QBE Insurance

QBE Insurance Group Limited

Type	Public
Traded as	ASX: QBE
Industry	Insurance
Founded	January 1886 (1886-01)
Headquarters	8 Chifley Square Sydney, Australia
Key people	Mr Marty Becker (Chairman)[1] Mr John Neal (Group Chief Executive Officer)
Products	General Insurance and reinsurance services
Number of employees	In 2015, there are around 17000 staff in 38 countries worldwide
Website	www.qbe.com

QBE Insurance Group Limited is Australia's largest global insurer. It provides insurance services mainly to Australia, America, Europe and Asia Pacific region. QBE has 17000 employees in 38 countries worldwide. As of Aug 2012, QBE was ranked among the world's top general insurers. QBE has market capitalisation of A$ 18.6 billion and represents 2.22% of the ASX 200 index.

The company reported a 2014 profit after tax of $742 million and an insurance profit margin of 7.6%, with profit up $1 billion on the prior year. The annual report describes the result as "encouraging and particularly strong".^[2]

QBE was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1973 from the merger of three companies whose names represent the letters of the combined company, Queensland Insurance, Bankers' and Traders' Insurance Company, and Equitable Life and General Insurance Co., and its founding chairman was J.D.O. Burns.

Since then, QBE has continued to acquire many companies. For example, in February 2007, it acquired Mexican insurer Seguros Cumbre SA de CV, whose net tangible assets were estimated at $26 million, and American insurer General Casualty Insurance.^[3] In 2011 QBE purchased Balboa Insurance of California, USA from Bank of America.^[4][5][6]

QBE Insurance is also known for its sponsorship of sports teams, including the Sydney Swans of the Australian Football League, the Sydney Roosters of the National Rugby League, the NSW Swifts of netball's trans-Tasman ANZ Championship, the Perth Glory of the Hyundai A-League and provincial New Zealand Rugby team, North Harbour. QBE is the official insurance partner of England Rugby.

John Neal was appointed to the position of Group Chief Executive Officer on 17 August 2012. Frank O’Halloran, the former CEO was with the company for over thirty five years. He was appointed chief financial officer in 1982, joined the board as director of finance from 1987 to 1994 and was director of operations from 1994 to 1997.

Force-Placed Insurance Controversy

Maintaining a property insurance policy is one of the most common conditions imposed upon anyone who borrows money to purchase a house.^[7] If a borrower allows such a policy to lapse, lenders will purchase force-placed insurance for the property owner (also called lender-placed insurance, or collateral protection insurance) ^[8] The use of force-placed insurance by lenders is an ongoing practice that, in the wake of the financial crisis, has become increasingly common,^[9][10][11] being cited by many experts as the cause of foreclosures themselves.^[12] The coverage prevents gaps in insurance, which is required by the terms of most mortgages. The financial industry justifies higher premium costs of force-placed insurance policies because of the heightened insurance risk of borrowers who aren’t paying for their own insurance.^[13] Opponents of the product consistently provide statistics in opposition to these statements,^[14][15] citing kickback payouts and loss ratios that are much lower than the rest of the insurance industry.^[16]

Force-placed insurance policies fell under regulatory scrutiny when the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) launched an investigation into the lender-placed insurance industry that has so far led to settlements with QBE and Assurant ^[13][17][18] Although testimony in these hearings discussed "Reverse Competition" and kickbacks from Assurant to its banking clients,^[19][20] In response to the settlement, DFS Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky stated, "Prices should not be pushing up and up, pushing borrowers over the foreclosure cliff."^[21]

In January 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued new mortgage servicing rules that ensures borrowers are warned in advance of force-placed insurance's cost and prevent banks from force-placing policies on many escrowed loans. “All consumers will receive protections before a servicer may impose a charge for a force-placed insurance,” an agency spokeswoman wrote.^[22] In October 2012, QBE and California agreed to a rate reduction for lender-placed insurance, with an average savings to policyholders of $577 annually.^[23]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the federal home loan banks,^[24] has looked into the relationships between force-placed insurers and their clients,^[25] determining the relationships to be fraudulent and banning any future service kickbacks.^[26] In addition, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is looking into the practice ^[27]

References

External links

• Official Website
• Google Finance entry
• QBR Business Practices Example 1
• QBR Business Practices Example 2
• QBE Argentina
• QBE Brasil
• QBE Chile
• QBE Colombia
• QBE Ecuador
• QBE Mexico
• QBE Puerto Rico

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