Insurance UK

  • February 12, 2025

    UK Annuity Sales Hit Record After Pension-Freedom Reforms

    Pension annuity sales in Britain reached £7 billion ($8.7 billion) in 2024, figures published Wednesday by the Association of British Insurers show, marking a 34% increase on the previous year.

  • February 12, 2025

    Financial Ombudsman's Sudden Exit Draws MP Scrutiny

    A cross-party group of MPs is scrutinizing the sudden and unexplained resignation of the chief executive of Britain's Financial Ombudsman Service after failing to get answers from the body's board.

  • February 12, 2025

    Watchdog Warns Pension Providers Over Climate Lethargy

    The U.K. retirement savings watchdog issued a warning to pension providers Wednesday after campaigners found the sector to be dragging its heels on climate action.

  • February 12, 2025

    Pension Holders OK With AI Customer Support, Survey Shows

    U.K. retirement savers are amenable to the use of artificial intelligence in customer services for pension provision, citing AI's advantages of round-the-clock availability, automation and improved accuracy, a study has found.

  • February 12, 2025

    QIC Denies COVID Cover For Franco Manca Owner

    QIC Europe Ltd. has argued that it is not obliged to cover alleged losses sustained by the owner of a restaurant chain after it temporarily closed sites at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic because there were no cases of the virus "within the immediate vicinity" of the premises.

  • February 12, 2025

    Gowling Steers £250M Pension Deal For Machinery Co.

    A U.K. machinery dealership has passed £250 million ($311 million) of its pension liabilities to Standard Life, the insurer said Wednesday, in a deal advised by law firm Gowling WLG.

  • February 11, 2025

    Audit Watchdog Signals More Support For Stewardship Code

    Britain's audit watchdog on Tuesday said there are now 297 companies signed up to its stewardship code as it looks to finalize the latest iteration of the regime for investors this year.

  • February 11, 2025

    Insurers Ask EU Watchdog To Ease Up On Mass-Lapse Cover

    Europe's insurance federation has warned the European Union's industry regulator to refrain from applying overly rigid requirements on reinsurance protection for insurers if many policyholders cancel cover quickly.

  • February 11, 2025

    Pension Providers Step Up Illiquid Investments In UK

    The largest defined contribution pension providers are aiming to allocate up to 40% of their illiquid portfolios to U.K. assets, a consultancy said Monday, after years of pressure from the government to encourage more domestic investment in long-term projects.

  • February 11, 2025

    Gender Pension Gap Set To Keep Rising, Analysts Predict

    Some 23% of men aged 16 and above are actively contributing to their work-place defined contribution pension plans, compared with only 19% of women, a financial services consultancy said Tuesday, adding to fears that the retirement savings gap between the genders is growing.

  • February 11, 2025

    Pension Schemes 'Healthier' Since 2022 Bond Crisis

    More than half of the pension schemes in Britain are likely to "run on" because of improvements in funding since the liquidity crisis caused by a bond market crash three years ago, a professional services company has said.

  • February 10, 2025

    Haulage Co. Seeks To Shift Crane Damage Liability To Insurer

    A British haulage company has said that its insurer must pay out to cover £1.26 million (£1.56 million) claimed by the owner of a property in an Essex industrial estate if it is found liable for damage caused by a crane one of its employees operated.

  • February 10, 2025

    Gov't Prompted To Prioritize Fighting Economic Crime

    The U.K. government was urged by a financial services group on Monday to spend more on fighting economic crime and to require that tech companies contribute to fraud reimbursement.

  • February 10, 2025

    Pension Deal Adviser Isio Buys Rival Broking Specialist

    Pension advisory business Isio Group Ltd. has formally confirmed its acquisition of rival insurance and risk settlement specialist K3 Advisory Ltd. for an undisclosed fee.

  • February 10, 2025

    Gov't Introduces Reforms To UK Terrorism Reinsurer

    The government rubber-stamped a deal with the U.K.'s state-backed terrorism reinsurer on Monday that it said will minimize the risk to the taxpayer of any future loss.

  • February 10, 2025

    BoE Sets Out Pro-Growth Priorities For Finance Infrastructure

    The Bank of England this year will focus on regulating financial market infrastructures to help underpin growth, as it benefits from technology such as artificial intelligence, a senior BoE official said Monday.

  • February 10, 2025

    Ombudsman To Charge Claims Firms For Dispute Referrals

    The Financial Ombudsman Service has said that it will impose a charge on claims companies for referring disputes as it attempts to deal with a surging caseload.

  • February 10, 2025

    Direct Line Directors Back £3.7B Aviva Acquisition Deal

    The directors of Direct Line Insurance Group PLC said Monday that they unanimously recommend that shareholders back the £3.7 billion ($4.6 million) cash and stock takeover offer tabled by Aviva.

  • February 07, 2025

    FCA Doubles Withdrawals, Changes To Misleading Ads In 2024

    The Financial Conduct Authority said Friday its interventions led to authorized businesses withdrawing or amending 19,766 misleading advertisements in 2024 — up from 10,008 the previous year.

  • February 07, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen Investec Bank PLC sue two diamond tycoons, London florist Nikki Tibbles file a claim against an "imitator company," a direct descendant of the Cartier family launch a claim, and a Coronation Street actor hit footballer Joe Bunney with a defamation claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • February 07, 2025

    Blowback From Name And Shame Plan Hurts FCA Credibility

    An embarrassing rebuke for the City watchdog's controversial proposal to "name and shame" companies under investigation for financial misconduct at an early stage has undermined its regulatory credibility as well as efforts to boost London's competitiveness as a financial center.

