Category Archives: Insurance Services

Insurance Services

Confused.com Launches New YMCA Advert

Confused.com has announced that the well-loved 70’s disco anthem YMCA is the soundtrack to the latest advert “Con-Fused-Dot-Com” featuring animated logo Cara. The new thirty second advert, focusing on car insurance, launched on Sunday 22nd May, with its peak spot taking place during the new ITV1 drama Vera.

The new advert is once again voiced by Louise Dearman who plays the lead in the popular West End hit musical, Wicked. Animated and produced by Hornet, with musical arrangement from Speckulation entertainment, the advert will feature living logo Cara singing the catchy anthem before being joined by a lively backing group of animated singers and dancers. Previous adverts featuring Cara include covers versions of songs from Queen and Diana Ross.

Mike Hoban, marketing director at Confused.com, said: “Confused.com is the UK’s first price comparison site and this advert is an entertaining way to remind people how easily they can save money on household bills.

“The new series of adverts have been so successful that Confused.com has added more than 2 million customers since the campaign launched.”

In addition to this thirty second car insurance advert, a thirty second advert focusing on home insurance and a sixty second brand advert are also launching. The new thirty second car insurance “Con-Fused-Dot-Com” advert can be viewed on Cara Confuseds page now.

Confused.com is also unveiling a new thirty second London region only radio advert on 1st June. Fans of Cara can keep up to date with her on her Facebook and Twitter pages.

Via EPR Network
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LV= Launches My Car iPhone App

LV= has launched a new iPhone app for motorists called LV= My Car. It is a multi-utility application that features five clickable options for users to chose from including a car profile function, traffic maps, local info maps and for LV= customers only, an accident toolkit and call LV= tool. Each option takes the user to a separate page and offers a different service.

The car profile function allows users to input information about their own car to be stored on the app. Users can either enter their vehicle registration number whereby a third party provider will determine the exact car make/model (plus other information) or they can choose to create their own manual car profile. Here they will be able to include relevant information about their car such as engine size, BHP, miles per gallon, tyre pressure and tyre size.

There is also the option to set a number of car related renewal reminders including road tax, MOT and service, parking permit, and insurance. These reminders can also be added to the iPhone calendar. Users are then alerted two weeks before the renewal is due.

Using the accident toolkit feature, LV= car insurance customers are able to fill out an accident report form and submit it to LV=. There are two sections to this feature; ‘during an accident’ and ‘after an accident’. The first section allows the user to make notes about an accident they have been involved in and this includes the other driver’s details and the opportunity to capture images of the accident.

The second section enables LV= customers to fill in an accident report form. Here they are prompted to note their personal information, a description of the incident, whether there was third party involvement, whether either party accepted fault, extent of the damage, injuries, witnesses, whether the police were involved and if there is a crime number. Once all of the relevant information is complete users can submit the form to LV= and a claims handler is guaranteed to get in contact within 24 hours. Customers also have the option to call LV= at this point rather than submit information via the app.

Drivers can also use the app to receive detailed local traffic updates and access a local information map which will highlight nearby amenities.

The launch of the application follows the launch of LV=’s first iPhone app for job hunters which was released in September last year.

Paul Wishman, LV= e-commerce director said: “We are delighted to be launching the LV= My Car app. We opted to create an app with a difference that offers a service that could be used in different situations. We have recently launched the LV= mobile site so the launch of the iPhone app is the next step in our mobile strategy.”

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Confused.com’s Car Study Reveals The Vehicles Used By William And Kate

Confused.com has conducted a study to get some insight into the vehicles used by people called William and Kate in the UK.

Drivers called Kate or William (aged 28-40) are more likely to get behind the wheel of a Mini (Kate) or a Rover (William) than the average British motorist, according to a study of 8 million drivers in the UK carried out by car insurance comparison site Confused.com. The traditionally British iconic cars are favoured by Kates and Williams, with Catherines preferring to get behind the wheel of a Citroen. Drivers called William also favour X-type Jaguars, according to Confused.com data.

