1^st Central has significantly ramped up its fight against insurance fraud, to include the formation of a new   29 member strong, cross-business counter fraud team. The dedicated team has been established over the past three months under the management of Glen Marr, who joined 1^st Central in December 2011 as Director of Fraud.

Committed to protecting honest policyholders, 1^st Central has also embraced the opportunity to work alongside the industry to tackle fraud, and already successfully referred a number of cases to the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), who it is working closely with. Recognising the value of a collaborative industry fraud strategy, the company is seconding its newest recruit to the fraud team to the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) for up to six months. Luke Brennand, will begin his secondment with the IFB in May, undertaking a wide variety of roles including research, analysis and operational development.  1^st Central is also represented on the newly formed IFB Technical Board.

Glen Marr, Director of Fraud at 1^st Central comments: “We are passionate about driving down the cost of motor insurance for our honest policyholders, and our zero tolerance of fraud supports this business goal.   We’ve moved swiftly on a number of fronts over the past three months to robustly tackle application and claims fraud, and our fraud prevention and detection strategy incorporates industry collaboration.  We look forward to Luke’s secondment and working very closely with the IFB”.

Phil Bird, IFB Director, concludes: “At the heart of the industry’s fight against organised insurance fraud, the IFB welcomes opportunities to exchange knowledge, skills and experience with our partners. The IFB has provided a number of secondment opportunities and continues to host tailored training workshops, as requested by our customers.

“1^st Central’s six month secondment will see Luke immersed in everything from handling incoming fraud intelligence to developing live Police operations. We look forward to welcoming Luke to our team in May.”

Association of British Investigators Joins IQ

The UK’s leading trade body for Investigators in the private sector, the Association of British Investigators has become the first industry association to become a member of Industry Qualifications (IQ). The ABI has become both a member of IQ Qualifications and IQ Resources. The ABI Academy will work with IQ on the development of qualifications for investigators, promoting IQ qualifications within its membership, and the development and sale of training courses and materials to support IQ programmes.

Gavin Robertson, ABI Governing Council member with responsibility for Strategy, Qualifications and Regulation said “The agreement to work with IQ comes at a critical time for the investigations sector. The considerations of the Leveson enquiry and the renewed interest in licensing private investigators are raising the profile of education and qualifications in the sector. The ABI will play a central role in these developments and further strengthening our relationship with IQ is part of our strategic response to the
challenges and opportunities that will arise”.

As a result of the agreement, ABI will assist IQ in the development of qualifications for the sector, provide subject experts for IQ quality assurance activities in the sector and provide access to IQ awards for its members. IQ will assist ABI by providing strategic advice on education and qualification issues, and assist the ABI establish and promote its learning programmes.

Raymond Clarke, Chief Executive of IQ said, “This is a significant development for IQ on two counts. Firstly, it provides IQ with a strategically significant sector partner in advance of the licensing of the investigatory sector, and confirms our commitment to the sector. The opportunity to access the expertise of ABI members and networks will do much to ensure the quality of the IQ product and our responsiveness to sector needs”.

“Secondly, ABI becomes the first trade body to become a member of IQ. Whilst we anticipate significant growth in the membership of representative bodies in the coming months, across a wide range of sectors, the ABI is an important first for IQ. We are very pleased to have secured the involvement of such a distinguished and significant body at such an important time in the development of their industry sector”.

Further details:
Industry Qualifications (IQ) provides a new approach to the operation of an awarding organisation and is approved by UK qualifications regulators, including Ofqual. It is a mutual awarding organisation that is owned by its members working across a range of economic sectors. IQ values partnership and enjoys a world class reputation for the integrity of its assessment, governance and relationship with stakeholders.

The Association of British Investigators (ABI) is the longest established organisation representing professional Private Investigators in the UK with its foundations laid way back in 1913. With the absence of any statutory control of the investigation industry in the UK the Association recognised the need for self-regulation many years ago and set very high standards to meet the criteria for membership opting for quality rather than quantity.

1^st Central has appointed Peak Marketing & Communication Services (Peak) to support its strategic business objective of increasing its brand awareness and market voice.

Founded by Ken Acott, Pat Tilley and Peter Creed (formerly Chief Executive, Finance Director and Head of Underwriting at Zenith Insurance), the specialist UK motor insurer has enjoyed exponential growth since its launch in 2008.  A period of investment in the business throughout 2011 has seen the company reinforce its management team with recognised market experts, embed a scalable policy administration platform which is equipped for further growth, integrate advanced fraud detection technology and implement a sophisticated end-to-end claims management system.  Expanding its footprint in West Sussex, the company has opened a third office and seen staff numbers grow to more than 450 since launch.

Ken Acott, CEO, 1^st Central comments: “Our fourth year of trading sees us as an established motor insurer with a growing reputation for driving down the cost of motor insurance.  Operationally we are extremely agile and strategically we have the expertise to remain highly competitive and profitable in this very complex market.  We are poised for further growth and the time is now right for us to make our voice heard.  Peak came highly recommended and we look forward to a rewarding partnership.”

