lybrand. Ciaran holds his ACA qualification and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

Ciaran takes up the position from Nick Denniston, who has decided to leave the company in order to pursue other opportunities. Nick will remain in place until 31st March 2010 to provide a smooth handover of his duties.

Julian Enoizi, Chief Executive Officer, Argo International, said : “I look forward to welcoming Ciaran on board, who, with his extensive experience in this role and of the industry, will be a great asset as we continue to build Argo International’s platform for growth.

“I would like to thank Nick for his significant contribution to the business over the past five years both as CFO and interim CEO and wish him continued success in future ventures.  I would also like to express my gratitude for his having agreed to stay with us until next March to ensure a smooth transition to Ciaran.”

Liberty International Underwriters Europe appoints Chris Batchelor as London Casualty Manager

Liberty International Underwriters Europe (LIU Europe), a division of Liberty Mutual Group, has announced the appointment of Chris Batchelor as London Casualty Manager.

Chris Batchelor joined LIU Europe on the 9 November and is based in the company’s Minster Court office in London. Reporting to Nick Mortimer, Senior Vice-President for Casualty, Chris will manage the London Casualty team that services large UK corporate and multi-national clients.

In an insurance career that spans 25 years, Chris Batchelor was most recently the London Head of Liability for a major insurer, writing Employer’s Liability, Public Liability and Excess of Loss business.

Commenting on the appointment, Sean Rocks, LIU Europe’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “In line with our business strategy for LIU Europe, we have expanded both our regional and national presence for writing liability risks. Chris’s appointment further underpins our appetite for big ticket casualty business whether for large UK corporates or multi-nationals.”

Cooper Gay opens its eighth Risk Services subsidiary in Atlanta, Georgia

Cooper Gay, the leading global independent wholesale, reinsurance and specialist retail insurance broker, has opened an eighth office of its Cooper Gay Risk Services subsidiary in Atlanta, Georgia.

Barry Whitton, formerly in charge of National Property practice at Beecher Carlson, has been hired to head up the new office, which will extend the Group’s wholesale presence in the US.

Barry has over 23 years of retail and marketing experience.  His background includes managing and directing the property programs for several Fortune 100 global accounts. Prior to Beecher Carlson, he spent 9 years as Manager of the Atlanta Property/International Group at Johnson & Higgins/Marsh.

Peter Gorman, Managing Director of Cooper Gay North America said: “Cooper Gay Risk Services has been expanding in the Southeast over the past few years. The opening of the Atlanta office continues this expansion.  We are very excited to have Barry Whitton join our growing team, and I look forward to further success in delivering focused wholesale solutions to clients across the United States.”

Allianz clear household range launched to open GI users

Allianz Retail will launch its broker household product range, Allianz Clear, to over 600 Open GI software users in December.

Allianz Clear will be made available to Open GI software users from December 7 and will eventually replace Allianz’s long-established home insurance cover – Harmony. The new range represents a move away from the traditional ‘one size fits all’ household cover to a ‘three-tier’ product range and has already proved successful with SSP software users who have been using the range since earlier this year.

Designed in consultation with brokers, the Clear range gives greater choice and flexibility, comprising three products: Clear Essentials for basic cover, Clear Advance for standard all-round home insurance and Clear Complete for home-owners who require higher sums insured.

Tim Pitts, product manager at Allianz Retail, said: “Open GI users who participated in our Clear range pilot told us they liked the ease of use and policy coverage that the three-tier range provides – making it easier for them to identify the most suitable product for their customers’ needs.”

The range will be rolled-out to further brokers before the end of 2009.

Six insurance companies on systemic risk list

The list includes six insurance companies – Axa, Aegon, Allianz, Aviva, Zurich and Swiss Re – which sit alongside 24 banks from the UK, continental Europe, North America and Japan.

The list has been drawn up by regulators under the auspices of the Financial Stability Board, in an effort to preempt systemic risks from spreading around the world in any future financial crisis.

Insurers

Insurers are considered systemically important for a variety of reasons: they might, for example, have a large lending arm, such as Aviva, or a complex financial engineering business, akin to that of Swiss Re.

AIG of the US, the failed insurance group, was proven to be a vast systemic risk last year, in large part because of its diversification from insurance into complex financial engineering.

Raj Singh, chief risk officer of Swiss Re, said: “The real interconnectivity for the insurance industry is more muffled in that there needs to be a dual trigger for there to be any big systemic effects.”

The list, which is not public, contains many of the multinational bank names that would be widely expected.

The exercise follows the establishment of the FSB in the summer and is principally designed to address the issue of systemically important cross-border financial institutions through the setting up of supervisory colleges.

