November 2010/5

Effective claims handling can be worth up to 10 percentage points on the combined ratio, according to Lloyd's head of claims Kent Chaplin.

Lloyd's has unveiled an overall positive boost to forecast returns for syndicates supported by third-party capital trading in 2008 and 2009.

Apollo-CVC consortium Achilles is targeting a minimum annual return of £100mn from its investment in Brit Insurance, the official offer document suggests.

Lloyd's insurer Jubilee will stop writing motor business in 2011, with Chartis subsidiary Ascot picking up the renewal rights.

Hardy shareholders are likely to receive less than 330p per share from the company's substantial share buyback programme if the Beazley takeover fails, according to Beazley Group CEO Andrew Horton.

Veteran London market property underwriter David Leathem is set to join Tom Corfield's team as it prepares to launch a £75mn Lloyd's syndicate for Scor in 2011, The Insurance Insider understands.

Tom Bolt, the self-effacing Texan who is head of Lloyd's underwriting standards, has seen his role change in the year since he joined the Society because of the enervating market conditions.

Stephen Catlin has called for the doors to be barred to new Lloyd's entrants next year as existing syndicates struggle with softening rates and overcapacity.

European industry supervisors have confirmed the (re)insurance sector's worst kept secret - the Solvency II go-live date has been moved back from Halloween 2012 to New Year's Day 2013.

The industry loss on the New Zealand earthquake has topped $3bn, triggering reinsurance derivatives bought after the Chilean quake, The Insurance Insider understands.

Companies will need to argue their case strongly to gain investor support for proposed acquisitions, despite the relatively modest prices of most insurance businesses.

Irish hopes of remaining a premier jurisdiction for international reinsurance have received a major boost with the EUR67.5bn European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout leaving its 12.5 percent corporation tax rate unchanged.