Arc Legal Assistance is claiming a UK first with the launch of its iPhone claims app for legal expenses policies.
The company also has plans to develop its existing online claims offering to give customers access to online legal documents, legal guidance notes and a “frequently asked claims questions” section.
Homeowners are being hit for damages totalling £246m every year due to neighbourhood botches, according to Direct Line.
The insurer’s research has found that neighbours cause a wide range of woe, from smashed windows and severed electricity supplies to flooding.
During the last five years, 9% of homeowners have suffered damage at the hands of their neighbours, with each incident costing an average of £541.
Perhaps surprisingly, the most common type of mishap is not a smashed window but a severed utility, whether electricity, gas, phone lines and water.
Property damage, such as garden walls, garden ornaments and smashed windows, was the second most common.
Naturally, the more serious incidents can damage relationships, and 7% of those affected have turned to the courts, but 10% now say they are closer to their neighbour following a mishap.
Direct Line’s Matt Owen has emphasised that most people do get on well with their neighbours, and stated that once the situation is resolved matters need not escalate.
Munich Re is insuring the guarantees which Fuhrländer, a German builder of wind-power plants, is giving its customers. This is the world’s first insurance of this kind and part of a range of innovative covers that Munich Re is using to underwrite risks in the renewable energies sector. By doing this, Munich Re is facilitating business for both vendors and investors and paving the way for future technologies to enter the market.
The manufacturer Fuhrländer gives buyers of its up to 2.5-Megawatt wind turbines a technical guarantee of five years in conjunction with corresponding service contracts. Mun
Specialist home insurer Hiscox has urged homeowners to ensure that their home contents insurance is up to date and affords them appropriate levels of protection.
Recent years have seen the value of gold and platinum rise, and with Valentine’s Day rapidly approaching couples up and down the country will doubtlessly buy one another expensive gifts of jewellery.
Hiscox home insurance expert Austyn Tusler said that people who receive expensive jewellery gifts ought to inform not just their friends but also their insurer.
Independent jewellery consultant John Benjamin explained that a number of factors, including high commodity prices, the VAT rise and a florushing global market, had combined to create an exceptionally strong jewellery market.
Benjamin went on to warn that people who had not had their jewellery revalued in the last two to three years ran the risk of being under-insured.
Last year Hiscox revealed that wedding presents had a total value of up to £12,000 and made an increased level of home contents coverage essential.
Two million Aviva with-profits policyholders will have their annual bonuses frozen but will benefit from a rise in final bonus rates, following a 12 per cent increase in the value of its main fund in 2010.
The regular bonus rate for Aviva’s new business bonds will remain at 2.75 per cent and the regular bonus rate for new pensions will also stay at 3.25 per cent. Regular bonus rates for conventional policies, including endowments will stay at 2010 rates. Market value reductions (MVRs) on with-profits policies will fall by an average of 4 per cent.
The news came alongside reports that the main Aviva with-profits fund grew by around 12 per cent in 2010 while the total value of all the providers’ with-profits funds reached £49bn.
Save big with home insurance credits
When looking for ways to save on home insurance, many homeowners stop at a smoke detector, a security system and a multiline discount for insuring your home and vehicle with the same company.
But property and casualty companies have a variety of other lesser-known credits available that can shave your homeowners insurance premium by up to 25 percent.
“Mitigating loss is a big part of who we are and what we do,” says Sean Meehan, second vice president of property strategy and design for Travelers Insurance of Hartford, Conn.