US auto insurance shopping rate falls; W. European firms eye credit insurance

TOP NEWS IN GLOBAL INSURANCE

* The overall annual U.S. auto insurance shopping growth rate contracted 3.9% in the third quarter, LexisNexis Risk Solutions said in a report. New policy growth also reached a two-year low, contracting 7.3% for the quarter. While negative growth rates have been rare over the past decade, decreases in new business policy growth followed the downward trend that began in May and June as the insurance industry continues to face unparalleled circumstances and economic factors, LexisNexis said.

* Trade credit insurer Atradius NV said the deterioration of payment practices in Western Europe in 2021 appears to have increased the demand for credit insurance, with more than half of the businesses in the region planning to use credit insurance in 2022. Denmark had the highest percentage of overdue invoices and write-offs at 62% and 14% of the total value of business-to-business invoices, respectively. However, for the region as a whole, overdue payments amounted to 53% of the total value of invoices, an increase on last year's 47%.

➤ 'Hyperinflationary environment' sends auto physical damage loss ratio soaring

The extent to which results in the auto physical damage line deteriorated stood out from a third quarter in which the U.S. property and casualty industry produced a $10.77 billion underwriting loss, according to an analysis of statutory data.

➤ Potential for federal climate risk intervention draws insurance industry ire

The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents said the state insurance regulatory system has worked well for more than a century and called the existence of the Federal Insurance Office a "threat" to the state-based system.

PROPERTY AND CASUALTY

* Financial product and business development firm IncubEx Inc. has acquired insurtech platform Insurwave Ltd. The target connects insurance buyers, brokers and insurers supporting the placement and servicing of specialty insurance. The terms of the transaction remain undisclosed.

* Assicurazioni Generali SpA is in preliminary discussions to buy La Medicale in a deal that may value the Crédit Agricole subsidiary at about €400 million, Bloomberg News reported.

* Alan & Thomas Insurance Group has acquired property owners' specialist broker Aquilla Insurance Brokers Ltd. The deal has been approved by the regulator and the consideration is undisclosed.

* Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Mark Afable will resign in December and retire from public service. Afable was appointed as insurance commissioner in December 2018.

* Australia's Bureau of Meteorology has declared that La Niña has developed in the Pacific Ocean. La Niña is part of a cycle known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, a naturally occurring shift in ocean temperatures and weather patterns along the equator in the Pacific Ocean.

LIFE AND HEALTH

* Nib Holdings Ltd. has acquired a 50% equity stake in Australian digital health startup Midnight Health for a total consideration of A$4 million.

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