Anne Staunton, managing director, Peak concludes: “1^st Central’s entrepreneurial culture and approach to the market makes it an exciting brand to be managing.  This is a dynamic time to be partnering with the business and we are delighted to have been selected by Ken and his team.”

ENDS

For further information please contact:

1^st Central Press Office
Nicky Godfrey / Hayley Tea
020 8661 2444
nicky.godfrey@peak-marketing.co.uk / Hayley.tea@peak-marketing.co.uk

The Insurance Fraud Investigators Group (IFIG) has appointed Peak Marketing & Communication Services, to manage its press office and provide PR and member communications support.

IFIG will be increasing member value with the provision of informed internal communications linked to industry issues and opportunities for member organisations to gain profile by participating in IFIG PR campaigns.  The IFIG press office will manage and respond to all media enquiries, inviting members to collaborate when relevant.

David Phillips, Chairman, IFIG comments: “IFIG members are counter fraud practitioners working at the coal face.  Fraud is high profile with the media and we are seeing increased numbers of journalist enquiries.  Appointing a professional communications consultancy will ensure that we manage our relationships with the media to best effect for our members.  We are delighted to be partnering with Peak who are recognised as experts in the market.”

Anne Staunton, managing director, Peak said: “We look forward to managing and building the IFIG brand and working with the members to promote fraud deterrent and detection messages based on their success stories.”

For further information please contact:

IFIG Press Office
Nicky Godfrey / Anne Staunton
020 8661 2444
nicky.godfrey@peak-marketing.co.uk / anne.staunton@peak-marketing.co.uk

The insurance industry traditionally has been slow to embrace new ideas, but an ever increasing number of organisations across all industry sectors are realising the benefits of using social media as a strategic business tool. Those that continue to ignore social media are potentially exposing their companies to business risk.

Peak’s Social Media Start-Up Package can be integrated with any existing marketing
strategy and shows clients how to gain extra brand exposure, communicate new products, share knowledge, increase search engine optimisation by driving more visitors to their website and build a community around their brand. Organisations in both business to business and business to consumer sectors can develop an online brand presence at minimal cost. SMEs have the opportunity to level the playing field when competing with large companies.

Anne Staunton, Peak’s managing director explains: “Many in the industry are aware they are losing ground by not embracing social media to encourage customer loyalty and reach new customers. Often the inertia comes from fear of the unknown or a belief it will be too costly or time consuming, which isn’t the case. The smart competition is already involved and can and will poach customers and increase market share using this cost effective medium.”

Delivered in four stages the package provides: advice on setting strategic objectives and measures for social media activity; identification of suitable content and frequency ensuring consistent messages are being communicated to the target audience; a 3 month tactical plan and a set of social media guidelines to educate employees on the organisation’s social media policy. As part of the package, Peak sets the business up with profiles on three key social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and streams all these accounts into one manageable control panel for business efficiency.

For further information on the Social Media Start-Up Package from Peak visit:www.peak-marketing.co.uk/socialmedia.html

[Ends]

About Peak
Founded in 2006, Peak is a PR and marketing consultancy offering a full range of traditional and digital solutions to create, support, grow and protect an organisation’s brand and reputation. We focus on outcomes, building brand identity and personality, awareness, credibility, value and preferentiality; ensuring that our activities directly deliver against our clients’ business goals.
www.peak-marketing.co.uk

For further information about Peak Marketing & Communications and theSocial Media Start-Up Package please contact:

Kelly Cody / Anne Staunton
Peak Marketing & Communication Services Limited

020 8661 2444
Kelly.cody@peak-marketing.co.uk / Anne.staunton@peak-marketing.co.uk

RDT has increased its team by 66% in the last 12 months.  This expansion is to support the continued demand for Landscape from both new and existing customers.  The recruitment drive represents a stark contrast to employment trends in the market.  The company has also doubled the size of its Head Office in Kent and opened an office in Adelaide, Australia.

Mark Bates, CEO, RDT says: “Our continued success comes from our focus on a single platform – Landscape. We support a growing insurer community and our business remains agile and able to respond to their needs.  Unlike others in the market, our service is not compromised by the requirement to maintain and support multiple, aged platforms.”

RDT has recruited across the board including business analysts, developers, project managers and support staff for its UK offices in Kent and Halifax.  As a Microsoft Gold Partner the company has welcomed an apprentice from the Microsoft IT Academy Programme. Plans are also in place to develop a formal RDT Graduate Development Programme this year.

ENDS

For further information about RDT please contact:

Nicky Godfrey / Anne Staunton
Peak Marketing & Communication Services Limited
020 8661 2444
Nicky.godfrey@peak-marketing.co.uk / Anne.staunton@peak-marketing.co.uk

Association of British Investigators comments on how the majority of UK insurers have cleaned up their act and are very strict on the data they accept from private investigators.

Read full article http://tinyurl.com/7qjd96z

Article on how house rebuilding costs are showing signs of moderating.

The annual rise in the UK’s index of house rebuilding costs (produced by the Building Cost Information Service of RICS) is showing signs of moderating.

