July 2015/4

Share price data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers

The Insider 30 index remained essentially flat last week, falling a mere 0.07 percent, as the second quarter reporting season begun.

The UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is considering imposing fixed-fee recoveries for claimant solicitors pursuing noise-induced hearing loss claims against insurers.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)'s stress test for insurers doesn't go far enough in showing how carriers will cope with extreme scenarios, according to Hiscox chairman Robert Childs.

The long-awaited UK Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 could finally be ready to come into force after years of delays, The Insurance Insider understands.

A ship owner has appealed a court decision that allowed 10 Lloyd's insurers to allege that it deliberately scuttled its own ship.

A UK court has allowed motor syndicate ERS to amend a policy after rival insurer Axa tried to claim it should have been liable for a £4.6mn car crash.

International broker Arthur J Gallagher is suing one of its former employees and his new employer Portsoken after data was allegedly stolen and passed on to the rival intermediary.

Average rates for US commercial directors' and officers' (D&O) insurance across total programmes were down 3.9 percent in the second quarter, according to broker Marsh.

The softening market for US commercial property insurance "accelerated dramatically" after 1 April, according to Marsh's US property practice leader Duncan Ellis.

Although Marsh suggested it is too early to evaluate the impact of the proposed Ace acquisition of Chubb on the US casualty market, the firm did highlight specific areas likely to be affected, including workers' compensation.

The US casualty insurance has continued to soften in the second quarter of 2015, with previously challenging risks increasingly easy to place, according to Steve Kempsey of Marsh.