Business Insurance Group

Legal Services Board and ABI lock horns over referral fees

The Legal Services Board (LSB), which oversees the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales, has come out against a total ban on referral fees, preferring instead to prevent abuses in the system by strengthening transparency.

The decision marks the conclusion of an LSB review based on economic analysis, consumer research and advice from the Legal Services Consumer Panel.

The Board’s new guidance provides more flexibility to approved regulators in the sector, and requires regulators to make sure consumers know when referral fees are in operation, and to whom they are being paid. <

Full Post…

Vermont governor signs universal healthcare bill

New law designed to lead the state toward the nation’s first single-payer system

Vermont still has “a few challenges” ahead to meet its goal of a universal health care system this decade, Gov. Peter Shumlin said Thursday as he signed into law the bill designed to make the state the nation’s first with fully publicly funded health care.

More than 150 people, including legislators, administration officials, advocates who pushed for the bill and a handful of opponents gathered on the Statehouse steps as storm clouds threatened but gave way to humid sunshine.

“We gather here today to launch the first single-payer health care system in America, to do in Vermont what has taken too long — have a health care system that is the best in the world, that treats health care as a right and not a privilege, where health care follows the individual, isn’t required by an employer — that’s a huge jobs creator,” Shumlin said.

Among Vermont’s challenges: getting waivers from the federal government at a time when the U.S. House has come out st

Full Post…

Federal prosecutor nominated as N.J. insurance fraud prosecutor

Ronald Chillemi, a federal prosecutor in Camden and Newark, N.J., has been named the state’s insurance fraud prosecutor.

Gov. Chris Christie nominated the 43-year-old Bergen County resident, who served for just under nine years as an assistant U.S. attorney in both Camden and Newark, where he prosecuted a series of significant white-collar crime cases and successfully tried numerous jury trials, officials said. The nomination requires New Jersey Senate approval.

Chillemi will serve in an acting capacity until Senate action.

“Ron brings great energy and a wealth of investigative and prosecutorial experience to this position,” said Christie in a statement. “He h

Full Post…

Okla. Regulator Warns Residents About Risks of Leaving Children in Vehicles

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak warned the state’s residents on Thursday about the fatal dangers of leaving unattended children inside vehicles.

Doak said, “2010 was a record year for hyperthermia deaths of children in the United States, with 49 youngsters reportedly killed after being left in cars, according to the Department of Geosciences at California’s San Francisco State University.” He added, “Statistics show about 41 children die this way each year nationwide.”

Child-safety advocates at KidsANDCars.org advise that a child’s body temperature rises at a rate three to five times that of an adult, adding that a core temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit is considered fatal, with cell damage occurring and organs beginning to shut down. According to

Full Post…

ABI calls for end to UK’s “pain in the neck” culture

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is calling for a clampdown on the “pain in the neck” culture which it says has made the UK the whiplash capital of Europe.

With one in every 140 people claiming whiplash injuries a year, the ABI highlights the need for action as follows:

Nearly 1,200 whiplash claims are made every day in the UK; six times more than the number of people who claim for workplace-related injury every year.

The cost to the NHS of treating whiplash is estimated at £8 million a year.

Three-quarters of personal injury claims in the UK are for whiplash, more than elsewhere in Europe.

Insurers pay out nearly £2 billion a year in claims for whiplash.

Full Post…

Britons positive on pension auto-enrolment

Britons are viewing government plans for auto-enrolment in workplace pension schemes as positive, according to the Aviva Family Finances Report.

Research for the study reveals that 72% of UK family heads interviewed do not currently contribute to a workplace pension scheme, although nearly three-quarters of this group would be happy to join if their contributions were matched by their employer.

The most popular amount for employee contributions stood at 5%, which on a typical UK salary of £25,879 could amount to a pension pot of £252,438 over a 44-year working life (taking into account matched employer contributions, inflation and investment growth). <

Full Post…

Overseas Travel Insurance by Reliance

People travel abroad for many reasons and while staying there for a short period a proper medical insurance can buy peace of mind for the travellers. Health care system in foreign countries is not at all cheap and travellers who are planning their overseas journey should always add medical insurance coverage. Overseas medical insurance plans designed by Reliance General Insurance Company are popular among Indian travellers visiting abroad. The coverage of Reliance travel insurance plans is custom made to suit the different age groups of the travellers.

Reliance Overseas Travel Insurance can be accessed at EIndiainsurance to understand the differences between the plans as per the age group of the travellers.

Full Post…

Sword appoints sales and marketing director

Sword Insurance, which provides web-based product distribution solutions to the property and casualty insurance market, has appointed Philip Hodges as sales and marketing director.

Leading a team of professionals based in the UK, he joins Phil Race who became director of the group’s European division last year.

Mr Hodges moves from SunGard’s insurance division, where he was head of European sales, and according to his new employer “brings a wealth of IT experience relevant to the insurance market and a customer focused approach to both technology and sales”.

Earlier this month, Sword announced that FCCI Insurance Group had selected its AgencyPortal (with the Toolkit and AgencyConnect products) to launch a new transactional web system for agents.