Fleet Insurance Company Offer Free Risk Assessments With Motor Fleet Policies

July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

KENT, UNITED KINGDOM, Jul 15 (MARKET WIRE) —
Leading UK fleet insurance company, Flint is urging fleet companies to
ensure they are fully aware of risks to drivers while driving for
business. To endorse their view that this is hugely important, they are
even offering a free risk assessment for every Motor Fleet policy taken
out with them.

Hundreds of people are killed each year on UK roads while driving for
business and yet a simple motor fleet risk assessment could identify
hidden dangers and prevent many of these sad incidents.

Employers need to be responsible for ensuring their workforce are driving
safe vehicles and employees should also take care to look out for
potential risks themselves and drive safely.

Whether the company has 2 vehicles or 200 on the road, the same duty of
care prevails. Flint aim to make more businesses aware of this by
introducing them to the relevant prevailing legislation on driving for
company business. They hope this will raise awareness of the dangers that
fleet companies need to remember face their drivers on a daily basis, so
that they can remain vigilant in doing everything possible to avoid them.

It was reported in 2008 that 1012 people were killed on the roads while
driving for business. This is why Flint is trying to reduce this
shockingly high amount by offering their free assessment to anyone taking
out their Motor Fleet Arm policy.

A spokesperson for the Insurance provider, who are experts in supplying
motor fleet insurance, commented: “Through our free assessment, we hope
to make it easier for fleet companies to get expert advice on how they
can make drivers’ jobs safer. It is important to have a suitable fleet
insurance policy, but also to have an idea of how to avoid accidents if
possible and be aware of the appropriate legislation”.

Compliance to the following legislation, amongst others must be clearly
demonstrated:

– Health & Safety @ Work Act 1974 – Duty of Care
– Provision and Use of Work Equipment 1998 (PUWER)
– Management of Health & Safety @ Work Regulations 1992 (updated 1999)

However, there are other laws which should be given consideration and
some which should be kept in mind and used as a point of reference, so it
is worth becoming clued up on the statutes relating to your business so
that you are not caught out in the future by being ignorant of them.

About Flint Insurance:

Flint Insurance is an independent insurance broker. With over 30 years’
experience in the trade, they can offer a range of cover for businesses
including specialist HGV insurance cover throughout the UK. By using a
panel of over 35 insurers, they can provide the most appropriate and
cost-effective cover for their clients.

For further information, please visit: www.flintinsurance.co.uk or call
0800 021 4501.

Contacts:
Flint Insurance
Ian Leigh
Fleet Insurance Public Relations
Kent, United Kingdom
0208 309 5000
ianleigh@flintinsurance.co.uk

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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Foresters, KaBOOM! & Volunteers Build New Playground for Cleveland Children

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

CLEVELAND, July 10 /PRNewswire/ – Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. (BBC) received a brand new playground today thanks to the effort of more than 200 volunteers from Foresters(TM), BBC and non-profit KaBOOM! The new playground will serve more than 700 children and their families in the Cleveland community for years to come.

“Foresters is more than a life insurance provider,” said Bruce Burak, National Sales Manager with Foresters. “Foresters also invests in its members and in communities where they live, such as Cleveland. Foresters believes in creating opportunities for families to spend healthy time together, like the BBC playground we all built here together.”

Foresters, a life insurance provider committed to the well-being of families, is funding 20 playground builds across North America in 2010.By investing $1.5 million in these projects, Foresters is partnering with KaBOOM! to build playgrounds that will eventually serve more than 150,000 children and their families.

The playground at BBC will provide more than 700 children and their families in the Cleveland community with a great place to play. In less than eight hours, the child-designed playground was built from scratch by hundreds of volunteers from Foresters, BBC and the surrounding community. In addition, children and families spent the day playing games and participating in arts and crafts activities. Playgrounds are an ideal place for families to get to know other families and build strong communities.

“We are excited that this play ground will complement all of the wonderful redevelopment that has taken place in this neighborhood”, said BBC’s Joy Johnson.