  • February 07, 2025

    Goldman-Backed Clear Expands In Ireland With Broker Buy

    Insurance broker Clear Group has said it has bought Phelan Caswell Insurances Ltd. to broaden its footprint in the Irish market — following a string of other purchases by the U.K. company.

  • February 07, 2025

    EU Finance Watchdog Seeks Ways To Ease Reporting Burden

    The European Securities and Markets Authority unveiled plans on Friday to streamline and reduce the reporting burden for the financial sector as it aims to cut down on costs and complexity.

  • February 07, 2025

    Pension Plans Urged To Eye Bulk Annuity Sustainability

    The U.K. retirement savings watchdog has told pension trustees to weigh sustainability guidelines when they enter into a bulk annuity deal.

  • February 07, 2025

    Clifford Chance Helps L&G Sell US Insurance Biz For $2.3B

    Legal & General said Friday that it will sell its U.S. protection insurance business to Meiji Yasuda, a Japanese insurer, for $2.3 billion in cash in a move to grow its pensions risk transfer business and allow it to reward shareholders.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 Brexit Scenarios And Their Implications For US-UK Trade

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    Brexit negotiations are likely to result in one of three scenarios later this month: a Brexit deal, no Brexit at all or a "hard" no-deal Brexit. Each possibility will have different implications for the prospects of a U.S.-U.K. free trade agreement, says Dean Pinkert of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP.

  • Frustrating Events: Are Your Contracts Brexit-Proof?

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    In Canary Wharf v. European Medicines Agency, the U.K. High Court recently ruled that the U.K.'s withdrawal from the European Union will not discharge the EMA's lease obligations. Following Brexit, most similar arguments invoking force majeure or frustration are unlikely to succeed, say Rebecca Dipple and Wayne Hofer of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

  • Simple Secrets For Writing A Killer Brief

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    These days, the legal profession offers meager opportunity for oral argument, so we need to focus on being better, brighter, tighter writers. And the key to writing a better brief is grabbing your judge's attention with a persuasive, well-crafted story, says Daniel Karon of Karon LLC.

  • What 2019 Has In Store For UK Data Protection

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    Many of the big data protection compliance themes of 2018 will continue on this year, including even General Data Protection Regulation preparation, but the possibility of a no-deal Brexit may complicate matters, says Stewart Room of PwC LLP.

  • Opinion

    Brexit International Arbitration Clause Is Misunderstood

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    Much of the criticism aimed at the international arbitration clause in the recent Brexit withdrawal agreement unfairly identifies a perceived lack of transparency and appears to be based on a lack of understanding about the process, says Margarita Michael of O'Melveny & Myers LLP.

  • The Lawyer's Daily

    How To Requalify As A Lawyer In Canada

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    Becoming a lawyer in Canada is a challenging experience for foreign qualified lawyers. In addition to the bar exam, hurdles include obtaining certification from the National Committee on Accreditation, and complications from moving to Canada halfway through the process, says Kyle Abrey, in-house counsel at the Royal Bank of Canada.

  • Legal Technology Is Likely To Flourish In The UK

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    The U.K. may soon surpass the U.S. in legal technology, thanks to regulatory reform, law firm investment and an entrepreneurial environment, says Bridget Deiters of InCloudCounsel.

  • Opinion

    Legal Operations Teams Are Gaining Popularity In EU

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    As the European and global economies continue to change, any legal department that does not want to get outflanked by faster, more agile competitors should consider the value that legal operations teams have to offer, says Hans Albers, president of the Association of Corporate Counsel Europe.

  • Why Proper Document Redaction May Be An Ethical Duty

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    Paul Manafort's attorneys recently filed a court document containing incompletely redacted information, highlighting the need for attorneys to become competent at redaction — or at least at verifying that redaction has been performed correctly. Failure to do either could be construed as legal malpractice, says Byeongsook Seo of Snell & Wilmer LLP.

  • Why The Flood Of GDPR Litigation Has Been Delayed

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    Eight months into the General Data Protection Regulation regime, we have not yet seen the expected deluge of U.K. class actions, but be warned — the floodgates will not remain closed, says Bryony Hurst of Bird & Bird LLP.

  • Opinion

    Law Schools Should Be More Like Medical Centers

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    Medical centers and their faculty matter to the practice of medicine. Law schools and their faculty do not matter to the practice of law, says J.B. Heaton of J.B. Heaton PC.

  • Opinion

    Courts Are Getting It Right On Litigation Funding Discovery

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    Earlier this month, a California federal court denied discovery into the identification of third-party funders with a financial interest in the outcome of an underlying patent infringement action. This decision in MLC v. Micron follows a long line of well-reasoned precedent across U.S. federal courts, say Matthew Harrison and Sarah Jacobson of Bentham IMF.

  • Worldwide Freezing Orders Can Backfire Without Proper Care

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    Worldwide freezing orders, which preserve a respondent's assets until the outcome of the substantive case, are an important weapon in the arsenal of a commercial litigant. However, as FSDEA v. Dos Santos demonstrates, courts lay heavy obligations upon WFO applicants, says Nicola McKinney of Grosvenor Law Ltd.

  • UK Litigation And Guidance Highlight Cybersecurity Risk

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    Recent developments in the United Kingdom emphasize the importance of companies implementing cybersecurity measures proactively both to prevent incidents and to argue in mitigation when, not if, the company does suffer a data breach, say Guillermo Christensen of Ice Miller LLP and Anupreet Amole of Brown Rudnick LLP.

  • 2 BVI Cases Explore Scope Of Proper Purpose Test

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    Two recent cases in the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal have presented British Virgin Island courts an opportunity to develop a local jurisprudence regarding the BVI Business Companies Act and provide guidance on how the proper purpose test is to be applied, says Rosalind Nicholson of Walkers Global.

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