UK insurance on crest of a wave

Posted : 19-11-2004

The hurricane season in America may have put a dampener on many companies' profit margins, but most have been consoled by the booming UK market.

General insurance business in Britain has supplied large firms with some desperately needed respite after the worst American hurricane season in more than a century and that could mean cheaper insurance for UK home owners.

Zurich Financial Services, for example, has recently announced its third quarter results and revealed that the 2004 hurricane season has cost it $400 million.

However, offsetting that was the buoyant UK market in which Zurich managed to increase its net profits by over 35 per cent compared with 2003.

It also seems that home owners shopping round for an insurance deal could also benefit for increasingly cheap plans, as the slowing property market has been mirrored by an increase in insurance price competition.

Zurich, like other major firms, has also been helped during 2004 by an upturn in business volumes and it seems that increased demand for insurance could result in more competition in insurance rates, particularly between the major firms.
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