Many Britons Find Driving Abroad Trying

Many Britons find driving abroad difficult to master and find themselves travelling on the wrong side of the road or going the wrong way up a one-way street and through no fault of their own find they are victims of car theft and vandalism.

Driving AbroadSainsbury’s car insurance has found that over 2 million Britons abroad admit to driving on the wrong side of the road, causing havoc for themselves and other drivers.

Over 500,000 claim to have been stopped for speeding whilst driving abroad and over 400,000have been involved in a motoring accident while overseas.

Ben Tyte, Head of Car Insurance at Sainsbury’s Finance said: “Drivers taking their cars abroad need to prepare, not just because they’ll be driving on the other side of the road, but because laws differ from country to country.

It is perhaps easy to get your car abroad but as Ben adds: “Motorists need to ensure they have a suitable insurance policy to cover them while overseas and that they understand the legal requirements for driving in the country they are going to.

“Failing to do so could ruin your holiday and leave your severely out of pocket.”

Many of those taking cars overseas unfortunately also find themselves victims of vehicle crime. Over 500,000 Britons have had their car vandalised while abroad and 310,000 their vehicle broken into in the last 5 years.

And there’s another 400,000 drivers who have lost their car keys.

If you’re taking your car abroad, with help from Sainsbury’s car insurance, here’s a checklist of things to do to help ensure it goes smoothly:

   1. Check your car insurance before travelling – policies will include different levels of cover whilst abroad and will stipulate how long you are covered for. Call your car insurance provider and advise them you are planning to drive abroad; doing this could mean a much smoother process should you need to make a claim.
   2. Check your car insurance policy for European breakdown assistance, some policies offer this as standard, others do not. For example Sainsbury’s Premier Cover offers up to 90 days.
   3. Have a clear plan for your route. Invest in a map or use a European route planner on the internet, to ensure you know where you are going and anticipate any risks in advance. If you don’t like the stress of driving in a city for example try and plan a route that keeps you away from them.
   4. Set a realistic timescale for your journey to avoid feeling pressured to drive fast or not take enough breaks.
   5. Motoring laws differ across countries so make sure you know what they are for the countries you are visiting. The government website www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo can help with this.
   6. Make sure your car is fit to do the miles – check tyre pressures, oil, brake fluid and water levels to help avoid breakdowns.

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Significant scale change pleases Ageas chief

Barry Smith, chief executive of Ageas UK, has claimed the insurer is on track to break the 100% combined operating ratio (COR) barrier but warned again that he saw no real signs of commercial market hardening.

Speaking after the company delivered £882m in income for the first half of 2011 and profit before tax of £35.4m, he told Insurance Age: "I'm really pleased. What is encouraging is we see a significant change both in terms of the scale of the business and the profitability. That is probably a comment on all aspects of what we do."

Ageas Insurance reported a COR of 100.5% (H1 2010: 106.5%) but Mr Smith indicated he was confident of achieving a double digit figure soon.

"If you take the quarter two combined ratio it was 97.2%," he said. "The first half was influenced in part by the escape of water deterioration from 2010. Quarter two is very encouraging."

The private car ratio left him similarly upbeat. "Private car is important to us, the motor combined ratio was 96.9% to the half year. Those combined ratios say to us that significant progress has been made."

Bodily injury
He assigned the improvement to knowledge of the change in the profile of claims going back to bodily injury in 2009, remedial action with more sophisticated risk rating and the increase in market rates.

With motor now showing a relatively healthy COR he accepted that the first quarter had seen more rate increase than the second and anticipated the levelling out of rate increase would continue.

"Logically the evidence is there that shows that more rate across the market is needed ... there is probably still a need for rate increases but more akin to claims inflation," he said.

Mr Smith said that the 32.5% growth in commercial lines to £106.3m (H1 2010: £80.2m) was good but the insurer had a significant appetite to do more.

"Part of that is linked to increasing the brokers' awareness of what we already do and part is helping them see that we can help support their businesses and deliver to their customers," he argued.

More staff
He claimed the insurer had more broker facing staff than a year ago and that it looked to mix expertise with technological solutions for brokers.

He said: "At Ageas we should continue to invest to give the option to the broker whether that is a single solution where they are able to access a variety of markets and insurers or whether it is a bespoke electronic solution for them.

"It is not just electronic trading. It is how we stay in touch with the brokers and make decisions to help them and give them access to decision makers so they have confidence to place the risk that has been presented to ourselves."

