The Fidelis Partnership has appointed Suzanne Wells as chief operating officer. She will join the business in July. She was previously deputy COO of Arch Insurance International. Fidelis has also named Erik Manning as head of ceded reinsurance. He will take up his post later this month.

The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters has set out plans to revise its membership structure and governance to involve loss adjusting businesses and a wider range of professionals engaged in the loss adjusting process. It said it also wanted to support individuals transitioning from other sectors into loss adjusting. Adam Humphrey, president of CILA set out the plans at a recent meeting in London.

The Clear Group has acquired broker Moore Robinson Limited, which was established 1987 and is based in the City of London. It has a focus on placing and managing property portfolios and construction projects for property investors, developers and managing agents. It also has a team looking after high net worth clients. Founder Robin Moore and his colleagues will join the corporate team at Clear.

Oak Reinsurance has received Lloyd’s approval to increase its 2025 business plan for syndicate 2843 to more than £305m of gross written premium. The carrier said it had resubmitted its original plan after outperforming expectations in the first quarter of the year.

Liberty Specialty Markets has made its capacity available on WTW’s digital trading solution Neuron for D&O and cyber risks. Neuron connects brokers and insurers in real time to enable them to trade risk digitally. WTW plans to increase Neuron’s follow capacity capabilities with additional classes and partners in the coming year.

Covéa Insurance plc has posted a profit after tax of £32.9m for 2024, reversing the loss of £87.3 it recorded in the previous year. The carrier said gross written premium was down from £711.3m (2023) to £641.5m and credited this to its accelerated move away from non-core business during the year. Its combined operating ratio in 2024 of 97.8% was an improvement on the 116.9% achieved in 2023.

The latest Pet Insurance Pricing Index from Pearson Ham Group has found that lifetime policies – the most popular type of pet cover in the UK – are now 1% higher than in March last year. Pearson Ham said there had been a consistent month-on-month increase since November and that the previous falls in the market had now been reversed.

The energy market continues to soften but rests on a “profitability tightrope” as it tries to strike a balance between profit and market share at a time when capacity is at an all high, according to the Energy Market Review published by Willis, a WTW company. In the downstream market, Willis said 2024 had been a benign loss year, but warned that potential losses in Q1 2025 already threatened to exceed those recorded in 2024. In the upstream market a 5% increase in capacity was maintaining downward pressure on premiums.

Willis has launched a new professional indemnity solution called ProXS and backed by CCY40m capacity coming from competing panels from both Lloyd’s and the company markets. Willis said pre-agreed discount premiums would help ensure insureds got the best market price for their risk.

Aviva said it identified fraudulent claims worth a total of £127m in 2024 and declined 14% more claims due to fraud than in the previous year. The carrier said it also picked up fraud in more than 98,000 insurance application, which was almost double what it detected the previous year. Within these application frauds, Aviva said there had been an 18% increase in ghost-brokered policies.

Addept Insurance has entered into the legal expenses insurance market with the launch of two products. One is aimed at landlords and recognises the market changes set out in the Renters’ Reform Bill. The other is for police officers and their families. Addept launched in 2024 and specialises in ancillary insurance solutions. Irwell Insurance Company, rated B++ by AM Best, is providing capacity for the products.

Acorn Group has reported gross written premium of £742m for the year ended 31st December 2024, which is a jump of 41% on the previous year. The firm specialises in providing non-standard car, van, taxi and household insurance to retail customers. It said gross vehicle years were 607,000, up 30% on 2023 and its combined operating ratio remained below 90%.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau has voted at its annual general meeting to approve new articles of association that will enable a wider scope of members to join the organisation. It said creating a wider platform of members would enable it to share its products, services and data sharing capabilities with a greater number of firms and increase its ability to identify fraud.

Jack Higgins has been sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to making a motor claim worth £59,987 for a holiday crash in a rented Range Rover that was falsified. He was also ordered to pay £6,000 to City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department to cover the cost of a voice analysis carried out as part of the investigation, and to complete 300 hours of unpaid work.

The Association of British Insurers has appointed Kay Swinburne vas its new independent chair. She takes over the role from Nicky Morgan. Swinburn takes up her position with immediate effect and for an initial period of three years.

Suffolk-based independent broker and underwriting agency Yutree Insurance has completed a management buyout and directors Laura Hancock (pictured) and Kevin Hancock will take the firm forward following the feal. The firm said it believed remaining truly independent was a better option than selling to consolidators or private equity. Plans are in the pipeline for a new office in Norwich.