Chartis Insurance

Chartis Insurance

Chartis insurance auction Airbus A320 - price, particulars

Chartis Insurance, an insurance company is selling the Airbus A320. The Chartis Insurance Auction of the Airbus A320 is scheduled to aim at 430pm ET, progression 27, 2010. A akin junked Airbus A310 was sold for $2.6 million dollar.

The newest news is Chartis Insurance, an insurance company is selling the Airbus A320. The Chartis Insurance Auction of the Airbus A320 is scheduled to aim at 430pm ET, progression 27, 2010. The auction want befall managed by Dan Aker of Chartis Insurance.

The Airbus A320-214 was continue flown by Capt. Chesley 'Sully' Sullengerger. The famous smooth with the intention of is up for auction had landed safely on the Hudson waterway, continue January 15,2009 with a flight of birds had disabled its engines. The miracle smooth become worldwide standard and gained popularity with the pilot saved all 155 passengers on board.

Chartis Insurance, a subsidiary of Insurance giant AIG is holding the auction of the aircraft which is relentlessly water damaged, has 2 missing engines and cannot take wing.

NY placement quoted a notice as of the Chartis Insurance adage with the intention of the aircraft suffered brutal bird strike event ensuing in water emergency landing. The notice added, brutal water damage right through airframe. Impression damage to underside of aircraft.'

Chartis Insurance is taking care of the smooth which is at a salvage yard in Kearny, New sweater ' it furthermore useful a deterioration inhibitor continue summer.

The price and cost of the recycled aircraft varies, so it's tricky to estimate the price A320 aircraft would influence at the auction. However it is reported with the intention of a akin junked Airbus A310 was sold for $2.6 million dollar.

The stipulations of sale for the Airbus: Equally is/where is. Under equipment damage is the notation destroyed. Thumbs down engines are built-in also.

Travel Guard Selected to Participate in The Travel Innovation Summit in Orlando

chartis insurance

Travel Guard will demonstrate its
recently launched ProfitPlus+, a suite of technology solutions for travel
agencies, at the PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit in Orlando on November
17. The Travel Innovation Summit showcases the best of breed for
technology-based applications designed to stimulate better travel planning and
purchasing.

Travel Guard's ProfitPlus+ helps travel agents select the appropriate travel
insurance plan for customers at the point-of-sale based upon data heuristics
from its patent-pending Factor Based Pricing technology. The technological
platform also provides expert-based electronic communications to the end user,
which is delivered through Travel Guard's proprietary E-Management System
(EMS).

ProfitPlus+ helps travel agents quickly identify the most appropriate travel
insurance plan for their client, and also provides a host of automated CRM
solutions that can support an agency's core business of selling travel.

"Throughout the past year, our message to our travel agency partners is that
'travel comes first,'" said Dean Sivley, CEO of Travel Guard. "We've focused
on ways to help our partners strategically grow their travel business, while
also providing them with the enhanced tools they need to successfully convert
more travel insurance sales opportunities.

"We're excited and honored to be selected to present our technology solutions
at The Travel Innovation Summit," Sivley added. "These solutions originate
from two core technologies, our proprietary EMS and our patent-pending Factor
Based Pricing (FBP) system. Our own proprietary system leverages our domain
expertise and an SMTP gateway to facilitate very targeted, communication via
automation for our channel partners. We believe it is truly one-of-a-kind and
we're excited to demonstrate it in this arena."

About PhoCusWright

PhoCusWright (www.phocuswright.com) is the travel industry research authority
on how travelers, suppliers and intermediaries connect. Independent, rigorous
and unbiased, PhoCusWright fosters smart strategic planning and tactical
decision-making.

About Travel Guard
Travel Guard (www.travelguard.com) a Chartis company and worldwide leader in
travel insurance and assistance plans, provides products and services to
millions of travelers around the globe. In addition to an extensive portfolio
of travel insurance coverage benefits, Travel Guard offers a wide range of
emergency services through its wholly-owned assistance centers located in
Asia, Europe and the Americas. Travel Guard helps leisure and business
travelers alike solve problems and manage risks. Travel Guard's global reach,
unparalleled service quality and proven operational capabilities ensure that
clients receive best-in-class care. Travel Guard's suite of technology
platforms enables seamless integration with all major travel distribution
systems and supplier channels. The travel insurance products marketed by
Travel Guard are underwritten by National Union Fire Insurance Company of
Pittsburgh, P.a., with its principal place of business in New York, NY.
Coverage may not be available in all states.

Chartis is a world leading property-casualty and general insurance
organization serving more than 40 million clients in over 160 countries and
jurisdictions. With a 90-year history, one of the industry's most extensive
ranges of products and services, deep claims expertise and excellent financial
strength, Chartis enables its commercial and personal insurance clients alike
to manage virtually any risk with confidence.

