The latest figures on insurance fraud from the ABI show a rise on last year, when 122,000 fraudulent claims were detected each week – worth a total value of £840million – a 14 per cent rise on 2008 figures.

Of the record high number of insurance claims – worth more than £16million – car insurance fraud accounted for the highest value, worth around £140million.

False home insurance claims were the most prevalent, totalling 62,000 bogus or exaggerated claims.

By cost, the ABI calculated that four per cent of all insurance claims were fraudulent, twice as much as five years ago.

False personal injury claims also accounted for a significant proportion of the 8,500 dishonest liability claims that were detected by insurance companies.

Some of the false claims included a fractured hand which was supposedly caused when the claimant fell over a pothole but was actually the result of punching a wall following a domestic dispute.

Another customer claimed to have sustained injuries by tripping over a loose pavement, when they were actually a result of jumping down a flight of stairs to evade security guards following a suspected case of shoplifting.

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London (PRWeb UK) July 5, 2010 — Search volumes for travel-related insurance since January have increased from 896,000 to 932,000, reveals the ‘Insurance Sector Report April 2010‘, the latest research from Greenlight, the UK’s leading independent specialist search engine optimization (SEO) and pay per click (PPC) consulting firm. Indeed MoneySupermarket* stated it saw a 27% increase in traffic to its website between 15-20 April. Due to the recent effects of the volcanic ash cloud on global travel, consumers were looking for travel insurance, particularly ‘premium’ policies which offer more comprehensive cover. By contrast, searches for home insurance products dropped from 1.3 million to 476,000.

Greenlight used industry data to classify 720 of the most popular search terms used by UK consumers when they used Google to look for providers of home, travel and car insurance. Greenlight also analysed natural search rankings on Google to assess which insurance providers and aggregator sites were positioned on page one for each term and produced a ranking of the top 60 most commonly appearing and prominent websites. For paid search, Greenlight monitored the advertisers appearing in the sponsored links for the top 90 of the 720 terms analysed.

Some key findings reveal:

• There were 3.1 million searches performed in April for insurance-related products, a month-on-month decrease since Greenlight’s January 2010 report, when search volume totaled 4.3 million;

• Car insurance-related terms accounted for 56% of searches followed by travel insurance (29%) and home insurance (15%);

• ‘Home insurance’ and ‘Contents insurance’ were the most popular search terms used when UK consumers went online to look for home insurance-related products. For travel, it was the terms ‘Travel insurance’ (39%), ‘Holiday insurance’ (8%) and ‘Cheap travel insurance’ (5%). For car insurance, ‘Car insurance’, ‘Cheap car insurance’ and ‘Car insurance quotes’ were the top three terms accounting for a share of 38%, 11% and 8%, respectively;

• MoneySupermarket was the most visible website in natural search and paid search. In natural search, it attained 84% share of voice through ranking at position one for 62 of the keywords analysed. It was followed by Confused.com and GoCompare, which achieved 64% and 40% visibility, respectively;

• In paid search, TescoFinance increased its visibility by 17% since January. It ascended Greenlight’s paid search league table from position 12 to six in April. AXAInsurance attained 18% visibility and ranked at position 12, having previously featured outside Greenlight’s top 60 advertisers in January;

• Of the top 10 advertisers in paid search, three were aggregators and seven were direct providers. This differs slightly to Greenlight’s natural search results where there was an equal split. According to Greenlight, this indicates that aggregators are spending more in the paid search space to effectively ‘buy’ visibility.

Please note: If you plan to run this story online, please link any references to Greenlight via the following:
http://www.greenlightsearch.com/sectorreports/

Notes to Editors:

*Source: MoneySupermarket (22/04/2010)

Greenlight is an independent specialist SEO and PPC consulting and technology firm, the largest of its kind in Europe and the fastest growing. With over 100 blue-chip clients including Vodafone UK, Thomas Cook, Interflora, Co-operative Financial Services and ghd, and a multitude of awards to its name, Greenlight is a leader in the search marketing space, and is recognised worldwide for its commitment to delivering record ROI for its clients and investing in the future of search.

In addition, Greenlight is considered the premier thought leader in the sector, publishing widely read industry reports, original research, speaking at most trade events, and delivering a highly respected search training programme in conjunction with the IDM. Greenlight was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in London, with offices in New York. http://www.greenlightsearch.com

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://uk.prweb.com/releases/Greenlight/travel-insurance/prweb4224334.htm

Truro, Cornwall (PRWEB) May 29, 2010 — Andy Grossey and Joff von Tyszka have recently joined the South West-based company and will look after Members across the county, boosting the insurer’s presence in Somerset.

Cornish Mutual, which has offices in Exeter and Truro, now has a team of four Insurance Inspectors in Somerset and is looking to increase its business, build its membership and raise more awareness of the company’s work there.