However he added that it was very difficult to see any signs that brokers would be witnessing a hardening market in the near term.

"I think there may be some pockets in aspects like commercial vehicle, maybe in fleet but, from where we sit, it is difficult to see any real rate strengthening."

Tesco Bank
On the issue of the Tesco Bank Partnership he also stated an appetite to do more and add to the £311.2m of GWP achieved in the first six months

"We think we have the capability, capacity and skills to do a lot more," he said. "It is a lot more across the piece, whether it is linked to Tesco or the broker market it is important that we deliver on what we say we will do."

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Willis Europe Acquires Polish Insurance Broker BCU AMA

Willis Sets Sights on Growing Polish Employee Benefits and Construction Sectors with Acquisition of BCU AMA

London, UK August 25, 2011 - Willis Europe B.V., a division of Willis Group Holdings plc (NYSE: WSH), the global insurance broker, has acquired 100 percent of the shares of Polish insurance broker, Brokerskie Centrum Ubezpieczeniowe (AMA) Sp. Zoo. The deal, effective immediately, will further strengthen Willis' presence in the country, in particular in the burgeoning Employee Benefits and Construction sectors. Terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Major civil engineering projects are set to increase the growth of the Polish construction market by around 11 percent this year, while the IMF says that a rebound in employment growth is being driven by increased activity in the services sector.

Established in Warsaw in 1998, BCU AMA focused on specialty insurance lines, developing a significant book of business providing insurance brokerage services to the rapidly expanding Employee Benefits and Construction industries.

Willis Polska, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Willis Europe, has been trading in Poland since 1991, and has 47 employees and three offices in Warsaw, Katowice and Gda??sk. Its latest acquisition will see 12 BCU AMA staff transfer to the Willis' office in Warsaw.

Commenting on the rationale behind the deal, Jacek Cichy, CEO of Willis Polska, said, "As the Polish economy continues to grow at a rate of around 3.8 percent, the expansion of the Employee Benefits and Construction markets, along with other industries, will need to be accompanied by robust risk management. By joining with BCU AMA, we now have leading expertise in these lines of business and can help our clients put in place holistic insurance programmes to mitigate their increased exposure to risk.

"In addition, BCU AMA's clients will also benefit from access to a much broader range of services, backed by the vast global resources of Willis Group, in areas like Energy, Marine, Aviation and Financial and Executive risks."

Willis Group Holdings plc is a leading global insurance broker, developing and delivering professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting and actuarial services to corporations, public entities and institutions around the world. Willis has more than 400 offices in nearly 120 countries, with a global team of approximately 17,000 Associates.

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Phoenix Says First-Half Cashflow Climbed After Fund Mergers

Phoenix Group Holdings (PGH), the U.K.’s biggest manager of closed life insurance funds, said first-half cashflow climbed after it merged groups of policies and reduced costs to squeeze more money from its funds.

Phoenix generated 496 million pounds ($813 million) of cash from its funds in the six months to June 30, up from 335 million pounds a year earlier, the London-based firm said in a statement today. That beat the 487 million-pound average estimate of four analysts surveyed by the company.

The increased cashflow was due to a “series of management actions such as fund mergers, tax hedging and tax shelters,” Chief Executive Officer Clive Bannister said in a telephone interview. “There are clearly relatively arcane and technical processes behind what we do, but it is our job to simplify and explain in words of one syllable such as cash.”

Phoenix, which buys life insurance policies and profits by releasing capital from them as they mature, is aiming to pay down its 2.7 billion-pound debt pile, almost half of which is due in 2014. The stock is the second-worst performer in the FTSE 350 Insurance Index over the last three months as investors speculated the European debt crisis may make rolling over the debt more difficult.

“We don’t think there’s going to be an issue about what will be a re-terming rather than a refinancing of our financial debt package,” Bannister said, referring to the market volatility of the past month.
Stock Climbs

The stock climbed 13.5 pence, or 2.6 percent, to 535 pence as of 8:45 a.m. in London trading, for a market value of about 923 million pounds.

Phoenix accrued the debt when it purchased Resolution Plc for 5 billion pounds in 2007, when the firm was run by Hugh Osmond, founder of U.K. restaurant chain Pizza Express. Osmond is now the firm’s third-biggest shareholder with a 5.6 percent stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The firm said it expects to meet its target of producing between 750 million pounds and 850 million pounds of cash this year. Net income fell to 90 million pounds from 179 million pounds in the same period a year earlier, Phoenix said.