The research, which was conducted from a database of quotes carried out through the Confused.com site highlighted a number of differences between the driving habits of drivers named William, Kate and Catherine.

The data, which included 28-40 year old drivers in the UK, was overseen by Gareth Kloet, head of car insurance at the company. Kloet commented: “The upcoming royal wedding has increased the interest in the names William and Kate dramatically. With Confused.com data to hand, we have found that William and Kate’s around the UK have very sensible car models, a driving attribute that would expect from the royals.”

Confused.com have also discovered a number of statistics relating to the type of home and family expected for a William and Kate in the UK population, referencing data from 2.5 million home insurance customers. The data showed that only 60 couples were called William and Kate as registered on their home insurance policies.

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LV = Reveals One In Ten Homes Built On Brownfield Sites Have Problems

LV= has revealed that over the next decade around half a million homes will be built on redeveloped ex-industrial sites that could pose risks to homeowners and their homes.

A new report from home insurer LV= reveals that around 125 million square metres of redeveloped brownfield land, earmarked for the building of 500,000 homes, is potentially at risk of flooding or contamination, which could cost homeowners thousands of pounds to address.

Brownfield sites are defined as land which has potential for redevelopment after previously being occupied by another permanent building, such as a factory or industrial works. Redeveloping brownfield sites is a cornerstone of the current national housing policy, with 79% of all new builds being built on recycled land in recent years.

Yet according to the LV= research, over one in ten (11%) new homes built on brownfield land have suffered problems as a result of the land the property is built on, affecting a total of 74,000 homes in the last ten years. The most common problem is flooding, but there are also cases of contamination, poor drainage and sewage problems.

One of the drivers behind the current policy encouraging house builders to redevelop land is the creation of affordable homes for first-time buyers. The LV= research shows that few (17%) prospective buyers are actually specifically looking to buy new build housing, rather many feel that this is the only option available to them through local authority shared ownership schemes as many of these properties are new builds. Others say they are persuaded to buy new build homes because of incentives such as deposit cash back schemes from developers or free white goods.

Currently, over a third (34%) of prospective buyers are unaware of the problems associated with former industrial land and a quarter (24%) do not check the previous use of the land a house is built on. LV= is advising potential buyers to check the previous use of the land a house is built on before committing to a purchase, by speaking to neighbours, checking old maps or commissioning a full environmental report to ensure they do not experience problems once they’ve moved in.

Via EPR Network
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Confused.com Reveals Mothers’ Day Holiday Habits

Confused.com has revealed that many mums may get more than flower and chocolates this Mothers’ Day as more than half of Brits have taken their mum (or mother-in-law) on holiday with them.

The travel insurance provider and comparison site also revealed that the vast majority of Brits would do it again. However, almost one in ten sons admit this is because mum will pay for everything with another reason sons are keen to take mum on holiday being so that she can babysit the kids.

56% of people in the UK have either taken their mums or mother-in-laws or even both on holiday with them, with 85% of Brits who have done so saying they would either take one of both or their mothers/mother-in-laws on holiday again. In addition to this 53% of the people surveyed agreed that their mother (or mother-in-law) was great company on holiday with 50% agreeing that she deserves a treat.

45% of adults have never taken their mothers or mother-in-laws on holiday with them, but of those who have, only 14% would not repeat the experience. The top reason* for refusing take them on holiday again is ‘We like different things’ (33%), with ‘She’s so annoying’ being cited as the second most popular given reason (13.5%). Other reasons for not taking mum on holiday include 10%, who are embarrassed by her behaviour, 9% who think the she would cramp their style and 6% who suggest she flirts too much with the waiters on holiday.

More women than men have taken their mothers on holiday with them than men (women 39% versus men 24%), but some men have ulterior motives for doing so: 9% of adult men saying they take mum on holiday because she pays for everything, whereas only 4% of women admit money is their motivation or taking mum on hols. 11% of men compared to 6% of women take mum on holiday because of her babysitting services.

Londoners are most likely to take mum on holiday (38%), with Northern Ireland (17%) the least likely to do so, according to the survey by Confused.com.

