Judge attacks car insurer's costs

16 September 2011 Last updated at 23:02 GMT By Bob Howard Reporter, Money Box Judge Platt has roundly criticised the way RSA recovers the cost of repairs from other insurers A judge has strongly criticised the way a major motor insurer recovers the costs of repairing vehicles.

Judge Platt says Royal and Sun Alliance has used a subsidiary which inflates charges simply to boost profits.

He found the subsidiary increased labour costs without carrying out any work itself and made other charges it could not account for.

RSA Insurance said it strongly refutes any suggestion that it has acted inappropriately.

Insurance agreements

When a car is damaged in an accident, the victim's insurer normally arranges for the vehicle to be repaired by a garage and then passes the bill on to the at fault insurer to pay.

In the case of RSA Insurance, the garage invoice is passed to its subsidiary, RSA Accident Repairs Limited, which then sends a separate bill to the at fault insurer. Insurers are not supposed to make a profit from repair work.

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The effect of these extra charges if they are paid by defendants is simply to boost RSA Group's profits ”

End Quote Judge John Platt Circuit judge However Radio 4's Money Box has learnt several insurers are disputing the size of claims being put in by RSA Insurance via its subsidiary RSA Accident Repairs Limited and are refusing to pay, claiming the subsidiary has added its own charges to the original garage bill which cannot be justified.

RSA Insurance is then taking these companies to county courts seeking payment.

One district judge estimates more than 100 such cases involving RSA Insurance are arriving at County Courts each week.

The claim Judge Platt commented on was published on 2 September and was heard at Romford County Court. It involved RSA Insurance seeking £1,825 for a vehicle repair from the insurer Equity Red Star.

Unjustified costs

Judge Platt says the hourly rate for the repairs was increased from £36 to £39.50 an hour without explanation.

£118 was added for a road test, cleaning and an environmental charge which was not on the original bill.

And £110 added for taking the car to the garage and back when it was drivable and the owner lived nearby.

Judge Platt said RSA Insurance was only entitled to claim £1,542 as that was the original bill submitted by the garage that had repaired the vehicle.

He added that he could find no evidence that RSA Accident Repairs Limited had incurred other costs which it was justified in claiming:

Judge Platt said: "In my judgment the effect of inserting RSA Accident Repairs Limited as an intermediary simply inflates the ultimate cost by increasing the hourly rate and adding extra charges, one of which I have disallowed in any event as a fabrication, and another as not reasonably incurred."

He added: "Since RSA Accident Repairs Limited is wholly owned by RSA the effect of these extra charges if they are paid by defendants is simply to boost RSA Group's profits beyond the actual cost of repair by the margins inserted by RSA Accident Repairs Limited."

He also sent out this warning for the insurance industry in general: "If RSA Insurance is correct in its argument there is nothing to stop every insurer adopting the same procedures which, if this case is a typical example, will lead to an overall increase of some 25% in the cost of minor motor repair claims. That cannot be in the public interest."

Claims disputes

RSA Insurance said it was restricted in what it could say as it was referring the case to the High Court.

It said: "RSA takes very seriously any suggestion that it has acted inappropriately and strongly refutes any suggestion that it has acted so. Our model remains legal and compliant.

"However, to ensure that this remains the right approach and to avoid the need for further County Court litigation, we put in train a test case in the High Court in May of this year. In the meantime we have suspended any proceedings currently underway pending the outcome of that case."

Several insurers are believed to now be refusing to pay out claims submitted by RSA Accident Repairs Limited unless original receipts are included.

A spokesperson from The Co-operative Insurance said: "We terminated our agreement with RSA Insurance earlier this year and as such we are only paying those claims submitted by RSA Insurance, where there is evidence presented of the cost of the repair."

Under scrutiny

David Creswell, a director of ABP Club which represents car repairers and insurers, says these disputes are proving very damaging.

He added: "The trust certain of the insurers have with RSA Insurance has gone to a very large extent.

And he said it was ordinary people who pay their car insurance premiums would ultimately suffer.

"It is shocking. The whole principle is recovering the cost outlaid, not making a profit out of it."

