This week in Post: Back to business

In London, where the Post team is based, the tubes have once again become an intolerable crush; trains are delayed and cancelled past the point of no return; and buses and lifts may well be groaning under the weight of passengers laden with a little extra padding, having consumed what feels like a few hundred mince pies and twenty boxes of Celebrations/Roses/Heroes (delete as appropriate) after partying like it’s August 1995.

Ah yes, welcome back.

At least staff at the Financial Conduct Authority seem to have returned with a renewed vigour.

This week the regulator unveiled reforms to become highly data driven, threatened to crack the whip on misconduct, and told retail insurer boards they should be taking action to address several “significant” key risks of harm.

The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority also flexed its muscles, ordering motor-heavy insurer Gefion to correct an error in its annual report.

And one imagines the Information Commissioner’s Office will be keeping an eye on the situation at Travelex, in the wake of a ransomware attack against the foreign exchange currency provider.

Also in the news, Thomas Cook’s collapse has driven bad debt claims to record levels, the Association of British Insurers has said.

Specialist Lloyd’s player Neon Underwriting was placed into run-off by its American owners. Neon’s closure is one in a series of shutterings in the market in recent months.

And over in Australia, insured bushfire loss estimates have continued to ramp up as disaster blazes continue to threaten lives, property and livelihoods.

In people moves, Amanda Blanc has taken on the non-executive chair role at Rightindem; Peter Bole jumps into the chief financial officer role at Esure, while former Neon production and distribution director Martin Kelsh is headed to HW Wood.

Can you replace a Rolex? This was the question posed by Alex Wakeman in his blog. Meanwhile Laura Drabik argued that insurtechs aren’t about to eat your lunch, but they will pull up a seat at the table.

In c-suite, Zurich’s David Nichols argued more needs to be done to raise awareness of flood terminology, while an overhaul of the flood resilience grant scheme is needed.

Sian Fisher, Chartered Insurance Institute CEO, took a look at how the past can help predict the future.

Have a good weekend, all, and, particularly if you’re buzzing to be back to work, don’t forget to take part in Post’s Best Insurance Employer research; the clock is ticking.

Jen Frost
News editor, Insurance Post
@JenInsurance