Via EPR Network
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LV= Asset Management named Best Small Bond Group at Lipper Awards 2011

LV= Asset Management, the fund management arm of mutual insurance, investment and retirement group LV=, has received recognition for the strong performance of its UK fixed interest team by winning the best small bond group category at the Lipper Fund Awards 2011.

LV= Asset Management qualified for this award by delivering strong risk-adjusted performance relative to its peer group across its range of bond funds over the three year period up to 31st December 2010. These funds include the LV= UK Corporate Bond fund, the LV= UK Fixed Interest fund and the LV= UK Index linked fund.

The award acknowledges LVAM’s industry leading fixed interest capability and highlights the team’s expertise across a range of different products.

Michael Wright, Head of Fixed Interest at LVAM commented: “We aim to deliver consistently good performance for our clients across the range of bond funds. We are extremely pleased to have won this award as it acknowledges our team approach to managing funds and recognises the superior returns we have achieved over the three years to 31st December 2010.

“The last few years have been an extraordinary time for money managers but the breadth of experience on the team has allowed us to draw on lessons from the past and make timely, well informed decision on behalf of our clients. Going forward we are confident that we can maintain this high level of performance by continuing to follow a pragmatic approach to stock selection.”

Ann Roughead, Managing Director at LVAM added: “LVAM has set out its stall as a low-cost active manager that does what it says on the tin – delivering attractive added value year in, year out. The LV= bond funds are great examples of what we are trying to achieve and this award will serve to reinforce our commitment to providing impressive and consistent returns for our investors.”

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LV = Reveals Drivers Lost £58.5 Million From ‘Unfair’ Parking Tickets

LV=, the car insurer, has revealed that drivers lost £58.5m last year by failing to appeal against parking tickets issued in ‘unfair’ circumstances.

In 2010, one in twenty (5%) motorists in the UK received a parking ticket where they had grounds to appeal. Despite this, only one in five (22%) drivers bother to contest a ticket once issued; but of those who do, nearly nine in ten (88%) claimants are successful.

When questioned, over half of UK drivers (53%) who do pay when issued with a ticket in unfair circumstances do so because they assume they will not win an appeal. Many drivers say they are confused about the procedure for appeals, with one in twelve (8%) not knowing how to initiate a claim.

The majority of ‘unfair’ parking fines are issued in areas where parking signage is unclear. Other reasons include misleading road markings, being issued with a fine while walking to a machine to buy a parking ticket and being fined when the car was broken down. A small but significant number of drivers report parking attendants actually fabricating evidence to support issuing the ticket (2%).

Most (49%) of tickets issued unfairly are given out on public roads but surprisingly one in ten (10%) are received in car parks of public buildings managed by local authorities, such as libraries, hospitals and GP surgeries. A similar number (9%) are given out in commercially operated car parks.

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Auto-motiveInsurance.net provides Free Online vehicle insurance quotes

Auto-motiveInsurance.net is a new insurance website. The new website is established to help millions of insurance consumers. At this hard time that many motorists are finding it so difficult to survive, many are losing their insurance policies due to increasing costs. So, people are looking for ways to tremendously reduce their insurance costs, but are struggling to find a solution.

Mr. Solomon, owner of Auto-motiveInsurance.net website had a goal to provide an answer to this chaos. Solomon is quoted as saying, “There are many people who are finding it so difficult to afford automotive insurance and are looking for ways to cut down on their insurance bills. Most insurance companies keep raising customers’ premiums every six months for no obvious reason. Moreover, calling multiple insurance companies to obtain a quote can be time consuming. We wanted to create a platform where prospective insurance buyers could find the best auto insurance quotes. I think our company mission, which is to save people money and time, fills a very real need of most customers. We provide free, no-obligation, online insurance quote tools that people can use to achieve this”.

As one customer said, “The greatest benefit that you would get from this website is that you would be able to get the vehicle insurance quotes free of cost. You just have to submit a form to get the free quotes from the company”.