Escape of water (EoW) claims have pushed their way to the top of the insurance industry agenda over the past couple of years as they increase in cost, frequency and complexity. ABI figures from November 2011 put the cost to the industry at £2m a day.

Last winter saw unprecedented levels of EoW claims. Although claims levels to date this winter have remained lower, the Great British Weather – as experienced in the last two weeks – is proving it may still have some life in it yet. Last year’s surge caught many off guard and exposed weaknesses in the traditional process for handing EoW claims. While every surge situation is different and poses new challenges, what lessons were learnt and how can the industry be better prepared for future events?

An obvious solution to limiting the occurrence of EoW claims requires a change in building practices. Unlike many other countries, in the UK we have traditionally installed pipe work in uninsulated parts of buildings such as the loft. This, naturally, increases the risk of burst pipes in cold snaps.  However, preventative measures mean that increasingly pipes are being better located and insulated in new building and during renovation works. This, combined with growth in the use of plastic piping, should eventually lead to an overall fall in EoW claims longer term. In the meantime, however, what else can be done to protect those homeowners still at risk?

Merlin firmly believes that the key to limiting EoW claims is the education of policyholders on the simple yet effective measures they can take that have been proven to reduce the likelihood of a claim. Lagging pipes, ensuring heating is left on, or a system is dried down if properties are empty for extended periods, will all contribute to safeguarding property. Another possible area for insurers to consider is the promotion of water flow control devices that can help limit damage should a pipe burst. In the last six months, Merlin has worked with two leading insurer clients on campaigns to educate policyholders that it believes ultimately translates into cost savings for the insurers, builds reputation and adds value for policyholders.

In the event of high claims volumes, Merlin’s experience of last year’s winter surge highlighted the key factors required to limit the claims lifecycle and cost and ensure a positive policyholder experience. First, and foremost – communication. Clear and regular communication is essential to manage customer expectations and ensure clarity around the claim’s progress. Secondly – speed of response.  Delays in getting to policyholders increases the likelihood of secondary damage and therefore higher claims costs, while the customer meanwhile feels unvalued and unsupported. Merlin implemented a dedicated EoW hub which, as a centralised unit, ensured the right people got to the right claims quickly and efficiently. Combining this with streamlined supply chain management meant policyholders were reinstated in their homes at the earliest opportunity. Insurer clients saw a reduction in claims costs and an increase in policyholder satisfaction as a result. The EoW hub was a resounding success and is now an integral part of Merlin’s winter surge strategy.

Leading market supplier of packaged insurance systems, RDT, has today launched the first in a series of mobile applications. The iphone/ipad application delivers Landscape business managers with real-time management information direct to their mobile device.

In keeping with RDT’s reputation for innovation and thought leadership, this powerful
application delivers meaningful data to those that most need it. Landscape customers
already have access to extensive MI; this new application means their business information is now available anytime, anywhere.

Mark Bates, RDT’s chief executive says: “There are many ways mobile devices can assist our customers and together we are reviewing the opportunities from a product distribution and claims perspective. As a first step we have developed a sophisticated MI app to deliver instant value, giving senior business managers immediate access to key real time business data.”

The new application will deliver access to live data showing new business, MTA’s, renewals, cancellations and claims. The application provides GWP information with options to compare with historical data – see Editors notes for screen shot. All the data is streamed securely to and from the device and refreshed/updated in seconds.

Bate’s continues “The current financial climate is driving insurers to maintain an even sharper focus on underwriting for profit. We appreciate that in order to make informed decisions senior business stakeholders need to be empowered with real-time information. Our mobile application frees senior executives from their PCs whilst still allowing them to tap into critical data. This app is the first in a series of innovative, mobile products designed and developed to meet the specific needs of our customers.”

ENDS
Editors Notes:
Screen shot of RDT Mobile Application

About RDT
RDT is the market leading supplier of packaged insurance systems and rating engine
software with a strong reputation for delivering on time and on budget.

Founded in 1991, the company has a wealth of experience in delivering solutions for the
insurance market with its flagship packaged application Landscape.

Landscape is a functionally rich, user-friendly solution which gives customers the ability to support growth and change, the speed to accelerate products to markets and the power to deliver unparalleled business processing.

RDT understands the insurance industry is an increasingly dynamic environment, both within the enterprise, where business strategies shift, and outside the enterprise, where opportunities and threats constantly emerge. To be competitive IT must be simplified and business processes streamlined, liberating staff to focus on delivering excellent service.

Renowned for innovation, RDT launched the industry’s first website to allow real-time policy placement in 1995 and the first rating engine in the Cloud in February 2011. This latest landmark helps transform the way insurers harness technology on a demand-led basis.

RDT extended its global reach in 2010 when it opened its first office in Australia.
A large number of leading insurers including RBS, Towergate, Sterling, Direct Line, Provident, Canopius, Equity and Markerstudy are supported by Landscape.
www.rdt.co.uk

For further information about RDT please contact:

Nicky Godfrey / Anne Staunton
Peak Marketing & Communication Services Limited
020 8661 2444
Nicky.godfrey@peak-marketing.co.uk / Anne.staunton@peak-marketing.co.uk