Andy (42) is based in Ilminster and looks after East Somerset including areas such as Yeovil, Somerton, Langport and Chard, as well as most of the A303 corridor. He also runs a mixed 80-acre farm with 2,500 pigs and around 30 pedigree Texel sheep.

Andy has worked in the farmers insurance sector in Somerset for more than 15 years and was previously linked with Cornish Mutual through his work as a loss adjuster handling agricultural claims. He has three young children (all young farmers) and enjoys showing his prize-winning sheep in his spare time.

Commenting on his role, Andy said, “Being a farmer gives me a real insight into the agricultural sector for my work with Cornish Mutual. As a result, I have a much better understanding of the needs of our Members. For me, the company is all about ’service’ and that’s what sets Cornish Mutual apart. It has a great ethos of putting its Members first and the whole business is geared around them.”

He added: “Meeting and working with our Members face-to-face is absolutely the best part of the job, it’s definitely not nine-to-five and I’ll often help them in the evenings and out-of-hours. Many farmers are busy during the day, so they appreciate the contact when it suits them. I really enjoy meeting new people and I’m looking forward to developing those relationships.”

Joff von Tyszka (42) is based in Taunton and looks after West and South West Somerset taking in Taunton up to Minehead and down to Tiverton. Andy and Joff previously worked together before joining Cornish Mutual. Joff, who is married with two young sons, has worked in the agricultural and commercial insurance sector for 25 years.

Joff said: “I want to help contribute to Cornish Mutual becoming the local, rural insurer of choice and the first choice for people in Somerset. Having local Insurance Inspectors on the ground makes a real difference and I think that Members appreciate having someone locally they know they can contact and rely on at anytime.

“A good reputation is built on recommendation and word-of-mouth and I think that’s why Cornish Mutual is so successful. Getting good service is pretty rare these days and generally if you find good service, you tend to stick with it so I’m confident we’ll be able to grow further into Somerset.”

Alan Goddard, Managing Director for Cornish Mutual added: “We’re really pleased to welcome Andy and Joff to the team - they’ve both worked at a senior level within the farm insurance industry for many years and bring a wealth of experience. Our Members are central to everything we do and I’ve every confidence Andy and Joff will further strengthen our existing team of local Insurance Inspectors in Somerset.”

For further information, please contact:
Mark Worden | Cornish Mutual | 01872 277151

Notes for editors:
Founded by a group of Westcountry farmers in 1903, Cornish Mutual is the only general insurer based in the South West. Even today, the company is still owned by its Members, and remains at the heart of rural communities throughout Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset.

Although staying true to its origins in agriculture (around two thirds of Cornwall’s farmers are Members), Cornish Mutual now provides household, buy to let property insurance, commercial, events, holiday home insurance and farm insurance to Members of all descriptions, living or working throughout the South West countryside.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/05/prweb4065984.htm

From 1 June, customers who are buying or renewing annual or single-trip policies from Aviva will be able to buy additional travel cover to protect against cancellation caused by airspace closure, or by an airport or port being closed for more than 24 hours from the date and time of scheduled departure.

Existing Aviva travel policyholders can buy the add-on during June only (although the cover will extend until the end of the policy) by calling 0800 051 3606 or visiting Aviva’s website, while new customers can buy it anytime.

The additional policy – which costs £5 per insured person for a single trip or £10 per person for annual insurance – provides cover of up to £5,000 per insured person in the event of cancellation for travel and accommodation costs (including deposits) that policyholders cannot recover from their travel provider.

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“Large and small shareholders have reservations about the price of this deal, although they don’t dispute the strategic logic,” said James Chappell, a financial services strategist at UK broker Olivetree Securities.

“Management will need to show how buying AIA will create more value for shareholders than spinning off lower growth businesses like the UK or U.S.”

Prudential has already started meetings with its largest investors in a final attempt to win over skeptics ahead of the issue of prospectuses for its $21 billion rights issue and Hong Kong and Singapore listings on or around May 5.

Under the deal, AIG will receive $10.5 billion in Prudential shares, while the UK insurer will also raise $5 billion in debt to round out its financing.

The takeover of AIA — AIG’s (AIG.N) Asian life insurance business — will make Prudential Asia’s biggest foreign insurer overnight, boosting its exposure to soaring demand across the region as growth slows in its home market.

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Staff were told on Friday that the jobs, including 200 posts in Enniskillen and Derrylin, must go to ensure the future of the business.

Michael McAteer from Grant Thornton says a trawl for volunteers will start almost immediately.

The company is now officially up for sale.

Mr McAteer said he is hopeful that the initial redundancies for almost 350 staff, will be reached voluntarily.

“We have asked people to come forward by May 19th, indicating whether they would be willing to take the voluntary package. The process is over a 12-15 month period, so time will help in that regard.

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Although airlines will refund or rebook flights, many passengers face the cost of hotel rooms and car hire that have not been taken up.

