Revenue from insurance premium tax in the UK this year has been some £200m ($324m) below expectation, according to the UK's Pre Budget Report, released on Wednesday, indicating a multi-billion pound drop in premiums paid. At the same time, claims for fire damage and for theft have risen, a common occurrence during times of recession. An Association of British Insurers (ABI) report issued yesterday noted that insurers paid out £639m in the first half of 2009 as a result of fire claims, the highest level ever. This followed losses of £1.3bn in 2008, up 16% on the previous year. The ABI estimated that arson account for half of all commercial fires with socially deprived areas and schools particularly vulnerable. The ABI noted that the detection rate for arson was just 8%, a third of the average for all offences. Had 2009 not been particularly benign in weather terms, the bottom line for insurers would have been worse. Theft claims for the first half of the year were £239m, up 11% year on year.

European insurer Allianz has announced personnel changes in France and Germany, as well as a tweaking of its bonus system so that more emphasis is placed on the long term. In France, Allianz has gathered its large corporate and specialty risks into a single subsidiary — Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (France). Employing more than 400 staff and with EUR700m gross premium written in 2008, the new operation offers eight lines of business — property, liability, engineering, financial lines, marine, aviation, space risks and alternative risk transfer. Meanwhile, in Germany, changes are planned at Allianz Versicherung, which runs p/c business in the domestic market. CEO Thomas Pleines will take charge of claims handling in addition to his current duties. Karl-Walter Gutberlet will now be responsible for private accident, broker business and co-operation agreements, but not motor. Volker Steck will take over from Mr Gutberlet in the motor business, where Allianz has been losing market share for several years amidst stiff price competition from direct insurers. Walter Tesarczyk will take the helm at property, liability, legal expenses and marine. He was previously head of commercial business. The commercial/retail division will be abolished. Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty handles business with corporations of more than EUR500m turnover. Finally, Allianz has said that henceforth executive remuneration "will be tied even more closely to sustainability and long-term performance". The medium-term component in pay for senior managers will increase to a quarter of the total target compensation, up from 11%. An existing claw-back system will be strengthened. "Each year, one third of variable compensation will be paid out. On third will be set aside for the three-year bonus and the final third for equity-based remuneration", Allianz said.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's has upgraded the financial strength rating of Catlin Group's main subsidiaries from A- to A. At the same time, the rating for Catlin's Lloyd's Syndicate 2003 has been raised to 4 from 4-. S&P said the upgrade follows improvements to the group's financial profile and "strong enterprise risk management", which it said was "highly important given Catlin's expanding risk profile". The financial strength upgrade applies to Catlin's subsidiaries in Bermuda, the UK and its two units in the US. Stephen Catlin, chief executive of Catlin Group Limited, said he was "proud" that the group's efforts have been recognized by S&P.

The A financial strength rating of French credit insurance group Coface could be downgraded by the end of 2009 following concerns over deterioration in the group's capital adequacy in the current economic climate. Standard & Poor's has placed the A rating on creditwatch negative, stating that the group's parent, French bank Natixis "has not fully addressed Coface's capital needs so far" and that the €50m capital injection from Natixis in June 2009 fell short of requirements. S&P analyst Marie-Aude Salinas said: "We believe that it is unlikely that Coface will be able to restore capital adequacy to levels we consider as 'good' over the next two years." The rating agency said it will resolve the creditwatch action by the end of December 2009, but added that any downgrade is unlikely to be by more than one notch. The Coface companies affected by the creditwatch action include, France's Coface S.A., Germany's Coface Kreditversicherung AG, Coface Assicurazioni SpA in Italy, Coface North America Insurance Co, Coface Austria Kreditversicherung AG, and Germany-based Coface Finanz GmbH.