BoE warns insurers are being ‘optimistic’ in Covid-19 estimates November 13, 2020 Insurers risk being optimistic in estimating losses from Covid-19 related claims and should stress-test their underlying assumptions, the Bank of England has warned. In a letter to insurers today, the BoE set out its findings from a review across the general insurance sector on reserving, managing exposures and dealing with uncertainty over contracts in light [...]
Taxpayers to bear brunt as lenders hike interest rates on emergency loans November 1, 2020 Taxpayers are bearing the brunt of hefty interest rates and arrangement fees charged by lenders providing emergency loans for struggling businesses. The Sunday Times reported that some specialist lenders are charging fees as high as five per cent of the whole loan, and in some cases charging interest rates as high as 15 per cent. [...]
Covid-19 could be the largest insured loss in history. How can the insurance industry adapt? September 1, 2020 Covid-19 has us all living through a live, catastrophic event. It is dramatic but makes the non-life insurance world a fascinating place to be. There will be significant insured losses from Covid-19 with obvious examples of the Olympics being postponed, Wimbledon and other sporting events being cancelled, and hundreds of thousands of travel insurance claims [...]
Could group action claims explode in post-coronavirus crisis litigation boom? May 7, 2020 Lawyers and litigation funders are increasingly looking at group action lawsuits in England and Wales as a way of holding major companies to account. After the last financial crisis litigation spiked as contractual counterparties fell out and consumers and shareholders pursued banks for wrongdoing. The litigation landscape in the English legal system has changed over [...]
Insurer RSA posts double-digit profit rise but expects £25m coronavirus hit May 7, 2020 FTSE 100 insurer RSA today said it expected its exposure from the coronavirus pandemic to total around £25m, with claims coming from travel, wedding and event cancellation insurance. The home, motor and commercial insurer had received around 25,000 claims on which it would pay out, of which around 23,000 were travel claims, it said in [...]
Keir Starmer hits out at ‘return of Tory sleaze’ over Greensill scandal April 14, 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of overseeing a “return of Tory sleaze” over the Greensill Capital lobbying scandal. Starmer told MPs today that the government needed to “overhaul the whole broken [lobbying] system”, while also calling for a full Westminster-led inquiry into Greensill Capital’s links with ministers. Labour is introducing an [...]
Videndum: Hollywood writers strike calls ‘cut’ on camera gizmo firm’s bottom line April 23, 2024 The 148 day-long strike is the second longest in the history of the Writers Guild of America
Government-backed coronavirus lending tops £50bn August 4, 2020 Banks have now lent £50.7bn to companies through the various government-backed coronavirus loan schemes, official figures showed today. By far the biggest programme is the bounce back loans scheme (BBLS), which had seen banks lend out £34.34 to small businesses as of yesterday, the Treasury said. It comes with a 100 per cent government guarantee [...]
Wetherspoon slams ‘baffling’ Covid-19 restrictions as sales slump November 11, 2020 JD Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin this morning slammed “baffling” coronavirus rules, as the pub chain reported a sharp drop in sales due to tightening restrictions. The company, which also revealed it had accepted a £48.3m government-backed loan during the crisis, said sales in the 15 weeks to 8 November plunged 27.6 per cent. Sales had [...]
Mansion House reforms could deliver ‘huge benefit’ to UK, says pensions giant finance chief March 22, 2024 "If the rules and regulations allow us to change that that could be a huge benefit. What we're working on, is how do we actually facilitate and make this happen?"