UK Car Insurance Premiums Expected to Be Volatile in 2022: Survey

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Car insurance: The cost of a comprehensive car insurance policy in Britain is expected to be volatile this year, after rising 5% in the final quarter of 2021 as more drivers took to roads on easing COVID-19 curbs, a survey showed on Wednesday.

Motorists now have to pay 539 pounds ($734.06) on average for their comprehensive car insurance premiums, according to the latest index from price comparison site Confused.com in association with insurance broker Willis Towers Watson.

Car insurance premiums had fallen for 12 months through to the autumn of 2021 as lockdowns kept motorists off the roads and competition in the UK car insurance industry intensified.

Prices are expected to inflate even further over the coming months as the pandemic has heightened issues related to Brexit, Confused.com Chief Executive Louise O’Shea said in a statement.

More volatility is expected with insurers competing to maintain margins as they adjust to the new fair pricing rules, said Tim Rourke, the UK Head of P&C Pricing, Product, Claims and Underwriting at Willis Towers Watson.

Britain’s financial regulator in May had said it would move to protect consumers from so-called loyalty penalties in motor and home insurance, potentially saving an estimated 4.2 billion pounds over 10 years.

“How insurers respond to the new rules through pricing and product strategy will determine just how turbulent the next few months become,” Rourke said.

West Central London remains the most expensive place in the UK to buy car insurance, with an average premium of 1,079 pounds according to the survey, while Llandrindod Wells in Wales offers the cheapest ones at an average of 326 pounds.

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High Street Acquires Michigan-Based Hershey

 

High Street Insurance Partners announced its December acquisition of Hershey Insurance Agency, a full-service insurance firm based in Troy, Michigan.

Founded in 1979, Hershey offers personal insurance, business insurance and group benefits.

This acquisition is one of 17 finalized in December for Traverse City, Michigan-based HSIP. in terms of acquisitions. HSIP has acquired 97 agencies in just three years. The firm has a geographical footprint that includes 23 states.

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Marsh McLennan Mercer Sells Association Business to Affinity Agency

Association Member Benefits Advisors (AMBA), a national affinity-based membership and marketing insurance agency, has agreed to acquire the associations business of Mercer, a business of Marsh McLennan.

Mercer’s association benefits business, Mercer Affinity, includes insurance marketing, distribution and administration services to association groups such as retired teachers, educators, credit unions and public employees across the U.S. Befits offered include medical, life and dental as well as professional and small business coverages.

Steve Cardinal, CEO of AMBA, said this planned agreement will broaden the product offerings and enhance carrier relationships for his Austin, Texas-based agency.

“Joining forces with AMBA, a dominant player in affinity-based marketing and an essential partner to its association clients, will allow both our clients and our colleagues to reach their full potential,” said Ed Lehman, Mercer U.S. Health Business leader.

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Texas Rabbi Relied on Security Training in Hostage Standoff

 

U.S. and British authorities Monday continued an investigation into the weekend standoff at a Texas synagogue that ended with an armed British national dead and a rabbi crediting past security training for getting him and three members of his congregation out safely.

Authorities identified the hostage-taker as a 44-year-old British national, Malik Faisal Akram, who was killed Saturday night after the last hostages ran out of Congregation Beth Israel around 9 p.m. The FBI said there was no early indication that anyone else was involved, but it had not provided a possible motive.

The investigation stretched to England, where late Sunday police in Manchester announced that two teenagers were in custody in connection with the standoff. Greater Manchester Police tweeted that counter-terrorism officers had made the arrests but did not say whether the pair faced any charges.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said security training at his suburban Fort Worth congregation over the years is what allowed him and the other three hostages to make it through the 10-hour ordeal, which he described as traumatic.

“In the last hour of our hostage crisis, the gunman became increasingly belligerent and threatening,” Cytron-Walker said in a statement. “Without the instruction we received, we would not have been prepared to act and flee when the situation presented itself.”

Video of the standoff end from Dallas TV station WFAA showed people running out a door of the synagogue, and then a man holding a gun opening the same door just seconds later before he turned around and closed it. Moments later, several shots and then an explosion could be heard.

Authorities have declined to say who shot Akram, saying it was still under investigation.

Akram could be heard ranting on a Facebook livestream of the services and demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda who was convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden called the episode an act of terror. Speaking to reporters in Philadelphia on Sunday, Biden said Akram allegedly purchased a weapon on the streets.

Federal investigators believe Akram purchased the handgun used in the hostage taking in a private sale, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Akram arrived in the U.S. at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York about two weeks ago, a law enforcement official said.

Akram arrived in the U.S. recently on a tourist visa from Great Britain, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not intended to be public. London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement that its counter-terrorism police were liaising with U.S. authorities about the incident.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno had said Saturday night that the hostage-taker was specifically focused on an issue not directly connected to the Jewish community. It wasn’t clear why Akram chose the synagogue, though the prison where Siddiqui is serving her sentence is in nearby Fort Worth.

On Sunday night, the FBI issued a statement calling the ordeal “a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted.” The agency said the Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating.

Michael Finfer, the president of the congregation, said in a statement “there was a one in a million chance that the gunman picked our congregation.”

Akram used his phone during the course of negotiations to communicate with people other than law enforcement, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Multiple people heard the hostage-taker refer to Siddiqui as his “sister” on the livestream. But John Floyd, board chair for the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations _ the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group _ said Siddiqui’s brother, Mohammad Siddiqui, was not involved.

Texas resident Victoria Francis, who said she watched about an hour of the livestream, said she heard the man rant against America and claim he had a bomb. Biden said there were apparently no explosives, despite the threats.

“He was just all over the map. He was pretty irritated and the more irritated he got, he’d make more threats, like `I’m the guy with the bomb. If you make a mistake, this is all on you.’ And he’d laugh at that,” Francis said. “He was clearly in extreme distress.”

Colleyville, a community of about 26,000 people, is about 15 miles (23 kilometers) northeast of Fort Worth. Reached outside his home Sunday, Cytron-Walker declined to speak at length about the episode. “It’s a little overwhelming as you can imagine. It was not fun yesterday,” he told the AP.

Andrew Marc Paley, a Dallas rabbi who was called to the scene to help families and hostages upon their release, said Cytron-Walker acted as a calm and comforting presence. The first hostage was released shortly after 5 p.m. That was around the time food was delivered to those inside the synagogue, but Paley said he did not know if it was part of the negotiations.

Cytron-Walker said his congregation had received training from local authorities and the Secure Community Network, which was founded in 2004 by a coalition of Jewish organizations and describes itself as “the official safety and security organization” of the Jewish community in North America. Michael Masters, the CEO of the organization, said the congregation had provided security training in August and had not been previously aware of Akram.

The standoff led authorities to tighten security in other places, including New York City, where police said that they increased their presence “at key Jewish institutions” out of an abundance of caution.

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Risk Strategies Acquires Burke Insurance Group in New Mexico

January 19, 2022

Risk Strategies acquired Burke Insurance Group LLC, a New Mexico-based commercial retail insurance agency.

The acquisition marks Risk Strategies’ first entry in New Mexico.

Headquartered in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Burke Insurance Group was formed in 1980 by its founder, Will Burke. The agency specializes in the surety bond, construction and oil and gasoline sectors in the New Mexico and West Texas region.

Risk Strategies is a specialty national insurance brokerage and risk management firm offering risk management advice and insurance and reinsurance placement for property/casualty, employee benefits, and private client services risks.

Source : https://www.insurancejournal.com/

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