This Week in Post: Personal injuries and parenting fails

Unexpected consequences can lead to parenting fails, among other disasters. When reviewing the government’s draft reform of the discount rate, MPs on the Justice Committee pointed out it too could have unintended consequences. They have called for future decisions to be evidence-based. Claimant lawyers welcomed a re-examination of how the injured actually invest their compensation payouts but some insurers feared the analysis would delay the reform.

The sector was much happier about the approval of the regulatory regime for insurance-linked securities. On a slightly related topic, check out our roundtable on how Lloyd’s is modernising itself.

In other news, Allianz launched a takeover bid for Euler Hermes. Aviva upgraded its targets for earnings, cash and dividend in order to make bolt-on acquisitions and pay off debt. And Marsh revealed its combined Jelf and Bluefin business would rebrand as Jelf.

Also this week, we published an interview with Lemonade’s CEO. Daniel Schreiber says the US insurtech firm is less wary of incumbents than other start-ups, and considers anything in the property and casualty space as fair game.

In our c-suite column, Ulrich Schaller, portfolio manager at QBE, details the specificities of the German directors’ and officers’ market.

To conclude a week marked by personal injury news, read how a biker who knocked down and killed a pedestrian was able to claim injury compensation from the victim’s motor insurance policy. And Kate Donachie, associate in Brodies’ insurance and risk team, explains how the Civil Litigation Bill going through the Scottish Parliament could have a huge impact on PI claims. Finally, Shirley Woolham from Minster Law points out artificial intelligence is taking over mundane legal functions but is not killing off lawyers.

The discount rate and AI feature quite high in our review of the year. Ten industry figures share with us the events and trends that have had the biggest impact on the insurance sector in 2017. You can also find out more personal things about them, such as the Christmas presents they dreamt of as kids.

Now I need to find a Secret Santa gift for a colleague. Shall I gather some evidence or go for slipper socks?

Cecile Brisson, features editor
@PostCecile