The lower profit “reflects the impact of one-off positive experience variances that were recognized in the Phoenix Life operating profit in the first half of 2010 and further investment” in its asset management arm, Phoenix said in the statement.

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Aviva has launched its new online car insurance brand

Announced as part of its H1 2011 results, the new distribution channel forms part of Aviva's strategy to continue to grow its UK general insurance business.

The new service will be available shortly on Gocompare.com and is already online at www.quotemehappy.com - with further price comparison sites planned for later this year.

The new service offers fully comprehensive insurance only and is aimed at lower risk motorists who are aged between 21 and 75; have had no more than one at-fault claim in the past four years and own a car that is no more than 13 years old and is worth less than £40,000.

Happy to serve themselves
Steve Treloar, Aviva's retail director, said: "Quote me happy is an online-only insurance brand, specifically designed for internet shoppers - offering fully-comprehensive insurance for lower risk drivers.

"Customers will be able to get quotes, buy insurance, print documents and manage their policies online.

"This new service builds on the success of our existing motor insurance business. It is deliberately distinct from the Aviva brand - which already gives customers the choice of dealing with us directly online, by phone or through an intermediary or other corporate partner. Quote me happy is designed for people who want a good quality product, but are happy to serve themselves."

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Admiral's share price falls despite posting record profits

MOTOR insurance group Admiral has seen its share price tumble, despite posting record half year results which saw revenues coming in at more than £1bn.

The Cardiff-headquartered FTSE 100 business, which employs 4,330 across South Wales and is actively recruiting, saw turnover rise 53% to £1.1bn on the first half of 2010.

Its board also announced a record interim dividend payment of 39.1p per share.

Boosted by a rise in premiums across the sector – although they are now flattening – it also posted record half year pre-tax profits of £160.6m, up 27% on the first six months of 2010

However, a worsening in its combined ratio – a key indicator in the car insurance sector of profitability – impacted on its share price, which closed down on the day 11.83% at 1353p, marking the worst performance on the FTSE 100

On the half year performance, chief executive Henry Engelhardt said: “Over £1bn turnover in six months! It wasn’t so long ago that we were pleased to report over £1bn turnover for a full year. This is an incredible achievement and is credit to the hard work of everyone at Admiral.

“In the UK the momentum of vehicle growth and price rises from 2010 and Q1 2011 carried us through the first half of 2011, although injury claims and their related costs continue to rise in the UK market, something to which we are not immune. As one of the lowest cost providers we are well placed for a future which is shaping up to be the survival of the fittest.”

Outside of the UK, where it has operations in the US, France, Italy and Spain, he said Admiral was continuing the tough job of building sustainable, profitable and growing businesses from scratch, including in France, where it only launched last year.

Having recently added Illinois to Maryland and Virginia, Admiral is currently looking to add another state in US in which to sell car insurance.

Mr Engelhardt said: “On a daily basis the new customers we get from outside the UK are now over 15% of the UK’s new business. Meanwhile consumer preference for price comparison shopping in our European markets is growing”.

Its overseas operations reported losses of £3.1m, which was down on the first half of 2010 when they came in at £4.1m. The combined ratio of its overseas operations was 157%, compared to 183% a year earlier. Anything below 100 denotes profitability – and above, losses.

For the UK, Admiral’s combined ratio was higher than in 2010 (82.99%) at 90.4%.

As a proportion of premiums, claims jumped from 67.8% to 77.5%.

Its diminished combined ratio position was impacted by an increase in insurance claims from previous years, which reduced its ability to release reserves – which only totalled £4m, compared to £17.5m a year earlier.

Despite the less favourable ratio level its UK car insurance, profits rose 28% from £135.5m to £168.2m.

Mr Engeldhart said: “All in all we’re pleased with the numbers for the first half of 2011. As a result, every member of staff will receive £1,500 of free shares in the group, worth over £8m in total.”

He said that the company’s philosophy was not to sit on cash and to return profits to shareholders.

He added: “We feel that if you keep money in a company then management teams tend to waste it. We would rather our shareholders ‘wasted it’ than us.”

Mr Engelhardt said that staff had “done a great job “in sustaining strong growth. He added: “They have again stepped up. It sounds easy, but it is a challenge all the time.”

He said that premium increases were felt in the first quarter but the market was now flattening out.”

Admiral’s price comparison subsidiary, Confused.com, saw profits down marginally on 2010 from £8.8m to £8.2m. However, its revenue of £40m was the highest in any half-year period.