Thanks to the work of Foresters, BBC and KaBOOM!, children and their families now have a 3,040 square-foot playground to call home that includes features such as a climbing wall, a triple slide, and a suspension bridge.

About Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc.

The mission of Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc. is to enhance the quality of life for residents of the Central, Garden Valley, and Kinsman neighborhoods of Cleveland by initiating and cultivating housing, retail, employment, and recreation opportunities through effective partnerships with residents, community groups, government, corporations and institutions.

About KaBOOM!

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization dedicated to saving play. Through community building, the company is focused on giving every child in America a great place to play within walking distance. Since 1996, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct more than 1,700 new playgrounds, skate parks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also offers a variety of resources, including an online community, free online trainings, grants, publications and the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play, which includes Playful City USA and Playmakers – a national network of individual advocates for play. KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

About Foresters

Founded in 1874 as a fraternal benefit society, Foresters(TM) champions the well-being of families through quality life insurance, unique member benefits and inspiring community activities. Foresters shares its financial strength with more than 675,000 members in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Unity Life of Canada‡ is a wholly owned subsidiary of Foresters. For more information, please visit www.foresters.com.

Foresters(TM) is a trademark of The Independent Order of Foresters, a fraternal benefit society, Toronto, Canada M3C 1T9.

‡ Unity Life of Canada, a Foresters company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Independent Order of Foresters

SOURCE Foresters

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”Maybe later” is the phrase most hectic parents use to delay kids’ play request

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 20 (ANI): The phrase that today’s hectic parents use most often in response to their kids’ request to play with them is: “Maybe later”, revealed a new study.

Researchers found that, despite children being parents” ”main priority”, 80 per cent admit they don”t devote enough time to them.

In fact, the report found working parents spend less than an hour a day giving their kids one-to-one attention – with the average child getting just 36 minutes with their mother or father.

Children”s responses to the survey painted a similar picture, claiming parents are too preoccupied with working, tidying and checking emails to address their needs.

The study of 3,000 working parents and their children by car insurance provider Admiral found that almost eight out of ten children said they were fed up of being parked in front of the television instead of being entertained.

The trend also showed adults are parenting ”remotely” from their laptops or kitchen sink and continually promising their attention ”later”.

””The generation of ”Maybe Later” kids shows a worrying trend of parents not spending as much time as they should with their children,” the Telegraph quoted James Carnduff of Admiral, which conducted the research as part of its Family Journeys campaign, as saying.

””Parents admit their children aren”t getting enough of their attention, and children are also feeling the impact of this, desperate for their parents to spend more time with them.

””We live in ever busier times with many parents taking work home with them once they leave the office, but it seems this is having a negative effect on the relationship they have with their children.

””Parents need to remember that playing with your kids is a great way to relieve stress and forget about work.

””The responses from the children we asked show that parents can”t get away with simply sticking their children in front of the TV as that”s simply no replacement for quality time,” he added.

The research also found on top of a normal full time working week, busy parents log onto their emails as soon as they get home from work at least four nights a week.

And at least one of the two parents misses dinner twice a week due to working late.

When at home, 70 per cent of mums and dads admit they spend much of their spare time cooking and cleaning rather than playing with their children.

And 56 per cent often find themselves promising to play with their children after they have finished a bit of work, checked their emails or completed household chores.

But kids are fed up with being treated like second best.

Two thirds said mum and dad are always saying they”ll help with homework or play ”later”.

Six in ten children said they wished their parents worked less and 55 per cent wished they would leave the cleaning until after they went to bed.

Sixty eight per cent said they would like it if their parents had more time to play with them.

””Trying to balance work and home life can be difficult in modern society, but simple things like going on trips as a family can be easy and fun, and don”t need to cost a lot of money,” said Carnduff.

””We”re encouraging families to take more trips out together; these family memories are the things our kids remember from their childhood.

