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Lloyd's ‘solvency’ case to go to EU Court of Justice
MEPs curious about the factors that led the Commission to start infringement proceedings against the UK government, only to later drop the charges
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Rise in crop insurance
There have been significant increases in the take-up of farm insurance as the Argentine economy recovers with an export-led boom in agriculture
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
€14.4bn of insurance mergers and acquisitions announced in 2004
There was a number of niche market acquisitions in insurance highlighted by the UK closed life fund sector
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Regional market premium income rises by 5.5%
Life premium income rose by 6.8% in real terms to €559bn, while non-life premium income grew by 3.7% to €368bn
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01 July 2005
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Market highly profitable despite slowdown in premium growth rates
The main reason for last year's slow-down in premium growth rates was the performance of the agricultural insurance sector where premium income declined due to the elimination of government subsidies for this class of business
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Alea stock hit by concerns about inadequate loss reserves
S&P downgrade came only weeks after Alea chief executive announced in trading statement that company had never been stronger financially.
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
IRDA calls for reduction in health insurers' capital requirements
The idea is to encourage the formation of at least 15 to16 new insurance companies to supplement existing capacity
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Odyssey Re Holdings
Expansion of international reinsurance portfolio and US specialty insurance business reduced impact of cat losses in 2004
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Closure of tax loopholes to affect expansion of market in short term
But the bancassurance sector in Bulgaria is expected to be kick started during 2005 as a result of two foreign banking groups (Hungary's OTP Bank and the National Bank of Greece) establishing life and non-life insurance companies.
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
PICC Property & Casualty
Gross premium income increased by 13% in 2004 but motor claims and weak stock markets weighed heavily on result
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Europe
Pledging future income
Value of In-Force (VIF) securitisation (when life insurers raise capital on the investment markets by pledging the future income of business currently on their books), will become progressively more popular in Europe,..
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Asia
S&P reduces risk rating for China life sector
Rating agency Standard & Poor's has marginally revised its risk rating for China's life insurance sector from ‘very high’ to ‘moderately high’ despite the..
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
North America
Hurricane warning
There is more than a one in three chance of large hurricane catastrophe-losses in the US according to risk modelling consultancy, EQECAT. This conclusion is based upon analysis by EQECAT of current forecasts by the National..
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Aviation
14.6, crash
Kenya: a South African pilot was involved in a bizarre incident in which two aircraft crashed on a runway in Lokichokio in Northern Kenya. The runway had to be closed for two days to clear the wreckage. The accident happened when a..
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Awards and settlements
11.6, toxic pesticide award
US: a former mechanic for an Edison forklift rental company who was disabled in 2000 when he was exposed to a toxic pesticide while repairing one of the machines has been awarded $46.7mn by a Superior Court jury. The..
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Natural disasters
10.6, floods, fatalities
China: a flash flood in a mountainous region of northeastern China slammed into a primary school killing 99 people, and surviving students went back to class for lessons on how to deal with the trauma. The dead included 95..
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Property damage and business interruption
10.6, mine collapse, fatality
US: a coal miner was killed when the roof collapsed about two miles inside a western Pennsylvania mine, Tracy Lynne Mine in Kiskiminetas Township, about 30 miles north-east of Pittsburgh. A rescue crew was dispatched..
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Marine
14.6, passenger lawsuit
US: Norwegian Cruise Lines is facing a lawsuit from 24 passengers battered in a storm as their vessel raced back to New York for an appearance in the TV show The Apprentice. The lawsuit was filed in Miami by passengers who..
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Late Reports
6.6, volcano eruption, damage
Mexico: the country's Colima volcano spewed ashes almost 5 km high, its fiercest eruption of rock and lava in more than 15 years and its third big explosion in two weeks. No casualties were reported after the..
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Interview: Shaun Tarbuck, chief executive, ICMIF
The challenges of communicating the mutual insurance message to policymakers, market participants and consumers
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Firms optimistic despite growth expectations being dashed
Falling demand over last 3 months has not stopped companies from increasing their headcounts and training expenditure
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
Collateral: credit risk or trade barrier?
Collateral: credit risk or trade barrier?
The European Union reinsurance marketplace is widely recognised as important to the stability of the US insurance market. According to S&P, 10 of the top 40 reinsurers in the world (including seven of..
