Marsh reports that warranty and indemnity (W&I) claim notifications are up 293% across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) between 2016 and 2018, with the cover gaining in popularity and notifications as a proportion of policies placed rises. In its Transactional Risk Insurance Claims Study, Marsh also finds a reduction in the time taken to settle W&I claims. In…
Severe weather events across Europe last month caused at least €1.42bn of economic damage, with insurance expected to cover about €1.24bn of the losses, according to Aon. In its latest Global Catastrophe Recap report, the broker says that weather between 10 June and 12 June resulted in large hail, strong gusts of wind and intense rainfall across multiple countries in central…
Russia’s insurance market is at a “turning point” following premium growth and stronger profitability last year, although the recovery is “fragile”, according to ratings analyst AM Best. It said threats facing the Russian insurance market could still have an adverse impact on market development and performance. In recent years, the number of Russian market players has significantly reduced to 199,…
Broker Gallagher has bought a 29.7% stake in independent Czech broker Renomia, which operates in its home country, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Croatia. Renomia has been a member of Gallagher’s worldwide network of Global Alliance broker partners since 2004. It has achieved double-digit growth in the past five years. Gallagher said the minority holding will strengthen its presence…
Chubb has appointed Karine Paul and Brigitte Vorrath as global client executives within its major accounts team for continental Europe. In the newly created roles, Ms Paul will manage France and the Nordic region, in addition to international accounts in the UAE and India. Ms Vorrath will manage accounts in Germany, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia. Switzerland will…
Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) is to use its strong capitalisation to achieve further growth and broaden its presence, according to its group CEO. VIG’s 2018 group annual report notes that the group has a solvency ratio of 239%. “After beating our forecasts, we’ve raised our targets for 2019 and 2020,” said VIG CEO Elisabeth Stadler. “We will maintain our focus…
Political risks are “tilted to the downside” for the remainder of this year with populism no longer a fringe issue in Europe, warns Aon in its latest risk map…
Generali is to acquire the insurance portfolios of three entities of ERGO International AG in Hungary and Slovakia. No details of the purchase price and other terms have been revealed, but the gross written premium income across all three ERGO entities totalled €20.6m in 2017. Generali has signed an agreement to take over the entire life, non-life and composite insurance…
Willis Towers Watson has appointed Eleonora Geamanu as head of its Romanian business. She takes over from Anca Roscaneanu, who is now head of sales and client management for central and eastern Europe at the broker. Based in Bucharest, Ms Geamanu will be responsible for driving revenue growth in Romanian commercial insurance business. She joined Willis Towers Watson in 2007…
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has appointed Hartmut Mai as chief regions and markets officer for central and eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa…