Axa Commercial is putting a focus on providing risk education and readiness support in financial lines with a series of new propositions coming to market in the coming months. The first enhanced proposition is its management liability prevent and protect offering, which has just launched. It provides directors and officers liability, company legal liability and employment practices liability.

Shape Underwriting, which is the managing general agent division of The Clear Group, has acquired Protect Underwriting LLP, which specialises in catering for the private high net worth client market. The Shape Underwriting brand came into force at the beginning of this month when it rebranded Profile Underwriting and One Commercial Specialty under the new name.

Insurance professionals Tim Grant (pictured left) and James Dunsby (pictured right) have established a new Bristol-based broker called Castlebridge Risk Solutions Limited. The firm will become an appointed representative of Momentum Broker Solutions.

Specialty managing general agent platform Optio Group has acquired managing general agent Custodian Management Ltd, which was founded in 2013 by managing director Zahid Naqvi and has a focus on providing professional indemnity and management liability cover. Optio said the deal advanced its ambition to create a diversified platform.

Specialist insurance provider CFC has launched a new intellectual property product catering for businesses that range from start-ups to those with a turnover of up to £500m. The IP policy caters for companies across all sectors. It offers cover for both the defence or pursuit of infringement claims, contractual indemnities, loss of IP rights and loss of profits.

Former Lockton adviser and Zurich underwriter Scott McLuskey (pictured) has launched new corporate broker Monteith Corporate Risk from offices in Glasgow and London. McLuskey said the firm was aiming to achieve £1m in gross written premiums within the first three months and would provide traditional service levels in today’s modern trading environment.

Managing general agent OneBefore, in partnership with insurance provider Freedom Insurance Services, has launched a new product called Travel Europe. It is aimed at those travelling for leisure purposes and can cater for those with pre-existing medical conditions. The collaboration comes on the back of joint work done last year to bring their One Tree Travel product to market.

Direct Commercial Limited has launched Haul in One Truck IHP on the Acturis platform to offer an e-trade solution for larger commercial vehicles. The cover was already available for vehicles under 12 tonnes and has now been extended to provide cover for those above that weight limit.

Ageas has gone live with LexID for Insurance in a bid to create a single view of its customers. The identity resolution tool from LexisNexis Risk Solutions pulls in customer data from across multiple lines of business, distribution channels and platforms. It also assesses data from all insurer functions ranging from quotes to claims and settlement.

Risk and claims administration specialist Sedgwick has adopted Verint Trust Bot, which uses patented behavioural analytics and AI to analyse conversations between claimants and claims handlers, and flag potential fraud risks. Sedgwick said the technology would enable users to expedite genuine claims and identify fraudulent ones more quickly. It said the technology did not rely on intrusive processes and created minimal friction in the claims experience.

WTW has enabled its London market international property facility to operate on its digital trading platform Neuron. The move was timed to coincide with the facility’s renewal on 1st May this year. WTW said Neuron made it possible to trade risks quickly, efficiently and at scale, giving underwriters more time to focus on complex risks.

Pricing consultancy Pearson Ham has reported that premium finance costs have eased in both the motor and home insurance sectors. In the motor market, it said premium finance costs averaged just over 10%, which was approximately one percentage point lower than the same time a year ago. In the home insurance market, the average premium finance charge was 8.1%, which was 1.3 percentage points lower than the same time last year.

London-based specialty insurance platform Insurwave has signed a strategic partnership with aviation risk management specialist Osprey Flight Solutions. The collaboration brings together Osprey's aviation risk data with Insurwave’s real-time data aggregation and visualisation technology to give underwriters, risk managers, and brokers a better view of their aviation security risks and exposures.

Momentum Broker Solutions has started broadcasting Momentum Conference Radio for a limited period between 5th and 16th May. The network created the pop-up radio station to support its own conference last year and has returned to the airwaves this year to mark the forthcoming British Insurance Brokers’ Association conference. Participating partners include Allianz, Arch Insurance, Aviva, Axa, Covea, Pen Underwriting, and Premium Credit.

Allianz Legal Protection has inked a deal with ancillary product specialist Lexelle Ltd and will now underwrite its legal expenses insurance products. Lexelle was established in 1996 and is part of PM Law Group. Lexelle distributes to over 400 UK insurance brokers either directly or through UK intermediaries.

Sutton Winson has rebranded to Acrisure UK Broking Limited and is the first of nine recently acquired UK brokers to change its name. In the past three years Acrisure has acquired nine retail insurance brokers, three managing general agents and a network. Acrisure has also gone live with a new website to support its retail broking proposition.