Opinion
Penny black's insurance week
If anyone had doubts about Axa's IT team, then Penny would like to say that its online policing is second to none. Just ask the member of staff who spent a few lunchtimes searching for "golden shower curtain rings".
Postbox: An age old conundrum
In The Times on the 24 February, there was a piece on Towergate's acquisition of John Charcol.
Postbox: Dutch show potential to youth
I read the recent article 'CII launches campaign to woo young people' with interest and believe that it is possible to get young people interested in insurance.
View from the top: The tipping point
In his best-selling book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell says that ideas and behaviours spread like viruses, and that intervention (or a nudge) at just the right point — the tipping point — results in a cascade of change.
Notes from The Weekly
A month's worth of fun and frolics
Legal: Climate change, nanotechnology and cyber-risk liabilities
Our climate is changing rapidly while technology that used to be the preserve of fanciful fiction is growing prevalent, writes Nilam Sharma, Michelle Jones and Benjamin Folkinshteyn
Postscript - 5 years ago: Government to step in over claims
The government has decided to take steps to police the claims management sector, with the Department for Constitutional Affairs expected to unveil its plans in the next fortnight.
Postscript - 20 years ago: J&H given Olympic contract
Lloyd's broker Johnson & Higgins has been awarded the reinsurance contract for the 1992 summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Postscript - 30 years ago: Highest fire figures are disclosed
The highest total ever recorded in one month for the estimated cost of fire damage in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) was disclosed in the British Insurance Association's recent figures as the total reached £58.5m.
Penny black's insurance week
Penny was fortunate to go along with a host of insurers and brokers to the Prince's Trust Celebrate Success Awards at The Odeon Leicester Square this week, as part of its Insurance Leadership Group.
View from the top: Election outcomes
With opinion polls suggesting the margin has narrowed to as little as 7% between the Conservatives and the Labour Party, all eyes are on the coming general election.
Looking Back - Recall costs could reach the billions
Insurers will not foot the bill for the biggest product recall in UK history — but the cost of paying out on related policies, defending claims and establishing liability, could reach billions of pounds.
Looking Back - UN to play key role in development
The United Nations has a key role to play in the development of insurance in developing countries.
Looking Back - Inquiry into the missing Salem tanker
Fraud squad officers are planning a month-long inquiry in South Africa, Greece and Liberia into the riddle of the missing $24m tanker Salem (215 000 tons) and its oil cargo worth $56m, which vanished en route to Europe in January.
Penny black's insurance week
Penny was out and about with Hastings CEO Edward Fitzmaurice this week, and one couldn't help but be surprised by his music taste. After a discussion of the fine arts — and not so fine arts — something of a revelation occurred. Among the standard…
Postbox - Blindingly obvious conclusion
I read the interview with Merlin's CEO and could not believe Richard Webster's conclusion, after breaching banking covenants, that "what we have learnt is... if you are exposed to the household market, you will see your demand go up and down alongside…
Postbox - Rate increase charades
The logic of the recent rating announcements from AA Insurance, Zurich et al ticks all the right boxes for shareholders but lacks any credibility, given how insurers still have so many areas where the figures on rate increases bear no relevance to the…
View from the top - Lex Baugh: Is Jackson beneficial?
What are we to make of Lord Justice Jackson's proposals for civil litigation costs? Are they beneficial for the insurance industry? And what of the claimant?
Penny black's insurance week
Penny was not the only lady wowed by race driver and stuntman Ben Collins at the 10th annual motor claims conference. The handsome gent, who worked on a number of stunts for the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace, told tales of celebrity encounters,…