The layout of the website is very simple. You can easily use the free quote form to get the best auto insurance price you deserve from virtually anywhere on this informative site. There is also a form you can use to get a quote from a specific insurance company. And there is an additional form that allows a shopper the ability to single out the best price from all of compared quotes from several insurance companies. It is up to the user to choose whichever one is appropriate for his need.

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Risk and Insurance Article Archive Announced at ClaudePenland.com/multimedia by Actuary

Claude Penland, Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society with twenty years of insurance industry experience, announces his new article archive at ClaudePenland.com/multimedia.

All pieces are written by Claude Penland, with many additional risk and insurance articles planned. Informative pieces in the archive include:

-10 Prominent Influenza Pandemic Models: Death, Disease and Economic Loss Modeling

-20 Insurance Trends to Watch

-More Insurance Trends to Watch for Actuaries, Underwriters and Claims Personnel, Part 2

-2011 Web Trends, Including Social Networking and Venture Capital

-An Exciting Time to Consider the Microinsurance Market

-Annual Property and Casualty Reinsurance Salary Survey

-Handy Executive Recruitment and Job Hunting Tools

-Health Insurance Compensation Survey at Top 10 United States Insurers

-Life Insurance Salaries at the Top Among CEO’s, Chairmen and Others

-Pension Risk Trends: Companies, Governments, Accounting, Oh My

-Predictive Modeling for Actuaries: Eight Great PowerPoint Presentations and Articles

-Property and Casualty Insurance Salaries in the C-Suite

-Recent Activity Among Insurance Company Startups and Branch Operations

-Recent Activity in the Global Reinsurance Market

-Recent Activity in the Takaful (Islamic Insurance) Market

-So Why Do Job Hunters Use Executive Recruiters?

-Social Networking for Insurance Professionals on LinkedIn, Parts One, Two, Three, Four and Five

-Ten International Emerging Risks for Insurers and Reinsurers

At ClaudePenland.com, Claude Penland, casualty actuary and webmaster, writes at least six times daily about international risk, insurance, financial and web trends. To subscribe to Claude’s daily digest, visit ClaudePenland.com/subscribe.

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Confused.com Launches New TV Advert

Confused.com has launched its latest advertisement featuring its animated logo Cara singing the classic hit ‘Chain Reaction’, originally penned by the Bee Gees and made famous by Diana Ross. The sixty second advert first aired on 15 February during coverage of the Brit Awards, this year hosted by James Corden.

Following the success of Cara’s first single, ‘Somebody to Love’, ‘Chain Reaction’ is once again voiced by West End star Louise Dearman. Animated and produced by Hornet, with musical arrangement from Spekulation entertainment, the advert will feature living logo Cara singing the catchy anthem before being joined by a backing group of animated singers and dancers.

The Chain Reaction song, originally recorded by Diana Ross, has been selected due to its popularity with music lovers worldwide and was a popular hit in 1985 on her album ‘Eaten Alive’. Confused.com, the UK’s leading car insurance price comparison site, has worked closely with its creative agencies on this advert to ensure it recaptures the energy of the Diana Ross original.

Mike Hoban, marketing director at Confused.com, said: “Confused.com was the first site to offer price comparison. Our latest advert reminds customers of Confused.com’s leadership position in a fun and entertaining way. With 20 million users, up two million since our first advert, Confused.com is once again demonstrating it is the people’s choice for comparison sites and we are really proud of this.”

In addition to the sixty second advert, a thirty second version is also being launched. The new advert can be viewed on Cara’s page on Confused.com and on Confused.com’s You Tube channel.

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Insurance Social Networking, Predictive Modeling and Microinsurance Presentations Available

Three insurance-related presentations and videos have been released for immediate viewing at ClaudePenland.com/multimedia. All presentations are free to download and share.

The first presentation is called “LinkedIn Social Networking for Insurance Professionals”. LinkedIn is the most active professional social network in the world.. According to their press materials, they have over 90 million international members, with roughly half of those members residing in the United States. If you work in insurance or reinsurance as an underwriter, attorney, accountant, actuary, actuarial analyst, risk manager, claims professional, financial analyst, agent or other insurance role, this presentation will list for you some of the more active insurance-related jobs and discussion groups on LinkedIn.

