Japan-based insurer Tokio & Marine Holdings has reported a 78.7% fall in income for financial year 2008/09, down to ¥23.1bn ($243m), “due to decreased earnings in the domestic property & casualty insurance business, the domestic life insurance business, financial services businesses and other business segments that resulted primarily from the adverse impact of turbulent financial markets”. Net written premiums declined to ¥2.1trn. In mandatory motor there was a drop of 21.9% in premiums to ¥259bn. Non-mandatory motor cover premiums fell 4.2% to ¥978.6bn. Marine insurance premiums were down 6.6% to ¥92.5bn, while accident & casualty insurance was up 2.7% to ¥169.2bn. Fire insurance rose 0.7% to ¥350.4bn. Investment income declined 10.4% to ¥306.7bn. The insurer said that it aimed to achieve ¥106bn in total adjusted earnings in 2009/10.

Global broker Marsh claimed this morning that insurance rates in the UK continued to fall across all major lines of business in Q1 2009, although at a slower rate than before. The figures were based on business placed by Marsh on behalf of large UK corporates. The broker said that property rates fell on average by 0.5%, while employers liability rates were off 4% and public liability lines declined by 3.5%. UK Placement Leader Tim Pritchard said that, despite rising claims, “competition to maintain market share and new entrants into some lines of business have meant that rates continue to fall”. In most cases there were no changes to renewal rates, said Mr Pritchard, noting that the flatness needed to be put in the context of the past four years, during which property & casualty rates had declined by 47%. He observed that “as insurers’ margins are further squeezed, we expect rate reductions to become increasingly rare for the rest of the year”. However, with capacity still plentiful and competition still fierce, Marsh did not see insurers having many opportunities to push through significant rate increases.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) lost about PKR43m ($530,000) after failing to fully protect itself when buying cover to protect against the Australian series in 2008, reports Insurance Day. A just-released audit report of the PCB showed that there was a PKR26.5m loss on contingency insurance and a further PKR16.5m loss as a result of a terrorism clause. Cricket Australia cancelled a series of three five-day tests and another of five one-day tests, citing security concerns. The report notes that the PCB paid PKR0.5m to a legal firm for advice regarding insurance cover. The report claims that the law firm wrongly concluded that the cancellation of the insured tour had been a result of a terrorism threat, meaning that the PCB’s insurance policy covered the cancellation. The report says that “the PCB was put through the loss due to an imprudent decision”.

The German government is proposing a mandatory directors’ & officers’ deductible of at least one year’s salary in order to make executives take a greater degree of personal responsibility for their actions, reports Insurance Day. Both leading parties in Germany’s Grand Coalition support the move, but Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty D&O expert Hartmut Mai called it “sheer populism”. He noted that, if introduced, Germany would be alone in having such a legal requirement. An earlier code of conduct for managers said that “a suitable deductible” should be in place, without defining what it meant by the phrase. Rainer Hoff of Munich Re’s direct arm Ergo said that nearly all of Germany’s D&O policies would have to be changed. The effectiveness of such a law, were it to be introduced, has also been questioned. Germany has a shadow D&O market, largely unadvertised, under which special policies paid for by managers themselves cover the deductible not covered by the “headline” D&O policy. Usually, claimed Alexander Mahnke of broker Aon Jauch & Hübener, these policies are written by the same company that writes the D&O policy.