Speaking at the Sesame Symposium, Iain Clark, managing director of protection at LV=, said that the sector is a long way from offering the easiest sales process that it should to customers.

He said: “”Where we are and where we need to be is a very big leap. We are very good at the virtues of policies like income protection or critical illness cover, but we are not very good at doing the second, third or fourth sale.

“We need to make it easier for consumers to buy that second or third product. We are overcomplicating things for the customer and they are afraid of making a mistake.”

He added: “We need to build the blocks up for customers.

Read more…

The property/casualty insurance industry has entered an “unusual” period, according to an analysis by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc.

In “2012 Outlook: Are We There Yet?” New York-based KBW notes that insurer capital remains plentiful and pricing is improving from the perspective of insurers, but that return on equity appears likely to decline.

“What is historically unusual is that this shift is occurring despite solid capital positions, which are allowing many leading players to buy back stock,” KBW said in the report dated Sunday.

The report’s authors said they believe the industry is reacting to “increasingly common ‘unusual’ large-loss events” and other pressures on earnings.

The report projects that rate increases will be moderate, not uniform and “not in any way a traditional hard market.” Well-positioned insurers might find such an environment to be “a boon, but for others, it simply won’t be enough,” said KBW.

Last month, KBW released an analysis of third-quarter property/casualty insurers saying that while pricing might be improving, underwriting results continue to be weak.

The 10-second ‘idents’ were broadcast at the beginning and end of each ad break on the hit ITV show.

They told the story of “Gary”, an Aviva customer who claimed on his insurance after a motorcycle accident, the injuries of which forced him to retrain for a new career.

Sponsorship idents are not technically classed as adverts and so cannot directly advertise products.

However, Ofcom ruled Aviva’s bumpers were advertisements rather than sponsorship messages, as one scene referred to the benefit of using an Aviva income protection policy.

“Credits must not encourage the purchase or rental of the products or services of the sponsor or a third party,” said Ofcom.

“The focus of the credit must be the sponsorship arrangement itself.”

Ofcom said the bumpers “amounted to an advertising message”, thereby breaking the rules.

The case referred to an episode in which main character Gary, whilst reading a sheet of paper, said “It is my insurance policy.

Read more…

(Reuters) – An insurance industry service that tracks catastrophe losses has sharply raised its estimates for August’s Hurricane Irene, projecting insured property damage of 4.3 billion from the first hurricane to hit the United States in three years.

Property Claim Services, which bases its estimates on confidential insurer surveys and its own database of houses across the country, raised its estimate by nearly 18 percent from its previous report in late September.

Irene caused substantial damage from the Carolinas through New England, prompting evacuations of parts of New York City. Read more…