Hong Kong-based reinsurer Peak Re has unveiled what it claims is the first reinsurance sidecar transaction in Asia, in news that underlines investor appetite for insurance-based risk as a source of alternative capital. The deal was made via newly formed and Bermuda-based special purpose insurer Lion Rock, which will provide collateralised retrocession for Peak Re’s global property reinsurance risk portfolio…
Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) has appointed Florence Bidard as head of liability for France with immediate effect. The move will help develop LSM’s general civil, professional civil and environmental liability books, the firm said. Ms Bidard will be based in Paris and report to Richard Deguettes, LSM’s general manager of France. Mr Deguettes said: “Our suite of liability solutions is…
UK mobile operator O2, owned by Spain’s Telefonica, is seeking up to £100m compensation from Swedish firm Ericsson for business interruption and supply chain failure caused by its software, according to media reports. O2 smartphone users were unable to use their mobile phone data last Thursday and Friday. Ericsson, which supplies software to O2 and other mobile network providers, blamed…
Many insurance buyers with cyber policies are failing to make the most of value-added services that accompany the cover to help them recover from a loss, according to expert speakers at Commercial Risk Europe’s latest conference. During a panel debate on digital business interruption coverage at our supply chain risk management conference in London, James Tuplin, head of cyber and technology,…
Beazley is rolling out its cyber and breach-response portal, previously available for US clients, to policyholders in the UK, France, Spain and Italy. Beazley’s client portal provides policyholders with risk management information and mitigation tools – including training materials, incident response planning and risk assessment options – to help firms prepare for a cyber incident or data breach. Clients can…
France has recorded a rise in insolvencies after two years of improvement, according to Coface, which expects the trend to continue into 2019. French companies saw a 2.3% rise in insolvencies in the third quarter of 2018 and Coface estimates a rise of 0.8% in 2019. From the beginning of the year to September, insolvencies fell by 4.5% in France…
Liberty Mutual is integrating its Ironshore Bermuda businesses into a single brand and unit called Liberty Specialty Markets Bermuda, in a bid partly designed to offer clients a wider range of solutions. Ironshore in Bermuda previously comprised two businesses. These were: Ironshore Bermuda, which opened in 2007 writing, property, energy and specialty r(e)insurance; and Iron-Starr Excess Agency, which began in 2009…
AIR estimates insured losses of between $6bn and $9bn for the Camp Fire in northern California, taking its total loss for the state’s two big November wildfires to between $9bn and $13bn. Meanwhile, Aon has said that insured US wildfire losses will exceed $10bn for the second year running. This may force insurers to rethink how they view the risk…
Spain is introducing a new tax for environmental policies, according to insurance premium tax specialists Impendulo. The new tax, representing 8% of the premiums of the policies, is applicable from 1 November 2018. The first declaration is on 20 December 2018. According to Impendulo, this will need to be reported to the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros with the following…
The European cyber insurance market is improving but client expectations are not always met, according to a panel of cyber experts…