These colleges will comprise regulators from the main countries in which a bank or insurer operates and will have the job of better co-ordinating the supervision of cross-border financial groups.

As a spin-off from that process, the groups on the list will also be asked to start drawing up so-called living wills – documents outlining how each bank could be wound up in the event of a crisis.

Regulators are keen to see living wills prepared for all systemically important financial groups, but the concept has split the banking world, with the more complex groups arguing that such documents will be almost impossible to draft without knowing the cause of any future crisis.

Paul Tucker, deputy governor of the Bank of England, and head of the FSB working group on cross-border crisis management, said recently that the wills – also known as “recovery and resolution” plans – would have to be drawn up over the next six to nine months.

National regulators, led by the UK, are known to have begun pilot-testing the living wills exercise with some of the listed banks in the past few weeks.

ING closes sale of Australian and New Zealand Insurance business

ING announced today that it has closed the sale of its life insurance and wealth management venture in Australia and New Zealand to ANZ, its joint venture partner.

As announced on 25 September, the divestment is part of ING’s Back to Basics strategy to simplify the organisation by focusing on fewer, strong franchises that form a coherent group.

Under the terms of the agreement, ING sold its 51% equity stakes in ING Australia and ING New Zealand to ANZ, who now has become the sole owner of these businesses. In line with the announcement of 25 September, ING has received EUR 1.1 billion in cash from ANZ.

The transaction has generated a net profit for ING of EUR 325 million. The sale will reduce the ING Insurance debt/equity ratio by 365 basis points.

The transaction has freed up EUR 950 million of capital. These final terms are slightly better than the preliminary results as disclosed on 25 September.

After the sale, ING will maintain a strong footprint in Asia in life insurance and retirement services as the third largest international insurance company in the region.

As previously announced, the transaction does not impact ING Direct, ING Investment Management, ING Wholesale Banking and ING Real Estate, who will remain active in Australia.

Satellite operators to benefit from insurer profitability in 2010

AIG reserves may be $11bn deficient: analyst

American International Group’s (AIG) shares dropped on Monday ostensibly as a result of a damning Bernstein Research analysis that claimed AIG’s loss reserves are $11bn deficient and may hinder the company’s ability to repay its debt to the government.

Urgency for insurers to cut costs never bigger

As balance sheets have weakened and revenue growth has slowed over the last year, the urgency for insurers to reduce costs has never been greater, according to Ernst & Young.

AIG reserves may be $11bn deficient: analyst

American International Group’s (AIG) shares dropped on Monday ostensibly as a result of a damning Bernstein Research analysis that claimed AIG’s loss reserves are $11bn deficient and may hinder the company’s ability to repay its debt to the government.

US reinsurers’ nine-month premium falls

A survey of reinsurers’ statutory underwriting results conducted by the RAA shows a group of 19 US property-casualty reinsurers wrote $18.7bn of net premiums during the first nine months of 2009.

US reinsurers’ nine-month premium falls

A survey of reinsurers’ statutory underwriting results conducted by the RAA shows a group of 19 US property-casualty reinsurers wrote $18.7bn of net premiums during the first nine months of 2009.

US reinsurers’ premiums fall in first nine months

A survey of reinsurers’ statutory underwriting results conducted by the RAA shows a group of 19 US property-casualty reinsurers wrote $18.7bn of net premiums during the first nine months of 2009.

AIG aviation unit could receive bids this week

American International Group’s aviation unit, International Lease Finance (ILFC), may soon receive a bid for half of its business from the head of ILFC and a consortium of private equity investors, reports the Financial Times.

Allianz hits £200m turnover for pet insurance

‘Major achievement,” says boss

Insurers bully Irish solicitors

Irish Law Society wants extension after “Institutional bullying”

ABI to make CI disability clear

Standardising of total permanent disability terms will help

ABI to make CI disability clear

Standardising of total permanent disability terms will help

2007 flood victims still waiting

Homes unfinished and caravan dwelling continues

ABI attacks political accounting

EU political interference in accounting standards a worry

1906 get-out law to be cut

Insurers’ reason-for-not-paying-claims law under review

Synergy gets new boss

James Begley becomes managing director

2009 nat cats cost insurers $24bn: Swiss Re

Natural catastrophe’s and man-made disasters cost the global insurance industry $24bn in 2009, Swiss Re said in its latest sigma study.

Aviva links with Keychoice

Insurer to launch private motor products

Samsung Life picks IPO managers

South Korea’s Samsung Life Insurance has selected five candidates to manage its initial public offering next year.

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