“Microinsurance is Exciting” is the second presentation. Microinsurance is generally designed for low-income businesses and individuals who aren’t typically covered by traditional insurance. It is usually sold at low premiums and low coverage limits / caps. It has a potential eventual annual premium of $40 billion worldwide.

A third presentation is titled “Predictive Modeling for Life, Health and Property & Casualty Actuaries”. This predictive analytics presentation provides eight examples of strong industry presentations and articles where actuaries can apply predictive modeling to life insurance, property and casualty insurance and health insurance / actuarial data.

These presentations were authored by Claude Penland, a casualty actuary and webmaster with twenty years of insurance industry experience. On ClaudePenland.com, Claude writes at least six times a day on the international insurance-related and web-related issues that he explores daily, and regularly posts interesting presentations, videos and articles at ClaudePenland.com/multimedia.

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Substantial Presentations on Insurance Trends, Emerging Risks and Pandemic Modelling Released by Actuary

Claude Penland, casualty actuary and webmaster, has produced at ClaudePenland.com/multimedia three informative PowerPoint presentations and videos foractuaries, actuarial analysts, underwriters, financial analysts, accountants, consultants, claims personnel and others in the insurance and reinsurance industries.

The first presentation, “10 Influenza Pandemic Models”, profiles models from the Society of Actuaries, Milliman, VirSim, Risk Management Solutions, Military Science, INFORMS, Los Alamos, open source alternatives and others.

The second is entitled “40 Insurance Trends for 2011”. Forty insurance trends are considered, including healthcare, health plan grandfathering, asset quality, Takaful, microinsurance, emerging risks, insurance industry job losses, predictive analytics use, as well as other global insurance and reinsurance trends.

The third presentation is called “10 Emerging Risks for Insurers and Reinsurers”. These risks include infrastructure, cyber attacks, space weather, nanotechnology and municipal bankruptcies.

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Consumers Can Now Research Specific Providers in the New Reviews Section of CarInsuranceRates.com

Car Insurance Rates has eliminated the need for visitors to go elsewhere to research individual auto insurers online. The site has added an entire section devoted to insurer reviews to help inform visitors’ coverage decisions.

CarInsuranceRates.com (CIRS) has revamped its site to include a section dedicated to reviews of specific providers. Visitors can find information on most major carriers, including Allstate, Farmer’s, AIG, Nationwide, and more. The reviews include information on the carrier’s history, financial standing, reputation, and customer satisfaction ratings.

“After our visitors review car insurance rates on potential policies through our free quote-request system, they typically want to conduct research on individual providers to see which insurer is best-suited for them. Rather than having to go to several different sites to investigate prospective carriers, shoppers can now look up all the pertinent information they need by simply navigating to our new insurer review pages,” explained CIRS spokesperson Nathan Ackerman.

At present, nine reviews are available to visitors, and CIRS hopes to expand the section in the future as additional providers join its referral network. To access the reviews, visitors have only to click the logo of the carrier in which they are interested. The reviews are user-friendly, concise, and informative.

“The new review section is also part of our ongoing effort to make Car Insurance Rates a one-stop-shopping site for auto insurance coverage. These reviews don’t just contain information a consumer would find on the insurer’s official site; they also offer valuable policyholder satisfaction and financial rating information that may otherwise be hard to find. Thanks to this new section, our visitors can now visit only one site rather than dozens in comparison shopping for policies,” Ackerman added.

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Young Drivers Face Catch-22 Conundrum Reports Tiger.co.uk

The recent publication of The AA’s 2010 Insurance Premium Index has again highlighted the growing problem of increased car insurance costs for younger drivers. The Index estimated that insurance for 17-22 year old drivers increased by over 58% in 2010. This equated to a massive £829, increasing average premiums for this age group to over £2,250 – more than the cost of many first cars.

The team at Tiger.co.uk, a motor insurance comparison site, has highlighted another statistic about young drivers that also needs to be considered. The Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) has estimated that 5% of motorists – over 1.2 million – are driving without insurance and 20% of these (243,000) are 17-20 year olds.

