A big jump for saving lives at Sea

A big jump for saving lives! 
 
The remote control bouy - yey for technology

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Perth Insurance Broker Permantly banned missappropriation 250,000

ASIC has announced that a former insurance broker has been permanently banned from the financial services industry.

Sergio Amaranti, formerly of Phoenix Insurance Brokers, has been banned following an ASIC investigation which found he had directed more than $250,000 worth of client refunds to accounts held in his name.

 Extract ASIC Nov 2016

Perth-based Amaranti was employed as a director of Phoenix Insurance Brokers from January 2002 to February 2005, having worked as a senior insurance broker with the firm from 2000 to November 2015.

The investigation found that Amaranti had engaged in “misleading and deceptive conduct and dishonest conduct in relation to client funds” as he was the signatory of the trust account held by Phoenix and held an individual code and password to finalise transactions including client refunds.

Amaranti spread funds owed to clients as a result of refunds from policy cancellations, adjustments or negotiated discounts totalling approximately $254,000 between various personal accounts held in his name.

Amaranti has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision
 
 

Why It Matters If Your Customer Has Business Interruption Insurance

As credit managers, we often get mired into performing the same daily activities. For example, if a new customer requires more than $5,000 in credit, we might only need a credit report. If the credit required increases to $20,000 then confirmation of several trade references might be in order. If this customer requires more than $100,000 then we might look at financial statements or obtain a personal guarantee. We all understand that as the credit limit required increases, the more the customer’s credit worthiness needs to be confirmed.

There comes a point when some customers may become so much a part of our own growth that if the customer ever has a sudden calamity which brings their operation to a complete halt, it could have a devastating impact on our own business. Knowing that our major customer has a Business Interruption Insurance policy as an integral part of their total risk management system, may be a valuable part of our own credit evaluation process.

Events that cause a business to temporarily stop operating entirely seem to have increased in number and variety, as well as severity. In the past few years alone, we’ve seen crazy natural disasters that have included the tsunami that devastated Fukushima, Japan, Hurricane Sandy, tornadoes across the Midwest and even as recently, the storms devastating South Carolina, to mention just a few.

Although I don’t claim to be an expert in the General Property & Casualty insurance products arena, I view some of the P&C products as effective direct extensions of what we do, which is to mitigate trade credit risks, protect cash flow, and preserve the equity that businesses work so hard to accumulate.

Business Interruption Insurance is generally designed to cover the income a company loses when it has temporarily stopped doing all business because of events beyond its control. It can also cover major expenses needed to get back into business and is an extra layer of protection that goes beyond more common insurance policies.

For example, if a factory burns down, Property Insurance can be used to cover the damages to a large extent but it won’t cover the potential income lost by what the factory manufactured and sold, or all of the expenses that might be necessary to continue operations. A typical Business Interruption Insurance policy will provide coverage for several major items:

• The profits on sales the company would have earned if the loss had not occurred.
• Normal operating expenses, even though the business is temporarily closed. This includes employees’ wages to keep them on staff rather than laying them off for an extended period of time.
• The expense of moving the company to a temporary location and the cost to rent a new facility, or to build a new facility, whichever may be deemed more expedient and cost effective, as well as the costs of restarting up the business.

The payout amounts that a policyholder usually receives from Business Interruption Insurance are based on historic records of income and expenses. Historical financial statements and related documents (payroll records, accounts payable journals) need to be submitted to the carrier before any claim can be paid. As part of the policy processing, all copies of the necessary records should be held in possession by the carrier and agent with annual updates. This helps facilitate the claim process.

In most cases, Business Interruption Insurance providers include clear clauses in the policy concerning what will trigger a loss. In general, coverage will start a few days after the incident and reasonably last until the business is up and running again at their existing or new location.

Unfortunately, what Business Interruption Insurance doesn’t cover sufficiently are your payment obligations to commercial vendors who have already sold you their materials and other products or goods that were previously used in your manufacturing process. When the Business Interruption Insurance carrier looks to make vendor payments, they will examine the previous one or two years of invoices and compute an average, which may work in favor of the vendor or significantly shortchange them. Or, more likely, it will be up to you to make all payments to vendors for past invoices out of the insurance proceeds. The problem with this is that insurance payments for lost income are initially applied to the basics of recovery and not necessarily on what was owed at the time.

As credit managers, Business Interruption Insurance can be your good customer’s recovery safety net until they have indeed recovered. But don’t forsake Credit Insurance. Business Interruption ONLY responds in case of a covered physical loss at covered locations. Conversely, Credit Insurance widely extends your safety net from being highly impacted by your customer’s unexpected inability to pay you.

Article Extracted from Coface 2015.10.26

Steadfast announces booming Profits

Steadfast has announced “strong revenue and earnings growth,” in its 2016 financial year results.