The car insurance industry is already under huge pressure to explain the recent rise in premiums.

The Office of Fair Trading has launched an investigation and the government has said it will stop insurance companies receiving fees from personal injury lawyers.

BBC Radio 4's Money Box is broadcast on Saturdays at 1200 BST, and repeated on Sundays at 2100 BST.

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Iraq's Qaeda asks ex-fighters to return, threatens attacks (Reuters)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate has asked Sunni militia members who turned against the insurgency and joined forces with the U.S. military and the Shi'ite-led government to return to its ranks, threatening to attack those who do not "repent."

In an hour-long audio speech, the spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, said the group was growing stronger "despite all the difficulties and challenges" and was still training and sheltering foreign fighters, the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group said late Monday.

"As for you, satanic Awakenings, we strive to guide you more than you strive to kill us. If you come to us in repentance, we will accept your repentance even if you killed a million people," Adnani said, according to SITE.

"Do not stand in the way between us and the (Shi'ites) ... We will not get bored or tired; rather, we will continue until the Day of Judgment, and we will kill from amongst you only those who we see will never return."

The Sahwa militia, or Awakening Council, made up of former insurgents who turned against al Qaeda and helped turn the tide of the Iraq war, was formed in late 2006, mostly by Sunni sheikhs with the help of the U.S. military during the sectarian bloodshed that killed tens of thousands of people.

The integration of the former Sahwa fighters into the government is considered a key to stabilizing Iraq, eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and before a full withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of this year.

The Sahwa are increasingly concerned that the new Shi'ite-led government is not carrying out a promise to hire them. Two years ago the Pentagon criticized the slow pace of integration, saying that a failure to hire the Sahwa fighters could jeopardize security gains.

Jobless Sahwa could return to a weakened but still lethal insurgency that carries out dozens of attacks each month.

While overall violence has plunged since the 2006-07 bloodshed, bombings and other attacks occur every day, and occasional major attacks kill dozens of people. Sahwa militia members are frequent targets.

Adnani said the ISC was still carrying out hit and run attacks despite rumors the insurgency had been weakened by the arrests and killings of its leaders, and ordered Iraqi officials not to execute jailed Muslims.

"Know that if you execute Muslim women and men in general and the mujahideen (fighters) in particular, you will face dire consequences," he said. "Everyone knows that when we say, we deliver."

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal, editing by Tim Pearce)

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Norway PM: After attacks, make country more open (AP)

By KARL RITTER and JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Karl Ritter And Jim Heintz, Associated Press – 1 hr 5 mins ago

OSLO, Norway – Five days after an attacker incensed by Norway's culture of tolerance horrified the world, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday issued a quiet call of defiance to his countrymen: Make Norway even more open and accepting.

"The Norwegian response to violence is more democracy, more openness and greater political participation," Stoltenberg insisted at a news conference.

His promise in the face of twin attacks that killed 76 people signaled a contrast to the U.S. response after the 9/11 attacks, when Washington gave more leeway to perform wiretaps and to search records.

It reflects the difference between the two countries' approaches to terrorism: The U.S. has been frustrated by what it considers Scandinavia's lack of aggressive investigation and arrests.

"I think what we have seen is that there is going to be one Norway before and one Norway after July 22," the day an anti-immigration extremist bombed Oslo's government quarter and slaughtered dozens at the left-leaning Labor Party's youth camp, Stoltenberg said.

"But I hope and also believe that the Norway we will see after will be more open, a more tolerant society than what we had before."

Stoltenberg strongly defended the right to speak freely — even if it includes extremist views such as those held by Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old Norwegian who has confessed to the attacks and claimed they were necessary to fight what he called Muslim colonization and multiculturalism.

"We have to be very clear to distinguish between extreme views, opinions — that's completely legal, legitimate to have. What is not legitimate is to try to implement those extreme views by using violence," he said in English.

Since the attacks, Stoltenberg and Norwegian family members have underlined the country's openness by making public appearances with little visible security guarding them.

