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03 December 2008
Post Office home insurance offers 10% more at Christmas
Post Office home insurance has announced that it will bump up cover over Christmas to protect Christmas presents that usually add value to contents. In fact, throughout December, Post Office home insurance is increasing its contents cover by 10 per cent to ensure households are covered over the Christmas period. The cover extension is automatic and comes at no extra cost.
Post Office

02 December 2008
Government in crisis talks with credit insurers
The government has launched a series of crisis talks with the country’s leading credit insurers, the Financial Times has learnt, as concern mounts about the security of companies’ supply chains. Executives from the credit insurance industry met officials from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform last Friday to discuss a way to keep supply lines moving as credit lines dry up. Credit insurers provide cover for suppliers against the risk of the businesses they supply going bust and not being able to pay their bills.

02 December 2008
Nationwide expands insurance offering with LV=
Friendly society, Liverpool Victoria, is providing a new range of insurance products to Nationwide customers, under its LV= brand. Members of the UK’s biggest building society are now able to arrange car, small business and buy- to-let and property owners’ insurance, through the joint venture. Nationwide believes the partnership, which was formed in June of this year, will allow it to expand further in the insurance market, stressing that as both businesses are mutuals, owned by their members, customers’ needs will come first.
Liverpool Victoria ; Nationwide

02 December 2008
Queen's Speech 2008 - Preparing for the challenges of the future
Tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech 2008 is expected to contain several pieces of legislation of importance to the insurance industry and its customers, based on the draft legislative programme announced in May. In particular, the ABI is looking for developments on savings, flood prevention, banking reform, occupational health and equality.

01 December 2008
9 out of 10 tenants shun house insurance
Just nine per cent of Sheffield council tenants have insured the contents of their homes – 18 months after many had contents destroyed in the flood and despite a major campaign to encourage them to get covered. The figure was revealed after research by housing management company Sheffield Homes into the effect of the credit crunch on residents at its 42,000 properties.
Sheffield Homes

01 December 2008
AXA: Brits face £225bn insurance deficit
AXA has published a survey which shows that people in the UK could be facing a total insurance deficit of £225 billion because they underestimate the value of their household contents. The research shows that the UK's 24.9 million homeowners and tenants value their household possessions at £38,000 on average.
AXA

01 December 2008
FSA says advisers are falling short on MPPI disclosure
The FSA has issued further clarification on the Icob requirement around total premium disclosure for mortgage payment protection insurance after research found many firms disclosing only monthly premiums. Research by the regulator found some firms’ interpretation of total premium to be inconsistent with the FSA’s requirement, leaving consumers unable to "make an informed decision" when purchasing a policy.
Financial Services Authority (FSA)

01 December 2008
Insurance discounts linked to patient safety gains, research shows
Linking acute trusts' litigation insurance premiums to infection standards has delivered improvements in patient safety, research suggests. Since 2002, trusts have been given discounts if they meet infection risk management standards based on assessments every two years. A team from Nottingham, Oxford and Surrey universities found good performance against the NHS Litigation Authority standards was linked to lower MRSA rates.
Nottingham, Oxford and Surrey universities

01 December 2008
New service to help claim full compensation for lost luggage
Lostluggageclaims.com has launched a service to help travelers claim maximum compensation when their luggage is lost by their airline. 56,937,000 flights were taken by UK travelers last year and more than 16 passengers per 1,000 experienced delayed or lost luggage - almost 1 million people. The legal service is primarily aimed at the one in four travelers who holiday abroad without insurance.
Lostluggageclaims.com

28 November 2008
'At fault' drivers raising the cost of insurance policies
According to research, motorists who use rented cars, when their own motors have been involved in an accident, are likely to have on average £20 added to the price of their car insurance policies, according to the Swiss-based insurance firm, Zurich. The company claims that car insurance firms, provide the cars but then claim the costs back from the person ‘at fault’, in the accident. This provides a lower amount of incentives to keep the costs lower, which leads to bigger payouts by the insurance provider of the person ‘at fault’, thus leading to the policy holder having to pay higher insurance premiums.
Zurich

28 November 2008
Post Office releases unemployment insurance research
Most people do not have any form of unemployment insurance despite their fear of losing their job, the Post Office has found. In a new survey released today, the organisation said that 71 per cent of Brits do not hold this kind of insurance. This comes despite 50 per cent fearing that they will lose their jobs.
Post Office

27 November 2008
Nearly half of Britons go without protection insurance
Barclays has been researching the UK protection insurance market and has concluded that nearly one-half of British adults have no policies in place to cover events such as illness and redundancy. According to the survey 47% of UK adults have no protection insurance, while 52% are without life insurance. Seventy-five per cent of those questioned said they had no critical illness cover and 78% no income protection cover.
Barclays Financial Planning

27 November 2008
Sainsbury's Home Insurance: Insurance policies should be clearer
Sainsbury's Home Insurance has called for other insurance companies to make their household insurance policies clearer, saying customers are missing out on potentially huge savings. The supermarket's insurance company conducted research which revealed that 26 per cent of home insurance policies did not offer a no-claims bonus and 74 per cent of those which did offer no- claims discounts provided no details as to how customers were supposed to claim it.
Sainsbury's Home Insurance

26 November 2008
The best places to shop for car insurance
Do you get better or worse cover if you buy car insurance online? Article based on the figures in the Association of British Insurers' publication 'UK Insurance – Key Facts'.
Association of British Insurers (ABI)

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These news stories do not represent the Profession's views. They are collected using general website search techniques.