The same organisation estimates that the high level of uninsured driving has contributed towards the extraordinary level of inflation in car insurance premiums, adding about £30 to the cost of policies for legally insured drivers.

When viewed together these statistics lead to a worrying conclusion: as car insurance becomes increasingly unaffordable for younger drivers, so they may be increasingly tempted to drive without any insurance at all. This, in turn could lead to a rise in uninsured drivers’ compensation costs, again fuelling further increases in car insurance premiums.

A spokesperson for Tiger.co.uk commented: “The relationship between escalating insurance premiums and the growth of uninsured driving is inescapable. It could well lead to a “Catch 22” situation whereby having more uninsured drivers contributes to increased premiums causing drivers, particularly young drivers, to risk driving without insurance – which is of course a criminal offence. We would recommend that young drivers take the following steps to try and get cheap car insurance:

• Use car insurance comparison sites like Tiger.co.uk to make sure you get car insurance quotes and compare policies and get from a wide range of insurers.

• Consider taking the Pass Plus exam after passing your driving test – premiums can be reduced by up to 30%.*

• Have a look at ‘pay as you drive’ policies such as those offered by Insure The Box and Coverbox – both of which are available via Tiger.co.uk’s comparison service (the only car insurance comparison site to offer both of these insurance brands).

• Choose your car carefully – go for something in a low insurance group.

• Drive carefully and build your no claims discount as this can significantly reduce your premiums.”

The spokesperson also reminded young drivers shopping for cheap car insurance:
“Don’t be tempted to get an older driver to “front” your policy for you. This practice of having an older more experienced driver as the main driver on a policy is illegal and can lead to insurance being void.”

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Expanding Insurance News, Web Trends Website Announced at ClaudePenland.com

A rapidly growing insurance news and web trends website was recently created and launched at ClaudePenland.com. This six-month-old website was conceived by Claude Penland, an established casualty actuary with twenty years of industry experience.

Claude writes at least six times a day on the international business issues that he explores daily. These global topics include insurance news (4InsuranceNews.com), insurance startup companies (InsuranceStartups.com), insurance mergers and acquisitions (WhoBoughtWho.com), insurance trends (InsTrends.com), reinsurance news and trends (ReinsuranceTrends.com), web startups (1000Startups.com), web trends (WebTrendInfo.com), web development, pension risk (PensionRiskNews.com), catastrophe risk (CatRisky.com), Solvency II European insurance regulations (SolvencyDeux.com), Takaful (TakafulMe.com), predictive analytics (PredNews.com), risk management (TheRiskNews.com), odd business ideas (OddBusinessIdeas.com), plus finance and investment.

New topics are frequently added to ClaudePenland.com and there is an interesting quote posted every Friday (FridaysQuote.com). 27 separate RSS news feeds are offered.

On ClaudePenland.com/multimedia, informative PowerPoint presentations and YouTube videos authored by Claude Penland are often featured. These include diverse presentations on worldwide topics such as catastrophe risk trends, actuarial news, predictive analytics, the China/Hong Kong insurance markets, reinsurance, social networking startups trends, Solvency II European insurance regulations, Europe’s insurance markets, insurance startups, Bermuda’s insurance market, executive recruitment, the Takaful market, web trends, India’s insurance market, job hunting and technology, web development, insurance mergers and acquisitions, as well as pension risk trends.

All presentations are free to download and share. Claude’s “40 Web Trends for 2011” presentation was recommended highly recently at ClaudePenland.com/recommendations.

At ClaudePenland.com/salary-surveys, compensation surveys are provided pertaining to insurance and reinsurance C-level executives. These surveys were generated from publicly-available U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. They include property and casualty insurance (CasualtySalarySurvey.com), life insurance (LifeSalarySurvey.com), health insurance (HealthSalarySurvey.com), and also property and casualty reinsurance (ReinsuranceSalarySurvey.com).

