Insurer Hiscox has recruited Matthew Budd to the newly created role of group head of technical claims. He joins from AIG where he led the firm’s aerospace claims team. He will report to Steve Parry, group claims director at Hiscox.

Insurtech Gateway, which supports early stage managing general agents, has secured Lloyd’s broker status. It supports early-stage founders with the design of their insurance products, as well as with underwriting capacity, regulatory compliance and pre-seed funding.

Aviva plc has reported an operating profit of £1,068m for the first six month of 2025. This was a 22% increase on the £875m profit achieved in the same period last year. The carrier’s undiscounted combined operating ratio improved by 0.8 percentage points to 94.6%.

Admiral Group has reported a profit before tax of £521m for the first six months of 2025, up by 69% on the £307.6m reported in the same period last year. The carrier said insurance revenue was up by 18% to £2.47bn and that its number of insurance customers in the UK had increased by 13% to reach 9.3 million people.

Financial lines managing general agent Acquinex, which is part of PIB Group, has appointed Josh Cowen as chief executive officer. He joins from Chubb, where he was senior vice president, international transactional risk. Acquinex said its co-founders Chris Jackson and Chris Thompson will move into new roles within PIB Group.

Data from the Association of British Insurers shows that the average cost of motor insurance fell by £19 (3%) compared to Q1. They had also fallen by £40 (6%) in Q1. On an annualised basis the average premium for motor insurance in Q2 was £562, down from £622 in the same period last year. In contrast, repair costs continued to rise and in Q2 totalled £2.1bn, an increase of £100m on Q1.

Beazley plc posted a profit before tax of approximately £369.9m for the six months ended 30th June 2025. This was down on the £536.5m reported for the same period last year. The carrier said insurance written premiums in H1 were £2,345.7m, up from £2,298.8m in H1 2024. Its undiscounted combined ratio for H1 2025 was 84.9%, which had slipped from the 80.7% recorded in H1 last year.

Flood Re has opened a permanent flood resistant garden at Howbery Park in Oxfordshire. It is an evolution of the garden that was shown at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2024. Dr Ed Barsley designed the garden with additional landscaping and planting design by Belderbos Landscapes. It exemplifies how garden owners can implement their own flood mitigation measures.

IAG Loyalty, which manages the loyalty programme Avios, has teamed up with digital insurance services provider Open to launch a new travel insurance product called Wanda by Avios. Built on Open’s technology platform, the new product offers policyholders up to 70% of their money back if they cancel within 48 hours, including for traditionally uncovered reasons such as a change of plan.

Specialist Risk Group has agreed terms to acquire City Quarter Brokers, which specialises in complex and technical risks within the construction, engineering and infrastructure sector. The deal is subject to regulatory approval. Once complete, City Quarter Brokers will become part of SRG’s wholesale division.

Professional services and technology firm Davies has promoted Richard Barke to chief executive officer of its insurance services division. He was previously chief financial officer of Davies-owned Asta, which is a third party managing agent at Lloyd’s. In addition, Steven Crabb has been appointed deputy chairman of the insurance division.

Figures from the Association of British Insurers show that subsidence-related claims totalled £153m in the first six months of this year. The professional body said the unusually warm and sunny spring was the root cause of the claims, which came from almost 9,000 households and had an average value of £17,264.

Broker and underwriting agency Yutree has extended its relationship with insurer Peach in the shape of a new property owners binder that builds on the one put in place two years ago. The binder seeks to support brokers who need to place cover quickly or are trying to place risks that do not match e-trade or mainstream market appetites.

Blenheim Underwriting has announced its intention to develop its managing general agent casualty account and has appointed Alex Stratton-Thomsett as casualty underwriter to advance the strategy. He joins from MS Amlin where he was lead underwriter, US casualty. Stratton-Thomsett will begin his new role on 8th January 2026 and join Blenheim’s existing senior casualty underwriter David Barber.

Hiscox has recruited Harriet Turner into its London Market general liability team to lead its new sexual molestation liability cover. She joins from Beazley and will take up her position in September. The cover is available to organisations globally across industries including health and social care, leisure and financial services.

Specialist marine managing general agent Amphitrite Underwriting Limited has completed a buyback of the minority shareholding previously owned by Arch Group. The completion of the deal sees Amphitrite become fully independent. It launched in 2018 with strategic seed investment and capacity backing from Arch.