Chartis is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty and general
insurance operations of Chartis Inc. For additional information, please visit
our website at http://www.Chartisinsurance.com.

Contact: Dan McGinnity
Travel Guard
900-826-7791 x14850
Dan.McGinnity@TravelGuard.com

Getting it right when time comes to rebrand

chartis insurance

At what point should you rebrand a product?

While there is always the temptation to change the company or product image, making the first steps may not be easy because it is akin to venturing into the unknown ground.

It may be an ego trip or to shake off a bad image after an unfortunate occurrence caused by the firm or from external factors.

A number of financial services firms that have survived the meltdown find themselves in the latter case.

At one time, a company may also change name and use new colours, logos, and positioning.

Experts say branding is about perception; it defines a business or product from the competition.

“The ultimate purpose of any re-brand has to be about strengthening connections with all stakeholders,” George Godsal, the managing director of Hill & Knowlton East Africa, a communications agency says.

Changing the name does not change the underlying perceptions, he says.

It is also likely that if an organisation moves to a higher rung, it will rebrand, like in the case of Inoorero University in Nairobi, previously the Kenya School of Professional Studies (KSPS).

As a university, it will be dealing with new stakeholders and also strengthen the existing bonds.

Because rebranding gone wrong can be suicidal, it is imperative that owners find a balance between the benefits of the change while not alienating existing customers.

“When you are rebranding, it should bring value to your customers,” says Esther Ngomeli, managing director of Media Edge, an integrated marketing agency.

Focusing more on the process than the customers is a common mistake, say experts, who warn that is the sure route to oblivion.

To reduce the risk of losing the old customers, Olive Gathinji, marketing manager of Deacons, says the ownership should engage this public on why the company is donning new colours or changing name.

In the Interbrand Sampson’s Best Global Brands 2009, the companies in financial services had their brand image soiled with public assigning them the blame as the main authors of the crippling economic downturn.

In the height of the slowdown, many investors avoided the big names, preferring the upcoming firms.

Reversing the change of heart may push affected firms to rebrand in the hope of shaking off the negative perception.

For instance, Citigroup dropped from position 19 in 2008 to 36.

Citigroup may not be looking to rebrand but another company that has suffered a similar fate, AIG, is rebranding its insurance operations to Chartis, including the local business, with the aim of rebuilding customer trust.

But you don’t have to have a soiled chapter in business to rebrand.

There are times when the name no longer reflects the focus of the business.

The Nyanza Petroleum Dealers company started operations in 1958 and was based in Kisumu town as an oil marketer.

In 1998, it shifted focus and began to deal in automobile accessories, including the franchise owner of Pirelli.

Late last year, the management got a new name — AutoXpress — that it says reflected its new business direction and dealings.

“Sometimes organisations think that because a brand is experiencing perpetual low sales, the solution is rebranding. Before rebranding, first find out what the problem is with the product,” says Ms Gathinji.

Find out what is wrong with the product, the people handling it or the distribution channels before changing the brand, she says, adding it may not be meeting customer expectations.

Rebranding is an expensive affair.

To get a new name targeting the motorists, AutoXpress says it will be spending Sh30 million.

Apart from changing the stationery, website, uniforms, among other things, it is important to sensitise the staff on the changes to minimise resistance and increase the chances of bonding with the target public.

When researching on the new name and the logo, watch out not to infringe on existing trademarks, which may lead to heavy legal expenses and battles.

Employees and suppliers

Ms Gathinji says to rebrand, market research is inevitable, training sights on current and prospective customers to find out their perceptions, new trends and preferences.

But changing too often can cause confusion in the market, which may push the firm deeper into the mud and expose it to competitors.

“Great brands are built from the inside out and a re-brand will fail if its values don’t ring true to every person connected to that brand — from employees to suppliers to customers,” says Mr Godsal.

Risk managers dig deeper to uncover insurer flaws

chartis insurance

A year after the near-failure of American International Group Inc., risk managers say they have adjusted their insurance programs and increased their scrutiny of insurers' financial position.

In fact, they are looking beyond the insurer to scrutinize its parent company.

Many say AIG's fall was a wake-up call, forcing them to diversify their insurance programs by moving some coverage to other insurers. They also moved portions of their programs so they could sleep better at night knowing their insurer would be around.

Fred O. Pachón, vp of risk management for Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Select Staffing Inc., transferred his employment practices liability coverage from AIG to Zurich Financial Services Group, he said.

“I did not want to risk it,” Mr. Pachón said. “In the employment/staffing world, we are a prime target for discrimination and sexual harassment claims, etc. So we must be sure that the carrier will be there if and when the day comes. Diversification was the second consideration in this case.”

