Solving subsidence using pioneering technology
25 May 2018As many property owners and insurance professionals will agree, subsidence of a property is devastating news for the owner.
As many property owners and insurance professionals will agree, subsidence of a property is devastating news for the owner.
“The whole question here is: am I a monster, or a victim myself?”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime was a rallying call to treat the symptoms of criminal – often violent – activity that threatened a civil breakdown in society more than a decade ago. Recently released crime figures have been a sobering reminder that we have some way to go before we adequately treat the causes.
The omni-present Kardashian family are well known for being relentless trend-setters; however the aggravated robbery of Kim Kardashian last October was one trend we would rather not keep up with.
Unfortunately, the scary fact is that this high profile robbery does reflect something we’ve witnessed here at Covéa Insurance. In the past five years I’ve seen significant increase in the number of aggravated burglaries, particularly of HNW properties, which can leave customers severely traumatised and suffering from physical injury.
Against a constantly changing claims landscape, insurers must offer services that meet their customers' needs and expectations. As a result, and following an extensive review, Allianz is proposing to combine its commercial and household claims units to create one property claims team in Milton Keynes.
Our review showed there were clear strengths and opportunities in doing this, enabling our customers to benefit from a claims service that suits their requirements, whatever the future brings.
I remember sitting next to the head of a major broking house not that long ago and we were discussing how surprising it was that the Gulf of Mexico hadn’t experienced a major hurricane since 2008, which then led onto a discussion of the frequency of major claims.
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ("DPA") have been used in the United States for many years. DPAs allow companies to take certain steps (either by way of reparation or ensuring that certain offences are not repeated) during a supervisory period and the trade off is that the company and/or the directors will not be prosecuted. Following the expiry of this period no further action is taken. DPAs are now to be found in UK law in Schedule 17 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 ("CCA 2013"), although as of this date this Schedule is still not yet in force.
What recent parliamentary Act has “the potential to be the most significant piece of legislation for health and safety law in 40 years”?
In an article I recently read by Helen Grimberg of law firm Berrymans Lace Mawer, it's the recently adopted Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.
According to Grimberg, the act "Once implemented, it will allow for the removal of strict liability, in civil claims, for breaches of certain health and saftey regulations"