””Saying ”maybe later” to children needs to become a thing of the past for parents, as the results of our survey show that the nation”s children are well and truly fed up,” he added. (ANI)

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Zurich in North America Receives 2010 Community Partner Impact Award from The Volunteer Center of Northwest Suburban Chicago

April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Award celebrates outstanding service to Chicago`s Northwest Suburbs
SCHAUMBURG, Ill.–(Business Wire)–
Zurich, a leading commercial property & casualty insurance provider in North
America and globally, is proud to announce today that it is the recipient of the
2010 Community Partner Impact Award from The Volunteer Center of Northwest
Suburban Chicago (Volunteer Center). The Volunteer Center services 55
communities in the Chicagoland area by helping place more than 15,000 volunteers
a year with various nonprofit organizations that are seeking volunteers. The
Community Partner award recognizes businesses and organizations that have
demonstrated an outstanding commitment to volunteerism.

“Zurich is really making a difference in the community,” said Mary Fitzgibbons,
executive director of the Volunteer Center. “We are proud to celebrate Zurich`s
commitment to helping the community through volunteerism and the impact they are
making throughout the region by honoring them with the Community Partner Award.”

Fitzgibbons said the Volunteer Center`s Award Selection Committee chose Zurich
in North America for this award to recognize their ongoing support of
organizations that strive to meet critical community needs.

Jillian Walsh, director of Corporate Giving and Community Relations for Zurich
in North America accepted the award on Zurich`s behalf on Monday, April 12, 2010
at an awards presentation and reception in Arlington Heights, Ill.

Community members in the Northwest Chicagoland area interested in volunteering
can find more information about the Volunteer Center on its Web site

http://www.volunteerinfo.net.

About Zurich

Zurich in North America is a part of Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich),
an insurance-based financial services provider with a global network of
subsidiaries and offices in North America and Europe as well as in Asia Pacific,
Latin America and other markets. Founded in 1872, the Group is headquartered in
Zurich, Switzerland and employs approximately 60,000 people serving customers in
more than 170 countries, including more than 9,500 employees in North America.

Zurich was the first overseas insurer to enter the U.S. market in 1912.
According to Highline Data LLC (NAIC 2008), Zurich in North America
(www.zurichna.com) is the second-largest writer of commercial general liability
insurance and the fourth-largest commercial property-casualty insurance company,
serving the global corporate, large corporate, middle market, specialties and
programs sectors. Zurich`s risk engineering services in the United States are
provided by Zurich Services Corporation.

Media contact:
Jennifer Nowacki
Zurich
847-605-6511
jennifer.nowacki@zurichna.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Don’t Tweet and Drive Warns Swinton Insurance

April 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM, Apr 11 (MARKET WIRE) —
UK drivers have been warned not to ‘Tweet and drive’ after a jump in the
number of accidents caused by in-car social networking.

Swinton, the UK’s leading car insurance provider, has reported a 12% year
on year increase in the number of claims for crashes caused by drivers
using Twitter, Facebook and other social network sites while behind the
wheel. Most have been minor prangs in slow moving traffic while drivers
have been distracted.

The car insurance company has warned drivers that any distractions behind
the wheel can lead to an accident, a costly insurance claim, and
potentially a conviction for driving without due care and attention.
Swinton’s advice is to turn off all mobiles, smart phones and PDAs before
driving any vehicle.

Steve Chelton, Insurer Development Manager at Swinton, said: “As
technology advances, we are seeing more and more drivers using smart
phones and other devices while behind the wheel – and this is leading to
more accidents on our roads. Even in slow moving traffic, writing or
reading a message is a major distraction. Our advice is simple – turn off
any electronic equipment before getting into a car for a safer journey.”

The announcement follows a survey by car accessories chain Halfords that
revealed that one in 20 drivers admitted to reading a post on social
networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, while behind the wheel.
Soaring numbers of motorists have gone beyond phone calls and are now
texting and even posting on social-networking sites while on the road,
the survey of more than 2,000 car drivers showed.

On 27th February 2007, the law was updated and the penalty for using a
hand-held mobile phone whilst driving was increased to GBP 60 and three
penalty points.