Yet diversification emerged as a top lesson, several risk managers said.

“I think the take-away from the whole AIG situation is the reinforcement of diversity within a risk manager's insurance portfolio,” said Lance J. Ewing, vp of risk management for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., in Memphis, Tenn.

Even risk managers who were not AIG customers said they now look much closer at their insurers and react faster to changes in their financial position.

“If there's an insurance company that's having a dramatic stock price decline, that can raise flags,” said David Adler, director-risk management for Portman Holdings L.L.C. in Atlanta. Portman did not buy coverage from any AIG units for its insurance program.

“The example I would raise is XL,” Mr. Adler said.

Not long after AIG's troubles became known last year, “XL lost a considerable amount of its stock price,” Mr. Adler said. “In that situation, we immediately went through our portfolio of coverage and confirmed that we did have an environmental liability policy with XL. We alerted management and went into more frequent monitoring of XL. Since it was a three-year policy, we also negotiated with XL that should its rating drop, that we would be entitled to a pro rata refund in the event that we chose to replace the coverage.”

Insurers also have changed their behavior, said Steve Wilder, vp-risk management at Walt Disney Co. in Burbank, Calif. They have reacted to his department's increased scrutiny of their financial position with a new eagerness to share information.

“Interestingly, some insurers have now been very proactive in sharing their financial information,” Mr. Wilder said. “What happened to AIG is not a good thing for anyone, but the result and how we are doing business now makes more sense.”

Disney re-evaluated its comfort level with the aggregate amount of coverage placed with any one insurer and that led to some coverage shifts, although Mr. Wilder declined to provide details.

More than before, though, delving deeper into insurers' financial strength has led to closer relations with them, he said.

AIG's problems were “a wake-up call for us to be conscious of the counterparty risk that we have with all the insurance companies we work with,” Mr. Wilder said. “In many cases, we have actually talked to their CFO or treasurer, someone who can help us better understand where they are.”

Disney's scrutiny now includes scheduled reviews of an insurer's stock price, credit default swap activity, and information available from Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Corp., Mr. Wilder said.

Claims payment, including the length of time before all losses are paid, also is getting greater scrutiny for signs that something might be amiss, said a risk manager for a Fortune 500 company who asked not to be identified.

Although policy diversification is much more important now, he still must weigh increased costs and rival insurers' global capabilities against the benefits of diversifying the company's coverage, the risk manager said.

Other considerations in maintaining coverage with AIG, which now has its insurance brands under the Chartis banner, also are at play.

“One of the reasons we stay with Chartis is because of the relationships and amount of information that they provided to us in the risk management community after they dropped the ball on how to handle crisis management,” Mr. Ewing said. “When their company first imploded a year ago, they didn't handle the public relations crisis as well as I thought they should have. But they got a second swing at the ball and did exceptionally well in keeping us informed as to how they were righting the ship in these turbulent waters,” he said

“We as a company have made no major changes in the amount of business of we do or not do with Chartis, and they continue to pay claims, which is what we buy the insurance for in the first place,” Mr. Ewing said.

Humana Inc. also maintained its AIG insurance, said Carolyn Snow, director, insurance risk management, for the Louisville, Ky.-based health insurer.

“We work with them primarily in the executive risk area and, prior to our last renewals, we had a meeting between the senior management of both companies,” Ms. Snow said. “We felt that the core group was still financially stable and we still had confidence in their management. We did some shifting in the upper levels, but kept them on the program.”

Monitoring insurers' financial strength has always been important, so few real changes in due diligence have occurred, Ms. Snow said. “But we try to stay continually aware of company changes and probably pay more attention to little things than we might have in the past.”

Other risk managers said AIG's problems reinforced the need for their profession's established practices.

Enterprise risk management became increasingly important, said Jane A. Keegan, enterprise risk manager for the Port of Oakland in California.

Not only is AIG involved in her insurance program, the company and its units have been major purchasers of the Port of Oakland's tax-free municipal bonds and provided a commercial short-term investment program. In addition, an AIG unit won a bid to develop a port terminal project.

While an array of AIG units have been involved in numerous business undertakings, before the conglomerate's weaknesses became apparent, risk managers evaluated only the strength of AIG insurance units rather than scrutinize the entire company business operations, said Scott B. Clark, risk manager for Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Certain rating agencies on which the insurance industry relies still review only the strength of individual insurance units without evaluating a parent company's entire operations, Mr. Clark said.

“The risk management community really has to start looking...at what is behind the insurance companies...so we can evaluate just what kind of risk we are getting into above and beyond the insurance contract,” Mr. Clark said.