Source: Business Insurance

Matthew Lerner September 30, 2019 MS Amlin PLC will pull out of nine classes of business as it reorganizes its underwriting operations, the Lloyd’s of London insurer said in a statement Monday. Discontinued operations and lines include U.K. corporate property, real estate, casualty, package binders and fleet business, aviation, international bloodstock, U.K. yacht and its AUA Insolvency Risk Services, the statement said. MS Amlin said the dropped lines will “trade as normal” as it seeks long-term solutions for each of them, the statement said. The insurer and reinsurer said it will focus on “high-value” reinsurance, led by CEO Chris Beazley and Chief Underwriting Officer Dominic Peters, the statement said. MS Amlin will also create a specialty insurance business by combining its marine and property/casualty international platforms headed by CEO Tom Clementi and Co-Chief Underwriting Officers Andrew Wright and Mark Clements, the statement said. The insurer and reinsurer said it would also “selectively operate domestic specialty markets in European commercial insurance,” headed up by Rudy Benmeridja, interim CEO and chief underwriting officer.

Source: Business Insurance

Judy Greenwald October 01, 2019 A dramatic cutback in limits is leaving wholesalers scrambling to fill excess and surplus lines programs for policyholders who face higher rates in a hardening market. While property lines were hit first and hardest due to hurricane activity over the past two years, casualty insurance buyers are also feeling the effect of the hardening market, say observers, who point to higher jury awards as a major factor. Executives meeting at the Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association’s Annual Marketplace in San Diego last week generally said they expect the market will remain hard for at least the next 18 months.

Source: Business Insurance

September 26, 2019 (Reuters) — A series of cyberattacks on Airbus in the past few months were conducted via the computer systems of its suppliers and contractors and security sources suspect a link to China, AFP news agency reported on Thursday. Airbus, the world’s second-largest aerospace group, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. China has repeatedly denied involvement in hacking and neither the foreign ministry nor China’s official cyber regulator responded to requests for comment on the report. Airbus said last January that a cyberattack on its systems had resulted in a data breach. Last year, U.S. prosecutors said Chinese intelligence officers and hackers stole information about a jet engine being developed by firms who supply Airbus as well as its U.S. rival Boeing.

Source: Business Insurance

September 27, 2019 Insurers in Bermuda have started making payouts after receiving hundreds of claims for damage caused by hurricane Humberto, which hit the island on Sep. 18, The Royal Gazette reported. So far, three insurers have received nearly 600 claims related to the hurricane.

Source: Business Insurance

September 27, 2019 Aon Securities Inc. said that the collateralized insurance and reinsurance sidecar market is expected to remain active through the rest of the year, as sponsors look for investors and capital to support capacity needs, Artemis reports. Aon also said that structural changes to sidecars may also be seen, “to help strengthen the participation of the capital markets in sidecar transactions going forward, while maintaining benefit of the product for sponsors,” in the wake of the recent major catastrophe losses.

Source: Business Insurance

September 27, 2019 Brexit continues taking a toll on London’s finance industry and putting firms on the verge of moving thousands of jobs and possibly $1.24 trillion of assets out of the European financial hub, South China Morning Post reported citing Bloomberg. Catherine McGuinness, chairwoman of the policy and resources committee at the City of London Corp., said that the city could lose some European Union-facing business.

Source: Business Insurance

September 27, 2019 An investigation by Malaysian airline Malindo Airways Sdn Berhad into a data breach that leaked the personal details of nearly 35 million customers found that two former employees of its e-commerce services provider had stolen the data, The Phnom Penh Post reports citing The Jakarta Post. The employees worked at the Indian development center of Malaysia’s GoQuo Sdn Berhad, and had improperly accessed and stolen the data. Malindo Airways is a subsidiary of Lion Air Group.

Source: Business Insurance

September 25, 2019 (Reuters) — Boeing Co. has settled the first claims stemming from the crash of a Lion Air 737 MAX in Indonesia, a U.S. plaintiffs’ lawyer said, and three other sources said that families of those killed will receive at least $1.2 million apiece. Floyd Wisner of Wisner Law Firm said he has settled 11 of his 17 claims against Boeing on behalf of families who lost their relatives when a brand-new MAX crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29 soon after take-off, killing all 189 aboard. Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe declined comment. Boeing did not admit liability in its 11 settlements, Wisner said. The claims are the first to be settled out of some 55 lawsuits against Boeing in U.S. federal court in Chicago and could set the bar for mediation talks by other Lion Air plaintiffs’ lawyers that are scheduled through next month, three people familiar with the matter said. The three people familiar with the matter said families of Lion Air victims, who were nearly all from Indonesia, are set to receive at least $1.2 million each. That amount would be for a single victim without any dependents. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are confidential.

Source: Business Insurance

September 25, 2019 Ford Motor Co. has recalled around 322,000 cars in Europe for potential fire risk, Automotive News Europe reported citing Reuters. The recall affects Mondeo, S-Max and Galaxy vehicles built between February 2014 and February 2019. The recall includes 101,000 vehicles in Germany, 56,000 cars in the United Kingdom and the remainder in the company’s key European markets.

Source: Business Insurance

September 25, 2019 Lloyd’s of London has launched parametric profit protection insurance for the hotel industry to provide coverage against any revenue-impacting event, Artemis reports. The insurance policy does not require a named peril qualifier, and instead will be payout for events that affect a hotel and create a pre-defined gap between actual and expected profits.