About Swinton

– With 580 branches nationwide Swinton is the UK’s largest high street
insurance retailer
– Unlike many other companies in the financial services industry, Swinton
is committed to keeping its branches open for business, and part of the
community
– Swinton provides a one-stop-shop for the insurance and related needs of
its clients, offering home, car, caravan, business, holiday, motorbike
and even classic car insurance
– With a dedicated team of advisors on hand at every branch to search a
panel of insurers to offer quality cover at competitive rates

Contacts:
SKV Communications
Anoushka Done, Anna Asamoah or Mairead Rodden
0161 838 7770
www.skvcommunications.co.uk

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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East coast survives wild storms, floods

March 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Large swathes of eastern Australia have experienced serious flooding or exceptional storms over the last few weeks.

Central Queensland towns are starting to mop up after their recent deluge, with the bill estimated to reach hundreds of millions of dollars.

And now, north-western New South Wales communities are building higher levees as Queensland floodwaters cause their rivers to swell.

Overnight, some residents of the southern NSW rural township of Ladysmith spent the night in emergency accommodation after flash flooding.

But local farmers say they are excited to have such a rainy start to autumn, given the recent drought conditions.

“[It's] just fantastic considering about a month or so ago it was all but dry,” one farmer said.

“Soon there will be boats come out on the water for sure. There’s a lot of fish about so there will be people out fishing.

“It’s just a great sign and it’s lifted the whole community.”

Further south, Saturday’s storm, known as a supercell, in Melbourne brought a spectacular burst of hail and led to waterlogged streets.

The State Emergency Service (SES) received over 6,000 calls for assistance since Friday afternoon.

Spokesman Tim Weebush says it was the most significant hailstorm ever in Melbourne’s recorded history.

“Hail was up to 10 centimetres in diameter and left a trail of destruction, with roofs and properties also being inundated with water,” he said.

“I’ve certainly not seen something that ferocious for quite some time.”

One of those was the roof to Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium. It collapsed and it is estimated the repair cost will reach into the millions of dollars.

Car insurance provider RACV is predicting the storm will result in the most claims ever made from one event in Victoria.

The NSW Bureau of Meteorology says the storm was associated with the same system that caused heavy flooding in Queensland over the last couple of weeks.

Many properties remain isolated in central parts of the state due to blocked roads and damaged highways.

In many places, it is too early to start cleaning up, but waters have receded in hard-hit places like Queensland’s south-west, including Charleville and Roma.

Professor Richard Kingsford, the director of the Australian River Wetlands and River Centre at the University of NSW, says the floods are going to have a big impact on river systems.

“We’ve seen floods right across from the centre into the top end of the Murray-Darling Basin but the ones in the centre are essentially putting water into what are called the Lake Eyre basin rivers,” he said.

He says it has been a long time since the rivers have experienced such a deluge.

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Big Blue announces new deals and agreements

April 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The failure of merger talks with Sun Microsystems could not stop the Big Blue from inking new deals and agreements. The Armonk, New York based International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) on Thursday declared that it has signed a seven-year deal with Sun Life Financial and five-year outsourcing deal with Sainsbury’s.

According to IBM, it will offer tech services to the Toronto, Ontario insurance provider Sun Life Financial, under the deal worth about $240 million. It will handle the insurance provider’s IT infrastructure, including its mainframe computer operations, in Canada and the United States. The deal is enhancement of the outsourcing agreement that it signed with the insurance provider in 2002.

Saad Toma, general manager of Global Technology Services for IBM Canada, said, “Our relationship is being extended to provide new, highly integrated, cost-effective, and intelligent solutions to support Sun Life’s business goals.”

IBM announced that it has inked a five-year outsourcing deal with Sainsbury’s, under which IBM build smarter inventory systems for the British retailer. The inventory systems that will be created on the WeSupply supply chain platform, will electronically link Sainsbury’s with its 4,000 suppliers.

Tim Goalen, director of supply chain operations for Sainsbury’s, “To support our continued growth, we were looking to enhance our collaboration with suppliers without a significant increase in cost, while continuing to introduce greater intelligence into our supply chain.”

IBM’s merger talks with Sun Microsystems failed because of the price issues. According to reports, IBM was offering the price lower than the actual value of Sun Microsystems. However, IBM and Sun Microsystems declined to comment on the issue.

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