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01 July 2005
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766 - 01 July 2005
AM Best warns on reserves
After XL Capital's unexpected reserve charge of $191mn, the agency warned that more reinsurers may have to augment their reserves for the 1997 to 2001 period
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Court decision reverses trend on policy notification clauses
Saffron Tofield*
and Peter Driscoll*
look at the extent to which the decision by the Court of Appeal in Sirius International Insurance –v– Friends Provident Life & Pensions Ltd (May 2005)
restricts the scope of insurers to reject a claim on the grounds of a breach of the policy notification clause by the insured. They also consider the remedies available to insurers
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Cost of European windstorm claims likely to increase by 66%
Climate change could push up the annual cost of flooding in the UK by a factor of 15 by 2080
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Scor Vie
Scor Vie
Scor Vie (Scor's life reinsurance division) reported an increase of 3.6% in its consolidated embedded value before tax which rose from €827.7mn in 2003 to €857.6mn (US$1,020.5mn) in 2004. At the same time, the after tax..
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Mitsui Sumitomo in Russia
Mitsui Sumitomo in Russia
Japanese non-life insurer, Mitsui Sumitomo, has opened representative offices in Moscow and St Petersburg and has entered into a ‘fronting arrangement’ with Russian insurer Ingosstrakh to provide insurance cover..
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Loss modelling
Loss modelling
Lloyd's of London's Loss Modelling Department has licensed AIR Worldwide's catastrophe risk management system to assess the risk from global catastrophes and for the simulation of Realistic Disaster Scenarios..
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Growing number of insurance brokers driving down rates
Although underwriting results in respect of most classes have been good to date, insurance company profits are likely to suffer should the current levels of competition continue; particularly now that reinsurance terms are hardening.
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Fall in sterling shields UK insurance stocks from terror attacks
AIG saw biggest rise of the fortnight after the group reported strong first-quarter results and moved to restore its financial accounting credibility
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
American International Group
Restatement of accounts resulted in a reduction of $3.9bn in the group's net income for the past five years
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Liability, awards & settlements
24. 6, wrongful death, award
US: the family of a 12-year-old boy who was electrocuted at a bus stop shelter was awarded $65.1mn in a civil trial against the outdoor advertising company that built and wired the structure. A Florida jury decided..
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
North America
Metlife completes acquisition
MetLife completed its acquisition of Citigroup's Travelers Life & Annuity business in the US and all of Citigroup's international insurance businesses for $11.8bn. According to a Metlife statement the..
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Asia
Banks and insurers in China
China's fifth largest bank, the Bank of Communications, will launch an insurance company with head offices in Beijing and Shanghai. The company which will have a share capital of between US$60mn and US$100mn,..
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Europe
Amlin calls off Chaucer bid approach
Lloyd's insurer Amlin has called off a possible offer for fellow Lloyd's underwriter Chaucer after completing due diligence. In a press release Amlin said that “sufficient value for its shareholders..
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Aviation
27. 6, crash, fatality
US: billionaire John Walton, the second son of Wal-Mart Stores founder Sam Walton and a Wal-Mart board member, died when a small plane he was piloting crashed shortly after take-off near his Wyoming home. Walton, an..
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Natural catastrophes
24. 6, storm, damage
US: a freak windstorm hit the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Missouri, causing substantial damage to hangars, planes and the airport terminal.
26. 6, floods, fatalities
El Salvador/Honduras: heavy rains caused flooding and..
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Marine
30. 6, fire, capsize
Taiwan: passenger ship Royal Pacific
(9,805 gt, built 1967) capsized alongside a pier at Kaohsiung due to the weight of water used during firefighting operations. The vessel caught fire during welding operations. All 211 crew..
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Property & business interruption
24. 6, fire, damage
UK: part of a tea-packing factory collapsed after the building in the Knowsley Industrial Estate, Merseyside, was gutted by fire. The factory was owned by Gold Crown Foods, one of the UK's largest suppliers of tea and..
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Late reports
13. 6, earthquake, fatalities
Chile: a strong earthquake struck northern Chile, killing at least 11 people, and destroying or damaging 9,235 houses in several Andean mountain villages. The quake also shut down BHP Billiton's 115,000-tonne-a-year..
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
IDB takes 16% stake in offshore reinsurer
The deal will improve the prospects of a viable Islamic reinsurance market
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Market set for EU entry in 2008
Life insurance accounted for 23.2% of the market in 2003, against 8.2% in 1998
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
European Free Trade Association agency launches integration and competition enquiry into insurance and banking sectors
Despite EFTA's best efforts there is very little cross border trade in the region's financial services sector
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Stronger case for continuation of TRIA after London terror attacks
As group life insurance was never included in TRIA, group life insurers have been in the precarious position of choosing to remain in the marketplace without a reinsurance backstop or exiting from the market
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
US terrorism cover after TRIA
US terrorism cover after TRIA
A recent US Treasury report found that the Terrorism Risk Reinsurance Program (TRIA) signed into law by President Bush in 2002 has been effective in meeting its goals of supporting the industry during a transitional..