Some travel insurance policies are expected to pay out for these losses but others are not.

People are being urged to check the small print and contact their insurer.

“Travel insurance policies will differ in this situation,” said Nick Starling, of the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

“There is no standard set of conditions which applies to a situation of this kind. Therefore customers should check their travel insurance policy, and speak to their travel insurer to understand what their individual policy covers them for in this situation.”

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Paul Venables, Hays’ finance director, said the “last thing” the market wanted was additional taxes on employment.

His sentiments were echoed by Alan Bannatyne, finance director at Robert Walters. “Not so long ago, the UK was seen as the fourth most tax-friendly country in the world – now it’s the 84th according to a recent report,” he said. “From a business perspective that’s very scary.”

Both companies warned the jobs sector outside of London remained in recession, dampening hopes that the economic recovery had spread throughout the country.

Mr Venables added: “The main area of recovery in the UK has been in the banking market where we have incurred quite strong growth in the last three to six months.

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comparison tool for consumers.

London, UK (PRWEB) January 24, 2010 — Brite Insurance, the UK’s leading home insurance brokers, (http://www.briteinsurance.co.uk/) is pleased to announce the launch of a new home insurance price comparison tool for consumers.

Unlike other price comparison tools, however, only insurance providers with the best reputation in the industry for processing, supporting, and paying out on claims, are listed.

The result is a price comparison tool for home insurance that offers only the best insurance policies, rather than simply trying to get the cheapest quote from the whole of market.

According to Brite Insurance spokesman, Bob Taylor, “In the current recession it would be tempting to think that paying the lowest premium results in paying less for the same service. This absolutely is not true. Instead, saving just a few pounds to get the cheapest insurance quote can end up costing thousands of pounds if the insurance company will refuse to respect a claim made on a policy.

“With Brite Insurance we do not want any of our customers to suffer from that, so we only offer price comparison for the most outstanding insurance companies. The quotes will not be dear, but will not be likely to be the very cheapest on the market - but they are likely to be reliable and offer the best value for peace of mind.”

Brite Insurance is part of the Brite financial group, which is currently being developed to cover a comprehensive range of financial services, not least in loans, mortgages and insurance (http://www.brite.co.uk/). The launch of the home insurance comparison is intended as a start to a wider rollout across other finance products under the Brite brand name.

This is to augment the existing range of financial products, not least mortgages, loans, and insurance, already offered under the A1 brand (http://www.britecorp.com/brands/a1/).

Brite is continuing to develop additional online brands to offer specialist entry into financial services, covering general finance, insurance, investments, property, and loads. This also includes a specialist regional niche “highland” brand for the Scottish Highlands, as part of its aim to provide extensive online coverage for the market (http://www.britecorp.com/finance/).

Contact

Brian Turner
Brite Media
0845 4306430
pr(at)britemedia(dot)co(dot)uk
http://www.britemedia.co.uk/

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/01/prweb3508784.htm

(Vocus) January 19, 2010 — The latest proposal to tax large financial institutions is intended to send a message on record bonus compensation and the politically expedient need to recoup taxpayer funds, but ultimately, the pain will be borne by shareowners, CFA Institute said today.

“The taxes proposed are not surprising, given the government’s fiscal situation and the prevailing sentiment against Wall Street,” said James Allen (bio: www.cfainstitute.org/aboutus/press/expertlist/jimallen.html), CFA head of capital markets policy at CFA Institute. “But in the end shareowners pay it all. They’ve endured tremendous losses from the financial crisis, they’re about to feel the pain from record bonus costs, and next comes the latest weight of an additional ‘penalty’ tax. Once again, shareowners are left with the financial consequences of corporate actions without being able to influence the company board or its decision-making.”

Allen added, “The government’s interventions in 2009 were a significant, concerted effort to stem further losses to shareowners and debt-holders. However, we remain concerned that corporate management and boards are not appropriately accountable for their abysmal risk management and poor decisions.”

Even an income tax on bonus compensation awarded to managers will fall short of properly aligning incentives. CFA Institute believes that corporate managers will just seek higher payouts to reflect the lower after-tax payments, with shareowners again footing the bill. Investors demand the following protections:

• Shareowner access to proxy statements and improved corporate disclosure policies, which are key to reforming the system and avoiding similar crises. So far, little has been accomplished on the reform front.
• More clear information about how boards compensate corporate managers.
• Reasonable tools to change boards that fail in their stewardship responsibilities.

The SEC is proposing new rules on proxy access, which CFA Institute supports (read more at www.cfainstitute.org/centre/topics/compensation/index.html).

The CFA Institute Investor Update strives to give journalists the investor perspective on an issue-of-the-day. This new communication will come to you on a regular basis and will feature CFA Institute commentary on top regulatory, legislative, and market-making activities. Suggestions and follow up questions are welcome.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases///prweb3469694.htm