海角视频

Shares in Hastings Group, one of the biggest general insurance providers in Britain, tumbled today after it reported a big drop in profits.

The business, which employs 3,400 people, said the fall in profits was partly down to costs associated with changes to rates regarding personal injury damage awards 鈥� the 鈥淥gden rate鈥�.

It also blamed 鈥渃ontinued claims inflation鈥�.

Its share price dropped more than 6 per cent this morning to 拢1.78.

In the first six months of 2019 adjusted operating profits were 拢59.7 million, compared to 拢105.1 million in the first six months of 2018.

However it saw a 4 per cent growth in policies to 2.81 million, while its share of the 海角视频 car insurance market grew fractionally to 7.8 per cent.

Gross written premiums were up 3 per cent for the six months to 拢499.2 million.

The business, which has its national headquarters in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, has added almost 500 people to its Leicester team in the past two years taking the city operation to 1,200 staff.

It also has offices in London and Gibraltar.

Chief executive Toby van der Meer said he was pleased with the 鈥渟trong progress鈥� the company had made in the current market.

He said: 鈥淲e remain focused on pricing discipline, and have increased underlying average premiums by 3 per cent in the six months to June 30, 2019.

鈥淲e have maintained our share of new business sales on the price comparison websites and customer numbers increased 4 per cent to 2.81 million, primarily driven by our strong retention rates.

鈥淐laims inflation has elevated slightly from 2018, to within the range of 6 per cent to 7 per cent, and we report a pre-Ogden loss ratio of 79.1 per cent.

鈥淥ur focus on digital initiatives continues, resulting in both improvements in our net promotor scores and an 11 per cent reduction in customer service phone calls per policy.

鈥淥ur strong capital position and continued positive cash generation means we are proposing an interim dividend of 4.5 pence per share.

鈥淎s always, my thanks go to the entire Hastings team for their hard work and dedication to each other and our customers.鈥�

Hastings Group said it was seeing record numbers of customers using its digital services, with the mobile app downloaded 317,000 times, and more than a third of customers making changes to their policies through the 鈥楳yaccount鈥� customer portal.

Some 57 per cent of total loss claims were being settled digitally, it said.