The prime minister, perhaps mindful of many Norwegians' reserved ways, urged the country to fully grieve: "I have cried, and I have told many people that they should not hesitate to cry."

The national sense of heartbreak is being renewed daily as police slowly release names of the dead; the identities of only 17 of the 68 known to have been killed have been officially confirmed.

One those named Wednesday was the youngest-known victim so far — camper Sharidyn Svebakk-Boehn, who turned 14 five days before the rampage.

An employee of Stoltenberg's office, 51-year-old Anne Lise Holter, was confirmed Wednesday as one of the eight dead in the bomb blast. A stepbrother of Crown Princess Mette-Matrit, police officer Trond Berntsen, was confirmed as one of those killed on the island, where the 51-year-old was providing security.

Stoltenberg said an independent commission will be formed to investigate the attacks and determine what lessons can be learned from the response. The commission also is to help survivors and relatives cope with the aftermath. Parliament said it is willing to help pay for funerals, and there will be a monument built to commemorate the victims.

Police earlier gave an eerie account of the end of the siege, where the man who had committed slaughter for more than an hour obediently gave up the moment police approached him, holding his hands over his head.

"It was a completely normal arrest," said officer Haavard Gaasbakk.

Earlier, the leader of Norway's Delta Force anti-terror police unit defended the special operations team, saying the breakdown of a boat didn't cause a significant delay in efforts to reach the island.

Police have come under close scrutiny over how long it took them to reach the island after first reports of shots being fired at the island youth camp Friday. Although the island is only about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Norwegian capital, police needed 90 minutes to get to the scene.

Police were already grappling with the wide damage inflicted in the downtown government quarter. When word of the shooting came, police drove rather than take a helicopter because the crew of the sole chopper available to them was on vacation. Then the first boat they tried to take to the lake island broke down. The team jumped into other boats and got to Utoya without much delay, police officials said.

Norwegian media are suggesting that police knew Breivik's identity even before they reached the island, tracing him through a rental car company from which he rented the panel van in which the bomb was planted.

Dag Andre Johansen, Scandinavian CEO of Avis car rental company, told the AP that Breivik had rented two vehicles, including a Volkswagen Crafter van. He said police contacted the company after the bombing and got Breivik's identity confirmed. But he declined to say whether that contact came before Breivik was arrested on the island.

Many in Oslo felt a new twinge of worry on Wednesday morning when parts of the capital's rail and bus complex was evacuated because of a suspicious abandoned suitcase. Police later said no explosives were found and that the evacuation order had been lifted. The Norwegian news agency NTB said a bus driver turned in the alarm after seeing a passenger leave the suitcase and walk into the station at a fast clip.

____

Heintz reported from Stockholm. Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm and Bjoern H. Amland in Oslo contributed to this report.

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Pre-caffeine tech: More hack attacks! Even more nerds!

 via Buzzfeed

Our pre-caffeine roundup is a collection of the hottest, strangest, and most amusing stories of the morning. Here's everything that you need to know before taking that first sip of coffee today:

An elaborate revenge hoax orchestrated by hackers against a prominent Internet security advocate turned a quiet Sunday afternoon in a New Jersey neighborhood into a 3-hour SWAT nightmare!

Here's why we won't soon see another another Stuxnet attack. (Hmmm ... sounds like a dare.)

Did Rupert Murdoch's news agency really "hack" cell phones? Let's talk semantics, people!

Netflix is coming to Facebook! Just not in the U.S.

The current buzz is that iPad sales may be 24 times as great as sales of Android tablets. Here's why.

Sure, RIM is laying off 2,000 employees ... but you can still expect new BlackBerry 7 OS smartphones today!

For whatever reason Amazon briefly stopped selling Nintendo 3DS, it doesn't seem to be a problem with the devices themselves and it appears Amazon has sorted it out.

Now the folks behind "Mass Effect" are looking to give FemShep (as the female version of Commander Shepard is called) even more face time.

Oh snap! Rare nerd troika caught on camera!

Here's four ways technology can enable your inner introvert.

In closing, 41 of the Hottest Ladies of Comic-Con!

