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NEW YORK (Reuters) – One of Sony Corp’s insurers has asked a court to declare that it does not have to pay to defend the media and electronics conglomerate from mounting legal claims related to a massive data breach earlier this year.

The dispute comes as demand soars for “cyber insurance,” with companies seeking to protect themselves against customer claims and associated costs for data and identity theft.

How to write such policies has become a huge subject of debate in the insurance industry.

Zurich American Insurance Co asked a New York state court in documents filed late on Wednesday to rule it does not have to defend or indemnify Sony against any claims “asserted in the class-action lawsuits, miscellaneous claims, or potential future actions instituted by any state attorney general.”

Zurich American, a unit of Zurich Financial Services, also sued units of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, AIG and ACE Ltd, asking the court to clarify their responsibilities under various insurance policies they had written for Sony.

“Zurich doesn’t think there’s coverage, but to the extent there may be a duty to defend it wants to make sure all of the insurers with a potential duty to defend are contributing,” said Richard Bortnick, an attorney at Cozen O’Connor and publisher of the digital law blog CyberInquirer.

Bortnick, who is not involved in the case, said that while Sony may be able to claim there was property damage as a result of the data breach, Zurich is likely to argue that the sort of general liability insurance it wrote for Sony was never intended to cover digital attacks.

Sony could not immediately be reached for comment. Full Post…

Ageas has partnered with risk management specialists, Cardinus, to provide a package of online risk management solutions for its commercial policyholders and brokers.

As part of the deal, all commercial policyholders who take up or renew an Ageas policy are eligible for a £100 voucher that can be redeemed against Cardinus’ risk assessment or e-learning modules, accessible via the Ageas website.

In addition, brokers who trade Ageas commercial business are entitled to a £500 voucher to redeem against training for their staff.

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Recent research conducted at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health may have strong implications for informing the controversial debate currently surrounding national health care reform.

In a study published in the July edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the Harvard research team, led by first author Aakanksha Pande, a doctoral student in the Department of Population Medicine at HMS and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, found that Massachusetts health reform has effectively increased access to health care and reduced disparities. Full Post…

The Chubb Corporation has reported that in the second quarter of the year it made net income of $419m.

This is a decline of $99m from the corresponding period last year and $90m from the immediately preceding quarter.

Net income per share fell from $1.59 last year to $1.42 in Q2 2011.

Operating income fell, year-on-year from $460m to $374m, with operating income declining from $1.41 to $1.27.

Catastrophes cost (before tax) $329m in the second quarter, mostly due to tornadoes and storms in the US, a significant rise from the $193m catastrophe cost last year.

Quarterly net written premiums rose 6% to $3.1bn, with premiums up 3% in the US and 14% outside the US.

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer John D.

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Mortgage industry employees are still signing documents they haven’t read and using fake signatures more than eight months after big banks and mortgage companies promised to stop the illegal practices that led to a nationwide halt of home foreclosures.

County officials in at least three states say they have received thousands of mortgage documents with questionable signatures since last fall, suggesting that the practices, known collectively as “robo-signing,” remain widespread in the industry.

The documents have come from several companies that process mortgage paperwork, and have been filed on behalf of several major banks. Full Post…

A number of life insurance companies could lose their high ratings if the U.S. defaults on its debt, Standard & Poors warned recently. The credit rating agency has notified top insurers that their ratings are tied to U.S. ratings and therefore, could suffer if the U.S. defaults.

Insurance Companies Could Lose AAA Ratings

In an effort to push lawmakers to resolve a nine-week long debate that will ultimately result in a debt plan meant to ensure the United States avoids default after reaching the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling on May 16, credit rating agency Standard & Poors has announced the latest casualties of default will be life insurance companies.

According to the agency, companies ratings could drop because they are directly related to the rating of the United States.

S&P and Moodys have threatened to lower the nations AAA rating if lawmakers cant find a way to avoid default by the deadline of Aug.

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Open GI has been selected by specialist motor broker The A&A Group as a strategic technology partner for its new bespoke e-commerce solution.

Open GI’s Hosted eQuote, a flexible e-commerce solution, was picked by the Middlesex-based broker for the branded van scheme My Van Quote.com and motor brand My Motor Quote.com.

A&A will be able to utilise Hosted eQuotes to create a bespoke e-commerce solution and keep total control of e-commerce data capture, question sets and workflow.

The solution is compatible with the Back-Office and with Open GI’s fully hosted quotation engines, enabling the broker to deliver fast real-time quotes.

Earlier this year A&A launched a new online private car insurance brand using Open GI’s off-the-shelf web solution, eBroker.

Tony Allen, MD of Allen & Allen, said that it was imperative the broker received flexibility from Open GI and said that he was delighted at the smoothness of implementation.

Despite the difficult economic times 41% of Britons are saving as much, or even more, over the last year as they did in the previous 12 months, according to new research from Standard Life.

The younger generation (25 to 34 year olds) were likeliest to keep up with saving, with just over half (51%) putting aside the same amount or more.

The North East is the thriftiest region, with 48% setting aside the same or more as last year, with the West Midlands and South West saving less (36%).

Head of Pensions Policy at Standard Life John Lawson said that it was encouraging to see that, despite high inflation and a challenging economic environment, many people are taking a sensible view towards saving for the future.

Lawson went on to say that saving was important, whether for the long term or to purchase a holiday, car or suchlike.

Last month the Co-operative Bank reported that 80% of Britons were worried about their finances, with personal debt and utility/energy bill price hikes the matters of most concern.