Robert Kelly, managing director and CEO of Steadfast, said that the business is “pleased with the solid performance” of Steadfast’s brokers and agencies as the business continues to diversify.

“The acquisitions made in FY15 overall are performing in line with expectations, with the two transformational agency acquisitions performing ahead of expectations,” Kelly said.

“Steadfast Underwriting Agencies now contribute 45% of our earnings, compared with 18% two years ago.”

The broker network saw gross written premium placed by Steadfast Network brokers rise by 4.2% to $4.5 billion while underlying revenue increase by 54% to $459.5 million, as NPATA grew 45% to $82m.

The GWP growth placed by brokers was “driven by organic growth and new brokers,” according to a release from the business as organic GWP growth was up 1.5% “due to relatively flat pricing and higher volumes,” the release continued.

GWP placed by Steadfast Underwriting Agencies hit $745 million, up 94% compared with FY15 thanks to the agency acquisitions of Calliden and QBE which have “transformed Steadfast Underwriting Agencies into the largest agency group in Australia.”

Kelly noted that two new strategic initiatives, Steadfast Client Trading Platform and Steadfast Underwriting Agencies London ‘super’ binder, have helped the Group over the past year and will “generate upside to our Network and to the Group’s profitability.”

For the coming year, Kelly said that while the market may continue to be flat, the Group expects good organic growth.

“Based on a continued flat pricing environment and no material acquisitions, we expect underlying NPATA of $85m to $90m for FY17,” Kelly continued.

“The majority of this expected growth is organic and includes projected returns from the two new strategic initiatives.”

Steadfast is a member group of Brokers throughout  Australia and Asia

Recommended Steadfast member Broker in Perth WA Western Australia

 Call  93688999

Central Insurance Brokers - Est: 1980

Steadfast share prices 

 

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Cyber attack shuts down Census site

 
Thousands of Australians were prevented from taking part in the national census yesterday as overseas hackers were blamed for a cyber attack which took the website offline.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said that the census site came under four separate attacks yesterday with the final attack serious enough to see the department shut down the site.

“The 2016 online Census form was subject to four Denial of Service attacks yesterday of varying nature and severity,” David W Kalisch, Australian statistician, said in a statement.

“The first three caused minor disruption but more than 2m forms were successfully submitted and safely stored.

“After the fourth attack, just after 730pm, the ABS took the precaution of closing down the system to ensure the integrity of the data.

“Steps have been taken during the night to remedy these issues, and I can reassure Australians that their data are secure at the ABS.”

In an interview with ABC NewsRadio, Kalisch said that the ABS believes the attack came from “overseas.”

“It was an attack, and we believe from overseas," Kalisch said.

"The Australian Signals Directorate are investigating, but they did note that it was very difficult to source the attack."

Attorney-General George Brandis told the ABC that security measures put in place were "more than sufficient to protect individual privacy."

"The cyber security operations centre has been engaged overnight," Brandis continued.

"It is investigating the matter."

Timothy Pilgrim, Australian Privacy Commissioner, said that an investigation into the attacks would be launched to ensure personal data remains secure.

"My first priority is to ensure that no personal information has been compromised as a result of these attacks," Pilgrim said.

"My office will continue to work with the ABS to ensure they are taking appropriate steps to protect the personal information collected through the census."

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Insurance sector Media blamed for industry’s bad rep

 
 extract Insonlone june 2016
Professor Allan Manning, industry leader and managing director of LMI Group, has criticised the media for releasing unbalanced insurance reports, and accuses the sector of being its worst enemy in a blog post published last week.

Manning said that the media focused on a handful of unlikely-to-be-insured houses beside the ocean instead of the 14,500 claims − the Insurance Council of Australia had received in the wake of storms – that are being assessed and paid.

He also noted the lack of criticism for the local authorities who permitted the development, or for the homeowners themselves.

Said Manning, news organisations focus on the bad news because this attracts readers, viewers, or listeners. With high ratings, organisations can retain or increase their rates to advertisers. This, Manning noted, is where the irony in all of these comes in.

“If you watch the commercial television channels, listen to commercial radio channels you will hear and see, they are one of the biggest advertisers used by the insurance industry.”

“So our industry gets demonised as being uncaring and horrible people whom (sic) look for ways not to pay claims by the media. To counteract this, and win back customer support for our vital service and protection, we as an industry advertise more on the very stations that damage the brand insurance in the first place!”

Manning also blames the industry for advertising their products to the same media that gives them bad press.

“As an industry, I sometimes think we are our own worst enemy. We are the pawns falling for a three card trick orchestrated by the media barons.”

Manning clarified that he doesn’t wish the media to be gagged, only that it should be fair and unbiased in its insurance reports.  

He says that that negative image of insurance demotivates people in the industry from doing their job, prevents good people from joining the industry, as well as allows decision-makers who keep putting home and business owners in risk-prone areas to avoid their responsibility.