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The Business Octopus Lends a Hand in the New Year with Cheap Office Insurance

In recent years there have been plenty of businesses and entire industries that have suffered as a result of the tough economic circumstances. Business insurance expert, The Business Octopus, is now urging firms to protect themselves by taking out office insurance and making sure there are no more unpleasant surprises.

The Business Octopus provides companies with a wide range of insurance services and operates across a large number of industries, offering everything from teacher and tutor insurance to retail, restaurant, bar and pub, and landlords insurance.

Taking out appropriate cover and having a safety net in the form of a business insurance policy can prevent businesses from losing money through accidents, damage and indemnity-related issues.

Speaking for The Business Octopus, Patrick Herdman said: “The rise in VAT and other cutbacks have hit many businesses hard and this is why as we strongly believe that all companies should have some form of insurance coverage, to prevent them having to shell out even more this year.

“Some industries may seem to be relatively risk-free, but incidents such as theft and disasters like flooding, can happen anywhere at any time. Making sure the company is protected and able to move on quickly from this kind of situation is something that should be on every business’ agenda”

‘Should your firm be giving advice in anyway, protecting yourself with a comprehensive professional indemnity insurance policy is important, with failure to do so leaving the company open to serious losses. Most industries and trades are covered by The Business Octopus and policies can be tailored to suit the company’s needs with a variety of bolt-ons to their standard business insurance policy.

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Not All NAIC Suitability Training Solutions Are Created Equal

With the Iowa Suitability Requirement becoming active on January 1, 2010 there is no doubt that insurance carriers are scrambling to find the best solution. While most solutions are similar in that they will offer State Specific Training and Carrier Specific Training the means and methods in which they deliver the training will differ from provider to provider. Quest is proud to offer the industry’s most comprehensive, user friendly and cost effective solution to the NAIC Suitability Regulation.

Using proprietary technology, Quest has the ability to meet each individual carrier’s NAIC Suitability Training needs. While most carriers will opt for a Single Suitability Platform, there are some carriers with captivate agents that would prefer a private label solution. Quest has built their reputation on providing innovative solutions and advanced custom technologies. This custom technology addresses the needs of the carrier wishing to have an NAIC Training portal branded specifically for their company and their producers. A private label solution will match the carriers’ look and feel providing an effective marketing tool and sense of good will with the carrier’s producers. Custom reporting, in addition to daily PGP encrypted data feeds are standard with all of Quest’s learning platforms and will serve as an integral function in both private label solutions and the Single Source Solution.

While other NAIC Suitability Training Providers have turned to their old, outdated technologies to address the growing demand of training required of producers, Quest has specifically designed their NAIC Suitability Training Portals with the users in mind. Quest’s simple three step process allows producers to either self-register for their training or be loaded in on the front end by their carriers. The first step requires the producer to select the State Specific Training required by the NAIC. Currently the only state with a requirement in place is Iowa. The second step asks the producer to select the insurance carriers that they sell for so they can select their Carrier/Product Specific Training at step three. The process is intuitive and seamless. The producer will easily be able to create their user profile loaded with all of the training they need to continue to sell their carriers’ products.

Quest’s system puts control in the hands of the producers. The logic behind this method is that the producer knows better than anyone else which carriers they sell for and which state and product specific training they need to complete. Other vendors trust complicated and incomplete databases which rely on each carriers list of producers to be correct and constantly updated. Quest’s solution allows for flexibility and intelligence so producers are able to use the training portal as a way of updating their own records with the carriers they represent. On demand reporting and daily data feeds will ensure that producers are compliant with their requirements and able to place business with the carriers they represent as soon as possible.

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Quest CE Introduces the 2010 NAIC Suitability Regulation Solution

Quest Continuing Education Solutions (Quest CE) is proud to announce the solution to the 2010 NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation. Quest’s simple two-tiered approach will provide an “All-In-One” Solution for Insurers, Distributors and Producers that fall under the NAIC’s new regulation.

Quest’s 4-hour annuity course in Iowa has been approved by the state and meets the Iowa Administrative Rule 191-15.72 for a one-time, four (4) hour annuity training course requirement. In addition, this course is approved for resident CE credit. Per the new NAIC Suitability Regulation, Quest will also provide insurer-product specific training in their Industry Leading Learning Management System, Renaissance.