On the impact of its new advertising campaign he said: “It is good but not great. It has steadied the ship and has gained some share back over the last six months. However, it is a rough industry. All the big four, Moneysupermarket, Confused, Compare the Market and Go Compare, make pretty good money, but less than a year ago.”

The big four will face competition from a new entrant into the market next year.

French financial giant Covéa’s, whose UK group of companies includes Swinton, MMA Insurance and recently acquired Provident, is assigning a £30m marketing budget for its new price comparison business – which has yet to be given a name. Based in Llantrisant, it is being headed by the former head of Confused, Debra Williams.

Mr Engelhardt said: “It is an interesting new dynamic in the market. It will be very interesting to see if they make a go of it, waste £30m, or change the economics of one company rival.”

Brokers Numis Securities upgraded Admiral’s shares to buy, while Nomura reiterated its buy recommendation.

Kevin Ryan, an analyst in Investec, said the UK insurance underwriting result was worse than forecast and the rising claims were evidence that Admiral’s ability to significantly outperform the market was diminishing.

Nick Johnson at Numis added it was the first time Admiral had highlighted claims-cost inflation as an issue.

He added: “Given that future profit commission earnings are linked to recent underwriting margins, the comments are bound to reduce earnings’ confidence.”

Admiral’s chairman Alastair Lyons said: “This August marks the 20 year anniversary of our chief executive and chief operating officer (David Stevens) working together.

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UK bank insurance mis-selling complaints jump in H1

LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Complaints against controversial loan insurance by customers at two
of Britain's top banks rose by 25-30 percent in the first half of this year from the previous six months and may rise further in the current period.

Barclays on Wednesday said there had been a 25 percent rise in complaints about payment protection insurance (PPI) policies. Lloyds Banking Group, the biggest PPI provider, has said complaints rose 30 percent.

Banks face a bill of over 6 billion pounds ($9.8 billion) to compensate customers who were wrongly sold the controversial loan insurance, after the industry lost a legal fight in April.

Analysts are now watching the pace of complaints to assess the final scale of compensation. There are about 12 million outstanding PPI policies. Often the policies were sold to people who would never be able to claim on them.

Lloyds has made a shock 3.2 billion pound provision for compensation, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland each took near 1 billion pound provisions and HSBC set aside $509 million.

Overseas banks Santander took a 538 million pound ($887 million) hit and Bank of America has taken a $592 million reserve.

Barclays said it received 73,692 complaints in the first six months of this year about insurance and protection -- mostly about PPI -- up from 59,003 in the previous six months and up 93 percent from the first half of 2010.

It said it expected PPI complaints to rise in the second half of this year.

Lloyds said earlier this month it received 202,384 complaints about general insurance and protection in the first half, up from 156,014 in the previous half-year and more than double the year earlier level.

Banks have to issue complaints data by the end of August.

Barclays said its overall complaints fell by 9 percent in the first half from the previous six months to 251,563. Lloyds said its complaints were down 6 percent to 349,984.

($1 = 0.610 British Pounds)

($1 = 0.695 Euros)

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Prudential Financial approved for China Life Insurance

(Reuters) - U.S. financial group Prudential Financial (PRU.N) has received regulatory approval to set up a life insurance venture in China with a unit of Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group, accessing the country's 1 trillion yuan ($156 billion) life insurance market.

Prudential Financial and Shanghai Fosun Industrial Technology Development Co would set up the venture within the next 12 months, with Prudential's stake capped at 50 percent, in line with regulations, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement on its website.

So far, 28 foreign companies, including HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L)(0005.HK), Axa SA (AXAF.PA) and Allianz (ALVG.DE) have entered China's fast-growing, but competitive life insurance market, which is currently dominated by domestic giants China Life (2628.HK)(601628.SS) and Ping An (2318.HK)(601318.SS).

The venture marks the second cooperation between Prudential Financial and Fosun within less than a year, and is the latest move by Fosun to expand into the financial industry.

Prudential Financial announced in January that it would invest $500 million in a private equity fund to be managed by Fosun, representing the biggest third-party investment by the U.S. insurer in its 135-year history.

Fosun, whose businesses range from pharmaceutical to retail and media, has also formed a private equity venture with U.S. buyout firm the Carlyle Group, as it steps up expansion into the financial industry.

($1 = 6.397 Chinese Yuan)

(Reporting by Samuel Shen and Jacqueline Wong)

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