NFU Mutual has announced record profits of over £1 billion compared to £359 million in 2015. As a result, farmers who insure with the firm are in line to pick up a significant discount thanks to the Mutual Bonus Scheme offered to members: this is a percentage of renewal premiums and is expected to be notably higher than previous years. Lutine has launched a new business protection product to help companies protect themselves from the financial impact of losing a key talent due to illness, injury or death. The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has issued an apology after a serious blunder meant a complaint wasn't actioned in over a month. The trade body has now promised to investigate the error after concerns were raised following how it had audited a member. Attention will focus on a review to look at how complaints are handled in the future to make the system failsafe. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has said he will ask the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to be mindful of the new gadget restrictions on inbound flights from several nations in North Africa and the Middle East. Grayling made the statement before Parliament in response to a question that the new restrictions would put affected devices at risk of theft or damage. Martin Turner, a former Claims Manager at Indemnity Risk Solutions, which is owned by Arthur J. Gallagher has been sentenced to five years for stealing more than £1.8 million from his employer. According to the City of London Police, Turner doctored insurance claims emails from June 2012 to July 2016 to ensure payments were made to third parties for personal items and services including house renovations, luxury cars and mortgage clearance. Brokers are being urged to talk to their clients about the value of accurately assessing their belongings after new research from Admiral Home Insurance, which surveyed 1,000 people across the UK, asked homeowners and renters to estimate the value of their contents. Amazingly, the average figure came in at just £22,267 – some £20,000 less than the real average contents value of £43,629. Outgoing AIG CEO, Peter Hancock will pick up a windfall of $5 million in addition to his regular pay “for service through the transition period”, despite a series of setbacks, including a $3 billion loss in the last quarter. He will not, however, pick up a short-term incentive award for 2016 which was reported to have been worth around $3.2 million. The reason why this incentive was dismissed has not been officially revealed. Research from Saga has found that animals caused more than £600,000 in damage to vehicles driven by over 50s last year. The research showed that deer were the top cause, with £360,000 worth of damage in the last 12 months.

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The chairman of China’s Anbang Insurance Group has hinted at the possibility of acquiring European businesses. It has been reported that Anbang Chairman, Wu Xiaohui is bullish on making investments in Europe as he has stated that the European assets are “very cheap” and that Chinese investors can take advantage of cheap funding to acquire companies with good technology. Leading international Insurer RSA, has begun trading PI and Financial Risks on the London insurance market’s electronic placing platform PPL (Placing Platform Ltd), which enables Brokers and Underwriters to quote, negotiate, bind and endorse business using one market-wide system. SchemeServe's Ed Halsey has spoken about how the Insurance Act has impacted delegated authority business. The Insurance Act has meant a number of changes have been made to the sale and distribution of insurance which has a direct impact not just on Insurers but also the booming schemes market predicated on the delegated authority model. Bexhill UK, a premium finance provider for Brokers, has launched a new leasing service to put leasing arrangements in place for broking firms or their clients. Bexhill explained that these arrangements are usually used for commercial investments such as new IT systems, motor fleets or other large scale commercial equipment. CFC's founder and Chief Executive David Walsh and the rest of the management team have agreed to buy the business with the support of Vitruvian Partners. According to media reports the deal is worth £220m. Prospero Insurance Brokers has opened a branch in Edinburgh. The business is an appointed representative of Momentum Broker Solutions and will focus on Private Client cover for high value homes, prestige vehicles, art collections, wine cellars and jewellery. The organisation said it wants to employ school and college leavers from the area and offer an alternative to going to university. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has again warned of spoof emails that it has not sent. The watchdog reported in a statement on Tuesday 21 March, that it was "aware that an email has been sent which appears to be from fca.updates@fca.org.uk". The statement continued: "This email was not sent by the FCA and recipients should delete the email without opening." Coversure Insurance has opened a new office in Bingley under the leadership of Reana Bashir. The move marks the second office for Bashir who also started a franchise in Keighley in March 2015. The new office takes the franchise’s network up to 94 offices.

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Markel International, the specialist Insurer, has appointed Claire Lane as Senior Equine Claims Adjuster and Monica Novella as Assistant Cargo Underwriter in Marine, Engergy and Property. Autonet Insurance Services, the digitally focused insurance Broker specialising in Van and Car insurance, has appointed Scott Greenhill as Director of Underwriting and Steve Murphy as Director of Commercial Trading. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed the appointment of Nick Stace as a Non-Executive Director to its board. LV= has announced that it has appointed Alan Hickman to the newly created role of Head of Digital Capability and Delivery for General Insurance with immediate effect. XL Catlin has appointed James Tuplin as its new Head of Cyber & Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT), International and Tim McMahon as Global Chief Underwriting Officer for Property. The Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) has announced the five successful candidates for membership of its Board: Neil Maidment, Chief Underwriting Officer at Beazley Furlonge; Paul Jardine, Chief Executive Officer at Catlin Underwriting Agencies; Matthew Wilson, Chief Executive Officer at Brit Syndicates; Tom Clementi, Chief Executive Officer at MS Amlin Underwriting and Julian Tighe, Chief Executive Officer at Asta Managing Agency. US-based global Broker AmWINS Group, Inc. has announced the appointment of Perry Lyons as Motor Fleet Underwriter for its London-based MGA Unicorn Underwriting (Unicorn). The Financial Conduct Authority Chairman, John Griffith-Jones, has announced the appointment of Craig Errington as the new Chair for the FCA’s independent Smaller Business Practitioner Panel. Ed, the global reinsurance, wholesale and specialty group has announced the appointment of Joanne Merrick as Head of Legal, Risk and Compliance.

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