NAIC Suitability Regulation Training through Quest allows for automated encrypted data and completion feeds. Feeds can be sent on a daily basis or as often as the program administrator desires. Quest’s system also allows for participants in the program to be bulk loaded into the training platform. Ensure your programs compliance with Quest so beginning January 1, 2011 your producers are able to sell your annuities in Iowa.

The NAIC Suitability Regulation Training platform will provide:

• A dedicated location where a producer can complete all of their required training requirements and view the status of each requirement within the Model Regulation;
• Updated training posted to the site subsequent to initial training including additional State Specific Annuity Requirements as they become effective;
• A company specific branded web portal where insurers can comply with the new regulation and update their product-specific training courses in their student profiles;
• The ability to print completion certificates online 24/7;
• An automatic e-mail notification system allowing insurers to instantly notify producers of new or updated product specific training requirements;
• Automated and PGP encrypted customized data feeds with real-time search tools for insurers and Broker/Dealers to satisfy compliance requirements and training.

Quest’s NAIC Suitability Regulation Training Solution is available now and ready for demonstration or implementation. Contact Quest at 877-593-3366 or e-mail Quest at sales@questce.com to speak with one of our dedicated Sales Team Members about guaranteeing your 2010 NAIC Suitability Regulation Training today.

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Media Ingenuity 14th in Sunday Times Tech Track

Media Ingenuity is delighted to announce that it has ranked 14th in the 2010 Sunday Times Tech Track. Media Ingenuity is mostly known for its consumer facing brand TotallyMoney.com which is an online price comparison website that specialises in comparing financial products. Media Ingenuity has recently released granite its own brand credit card. The league table ranks Britain’s one hundred privately-owned technology, media and telecoms (TMT) companies with the fastest-growing sales over the last three years.

Commenting on the result, managing director Adam Quint said, ‘This truly is a momentous result for Media ingenuity and represents its emergence as one of the UK’s foremost online marketing businesses. We are absolutely delighted to have come 14th from the thousands of qualifying businesses in the UK. The result reflects the wealth of talent we have in our team and confirms the strength of our business model’.

Despite typically turning over less than £50m, many Tech Track 100 companies develop technology behind global brands. For example, Mobica develops apps for the iPhone, Mobile Interactive Group provides digital interactive services for O2 and The Foundry developed software for digital-effect sequences on Avatar.

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Quest CE Launches Compliance Training for Investment Advisers

Quest Continuing Education Solutions (Quest CE) is proud to announce a new product line-up to meet Investment Adviser’s Compliance Training Needs. Since 1986 Quest CE has built a reputation of being the premier provider of Compliance Education Training to the financial services industry including insurance professionals and FINRA regulated Broker/Dealers. Quest is now able to address the regulations and requirements that face the Investment Adviser world.

Quest CE’s comprehensive Investment Adviser Training Program allows advisers to complete essential training through a cost-effective one-stop easy to use program. The Investment Adviser Compliance Training program enhances advisers’ ability to provide investment advice to clients, protecting the client, adviser and firm.

Courses include:

• Anti-Fraud Programs and Controls
• Anti-Money Laundering and the Red Flags Rule
• Investment Adviser Client Suitability
• Information Security Protecting You, Your Clients and Your Firm
• Investment Adviser Code of Ethics

Complete Investment Adviser Compliance Training Packages start at $25.00 with individual courses starting at $10.00.

Content
Our courses are delivered through interesting and interactive self-paced online presentations. All of our courses use images and manageable page lengths to enhance the learning experience and make compliance enjoyable.

Compliance Tracking
Quest also offers a complete suite of compliance tracking tools including:

• Outside Business Activities
• Gifts and Entertainment
• Political Contributions

Professional Designation & Insurance Training
Quest CE is a Nationally Approved Provider of Insurance Continuing Education (Insurance CE). Each year we deliver over 150,000 insurance CE courses. Complete state CE packages start at $29.95 with individual courses starting at $12.95.

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