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15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
Easing crossborder trading
New regime should make it easier to determine which laws should apply in cross-border disputes involving ‘non-contractual obligations’
Online Published Date:
15 July 2005
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767 - 15 July 2005
The importance of capital to mutual insurers
The importance of capital to mutual insurers
Ready access to capital has been highlighted by members of the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF) as being one of the key challenges for them. At ICMIF's Paris..
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Surplus capital likely to prompt round of mergers and acquisitions
European insurers’ results in 2005 should be as good as those in 2000, but with better underwriting results
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
State owned health insurer warns of impending financial crisis
The company attributes its reversal in fortunes to the absence of risk equalisation to which its competitors, BUPA and Vivas, are bitterly opposed. Risk equalisation will see the additional cost of community rating shared between insurers
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
News round-up
New French life insurance legislation • Germany renews terrorist damage guarantee • Generali • PZU targets SMEs
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Workers' compensation lawsuits increased by 90% in Argentina
HDI acquires HSBC business in Brazil • Honduras market grows by 7.2% • Consolidation in the Dominican market
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Insurers put the cost of recent earthquake at US$40mn
Voluntary cover for households against natural catastrophes remains limited, with only 8% of housing stock insured
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Prudential has biggest share of life market
UK insurer overtook Baoviet in 2004 • Insurers' IT spending in China
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Market responds positively to Munich Re's maintenance of ROE targets
Munich Re says the impact of the latest reserve action will only be partially felt at group level, where general provision had already been made for long-tail losses
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Allied World Assurance Holdings
Business written in Europe was the main driver of revenue growth in 2004 but result dampened by catastrophe losses
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Winterthur Group
2004 result adversely affected by additional provisions of SF250mn relating to the sale of Winterthur's international arm
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Market on road to recovery as fear of rampant inflation fades
The life insurance business written by foreign life insurance companies has fallen since 2000, but the volume of this business remains significant and it continues to support the activities of local brokers in Iceland
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Liability, awards & settlements
12. 7, oil reserves, settlement
US: Royal Dutch Shell will pay more than $90mn to settle a class action lawsuit taken by employees in relation to a reserves overbooking scandal last year. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant said in a statement it would..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Europe
BaFin blesses takeover
Germany's Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – BaFin) has approved the planned merger between German bank Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank AG (HVB) and Italian..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
North America
Executive Life award
A jury awarded US$700mn in punitive damages to the State of California against French company, Artemis for conspiring to defraud state insurance regulators in the early 1990s through its acquisition of the bankrupt local..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Asia
Malaysian merger
Bank Negara, Malaysia's financial services regulator, has given permission for the local subsidiaries of the UK's Aviva Insurance and Japan's Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance to start merger talks. Mitsui Sumitomo announced..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Natural catastrophes
10. 7, hurricane, fatalities
USA & Caribbean: hurricane Dennis killed about 60 people in Cuba and Haiti before moving across north-west Florida and Alabama. Despite downed power lines and outages affecting half a million people early reports..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Road, rail
13. 7, collision, fatalities
Pakistan: a train collision near the town of Ghotki in Sindh province left about 130 people dead and 130 others injured. Officials said the Karachi Express coming from Lahore ran into the rear of the broken down Quetta..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Property & business interruption
11. 7, explosion, fatalities
China: sixty-six miners died and 17 others were missing after a gas explosion at the Shenlong Coal Mine, 60 km from Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
14. 7, fire, damage
UK: fire destroyed around half of..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Late reports
30. 6, floods, damage
Australia: the insurance bill from torrential rain and flooding on the Gold Coast in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales is expected to reach at least A$25mn (US$18.5mn). Coolangatta Airport was forced to..
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Fall in liability rates for technology firms
Fall in liability rates for technology firms
Premium rates for liability insurance cover for the IT and related sectors in India has dropped by over 30% over the last year, according to insurers providing the cover.
This is despite a 50% growth in..
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Myth and reality
Myth and reality
An online survey of 1,000 drivers conducted by Progressive Insurance, the third largest motor insurer in the US, found that a significant number of respondents believed that the colour of a car influences how much it costs to insure..
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Customer retention and outsourcing on a Europe-wide scale
Ian Makepeace, Vice President Sales, Pitney Bowes Management Services, considers the key issues for insurance firms contemplating a pan-European outsourcing strategy.
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29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Pollution register intended to ‘serve insurance sector’
The PRTR will emulate proven schemes in the US, Australia and Canada
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005
Motor tariff still in place but insurers can raise rates
The powerful Confederation of Goods Vehicles Owners will challenge ruling
Online Published Date:
29 July 2005
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768 - 29 July 2005