Post magazine – 20 November 2014

In this issue, the Prudential Regulation Authority is expected to follow up on its warning to insurers about the sustainability of reserve releasing by issuing individual company reviews over the course of next year.

The caution comes after the regulator observed an uptick in insurers relying heavily on reserve releases in recent years to help supplement their results, with PRA returns showing that reserve releases for the total UK market, excluding Lloyd’s, stood at 3% last year, down from 4% in 2012.

In other news, commercial insurers’ flexible commission offerings are tipped to come under the spotlight of the conduct watchdog in 2015, amid suggestions the arrangements could amount to conflicts of interest with intermediaries; the proposed ‘fundamentally dishonest’ clause of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill is unlikely to provide a “silver bullet” for defendant lawyers looking to apply it to exaggerated damages claims arising from abuse cases; the insurance industry is facing a succession crisis and risks wage inflation “hitting the roof” if it fails to produce a co‑ordinated effort to win over disillusioned business graduates; and the potential to increase revenue through digital innovation has stirred boardroom appetite and is expected to fuel a boom in acquisitive activity among insurers over the coming years.

Covea Insurance’s Simon Kneller is in the C-Suite, asking what Solvency II will mean for the industry, and whether it has been worth the hype.

Francesca Nyman meets president of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers, Nick Parsons. He tells Post why he will not be a one-man band and shares his plans for the association.

We round up our In Series features on personal injury with a look at industrial deafness claims, while Crif Decision Solutions director Sara Costantini highlights what parties involved in PI can expect in the future.

The Ebola outbreak has now claimed more than 5000 lives. Francesca Nyman investigates how insurers are reacting to the ongoing threat – and what infection on European soil would mean for the industry.

Finally, our Regional Review visits Glasgow. Mairi MacDonald finds that Glasgow’s reputation as a vibrant, people-orientated city is reflected in its dynamic general insurance market, in which over-capacity and a high number of resident brokers have not deterred new players from pouring in.

Enjoy the read!