ILC ARTICLE

ILC Breakfast News – Wednesday 20 April    

19th April 2022

Motor

Register Now…

In this special personal injury claims focused webinar we look at what impact last year’s reforms have had on the sector, how the OIC portal is working and what is in store for the future.

Featuring:

Donna Scully – Director, Carpenters Group
Matthew Maxwell-Scott – Executive Director, The ACSO
Samantha Ramen – Director of Market Affairs, Keoghs

AkzoNobel launches inclusivity network

AkzoNobel has launched a Vibe employee network to promote inclusion throughout the workforce. The network joins a series of internal communities already established around LGBTI+, gender and disability inclusion.

Francis Bracke-Schroder, Director of Communications, Culture and Change, said, “We’re excited to keep on connecting, learning and ‘vibing’ with each other as this network grows.” 

esure secures green certification

Synetiq has launched a new sustainability certification scheme which encourages companies to use green parts by calculating the CO2 savings they could make. 

The first certificate recipient is esure, after it purchased more than 3,300 green parts in the last year, achieving a combined saving of more than 79,000kg of CO2 equivalent.

NBRA backs skills petition

The NBRA is supporting a petition to government launched by Ingenia Recruitment and backed by the IMI to allow businesses in the automotive industry to recruit workers from overseas to address the skills gap.

Steve Nash, CEO of the IMI, said, “Currently the sector has over 23,000 vacancies, which equates to four per cent of the workforce. Other solutions must be found and one such solution is for the key automotive technical roles to be added to the UK Government’s Shortage Occupation List, facilitating easier recruitment of talent from abroad.”

People and Skills WebinARC

In this webinARC we look at the latest trends in recruitment, upskilling and wellbeing from a industry undergoing rapid evolution. 

Featuring:

– Helen Driscoll, Head of Human Resources, The Vella Group
– Dean Lander, Head of Repair Sector Services, Thatcham Research
– Edwyn van Rooyen, CEO, T-Cup

Audatex offering free apprenticeship training

Audatex is offering one apprentice a month a free spot on its AudaEnterpriseGold certification course. The two-day course provides apprentices with AEG certification in vehicle damage assessment and is being introduced to help tackle the crippling skills shortage in the sector.

The new initiative is being introduced with the support of the NBRA and automotive apprentice charity AutoRaise.

Repairify launches remote service

Repairify UK is launching a new initiative that could reduce remote diagnostics, ADAS calibrations, coding and programming prices by as much as 45%. Available to asTech and RED (EU) customers, the Repairify Remote Services Pledge sees IMI certified and ADAS trained technicians carry out diagnostic scans and resets, and ADAS calibrations according to UK Insurance Industry Requirements.

This enables repairers to benefit from new income streams while at the same time reducing key-to-key times by not outsourcing or hiring subcontractors.

Home

CoreLogic named Headline Sponsor

I Love Claims (ILC) corporate partner CoreLogic has been named as Headline Sponsor of the ILC Home and Commercial Claims Networking Lunch.

The event takes place at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London on 13 May, with former international footballer and television pundit Ally McCoist announced as guest speaker.

Gelder Group order book tops £5m

Gelder Group’s Insurance Repair & Renovation Division has reported a 50% increase in claims numbers in the last six months, leading to an order book value in excess of £5m.

Director Louisa Sharpe said, “Orders have seen month-on-month increases, partly on the back of the February storms but largely due to the standing and reputation Gelder’s IRR Division holds within the industry.”

Hail the hot topic

The impact of hail on claims is the latest topic addressed in CoreLogic’s podcast series on the effects weather and climate have on the home insurance market.

Taking part in the Core Conversation is host Maiclaire Bolton-Smith and CoreLogic meteorologist Curtis McDonald, who discuss the level of damage caused by hail and how that damage is measured.

ClaimsTech

THL acquires AI innovator

Private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL) has become the majority shareholder in Carpe Data, which uses algorithms and AI to turn alternative data into predictive insights for insurers.

Following the deal, Carpe Data’s leadership team continues to hold a meaningful stake in the company.

Major backing for EvolutionIQ

Fast-growing claims guidance platform EvolutionIQ has raised $21m in Series A funding, with support from Brewer Lane Ventures and further participation from all major seed investors. Meanwhile, new investment came from Altai Ventures and Asymmetric Capital Partners. 

EvolutionIQ will use the additional funding to expand its engineering, data science, product, and customer services teams.

eDriving secures international partnership

eDriving, a Solera company which provides digital risk management solutions, has agreed an international collaboration with tech giant Bosch Service Solutions and Sfara, which supplies smartphone-based collision detection and personal safety technology.

As a result of the collaboration, eDriving’s driver safety app Mentor will now integrate the Bosch emergency call service, which uses Sfara’s Automatic Crash Detection and Personal SOS technology.

Industry News

Rising Star: Paul Cadman, Claims Handler – Davies Group

“The thing that I find most interesting about my role is the variety of claims that I see on a daily basis. No two claims are the same and it really gives me an opportunity to develop my problem solving skills.”

Read the full ILC Rising Star Interview

Half of UK braced for tough times

More than 22 million UK adults (42%) say they expect their finances to worsen before June. According to the quarterly LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Monitor, which surveyed 4,000 adults, 44% said their finances had worsened in the first quarter of the year and nearly the same number again expected the situation to deteriorate further in the second quarter.

An increase in outgoings was the major factor for 58% of those surveyed, while 23% said they were saving less than they were three months ago.

Francis secures top job

Specialist insurance provider CFC Underwriting has appointed Roger Francis to the newly-created role of Managing Director of CFC Response.

He will be responsible for a team of more than 100 global incident responders and cyber security specialists operating across three global offices in London, the United States and Australia.

Insurers facing $20bn Ukraine bill

Verisk-owned PCS has estimated that the insurance and reinsurance loss from the conflict in Ukraine could exceed $20bn. Although information is still limited, it believes total losses will range from $13.05bn to more than $20bn.

The company said, “The conflict in Ukraine has the potential to become the largest industry-wide insured loss, across all classes of business, in history, even exceeding that of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.”