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook ... and see if you can find her on Google+. She triple-dog dares you!

View the original article here

Read More

Pre-caffeine tech: More hack attacks! Even more nerds!

 via Buzzfeed

Our pre-caffeine roundup is a collection of the hottest, strangest, and most amusing stories of the morning. Here's everything that you need to know before taking that first sip of coffee today:

An elaborate revenge hoax orchestrated by hackers against a prominent Internet security advocate turned a quiet Sunday afternoon in a New Jersey neighborhood into a 3-hour SWAT nightmare!

Here's why we won't soon see another another Stuxnet attack. (Hmmm ... sounds like a dare.)

Did Rupert Murdoch's news agency really "hack" cell phones? Let's talk semantics, people!

Netflix is coming to Facebook! Just not in the U.S.

The current buzz is that iPad sales may be 24 times as great as sales of Android tablets. Here's why.

Sure, RIM is laying off 2,000 employees ... but you can still expect new BlackBerry 7 OS smartphones today!

For whatever reason Amazon briefly stopped selling Nintendo 3DS, it doesn't seem to be a problem with the devices themselves and it appears Amazon has sorted it out.

Now the folks behind "Mass Effect" are looking to give FemShep (as the female version of Commander Shepard is called) even more face time.

Oh snap! Rare nerd troika caught on camera!

Here's four ways technology can enable your inner introvert.

In closing, 41 of the Hottest Ladies of Comic-Con!

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook ... and see if you can find her on Google+. She triple-dog dares you!

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Norway terror attacks suspect to appear in court

The man accused in Norway's twin terror attacks that killed at least 93 says he acted aloneReport: An attorney says the suspect wants to explain himself in court MondayInvestigators are still searching for victims of a bomb blast in OsloAuthorities also are searching waters around Utoya island for victims

Oslo, Norway (CNN) -- A man who authorities say confessed to Norway's terror attacks is expected to make his first court appearance Monday, when, according to his attorney, he wants to "explain himself."

The court appearance comes as authorities continue to search for possible victims of Friday's bombing in downtown Oslo and a mass shooting at a political youth retreat on Utoya island. At least 93 people were killed and 96 were wounded in the attacks.

Police have not identified the suspect, but local television and newspaper reports say the man in custody is Anders Behring Breivik.

Attorney Geir Lippestad, who claimed to represent Breivik, told Norwegian TV2 that the suspect feels the terrorist attacks were "horrible," but "in his head (they) were necessary."

During the TV2 interview late Saturday, Lippestad said his client "is ready to explain himself" at Monday's court hearing.

Whether the suspect will be allowed to address the Norwegian court and under what, if any, circumstances is not immediately known.

CNN's attempts to reach Lippestad have been unsuccessful.

The 32-year-old Norwegian has told investigators he acted alone and was not aided in the planning, acting National Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim told reporters Sunday. But authorities have not ruled out that others may have been involved or helped him along the way, he said.

Sponheim said there has been "no progress" in ascertaining what the suspect's motive might have been. But he said that investigators were studying a 1,500-page manifesto that authorities believe was published online the day of the attack.

The document rants against Muslims and their growing presence in Europe and calls for a European civil war to overthrow governments, end multiculturalism and execute "cultural Marxists."

The author of the document identifies himself as Breivik and indicates he is from Norway. CNN could not independently verify that Breivik wrote the document, and Norwegian authorities would not confirm that the man in their custody wrote the manifesto, saying it was part of their investigation.

Authorities allege that the man in custody killed seven people Friday by setting off a car bomb in downtown Oslo that targeted government buildings, then traveled 20 miles to Utoya island and killed at least 86 teens and young adults in an ambush at a political youth retreat.

The suspect was carrying a considerable amount of ammunition when he surrendered to authorities, Sponheim told reporters.

Investigators will conduct autopsies over the next few days, Sponheim said, and the identities of the victims will be released once all the next-of-kin have been notified. The death toll -- which rose to 93 on Sunday after a person succumbed to injuries from the mass shooting -- could increase, police say.

At least four people have not been accounted for around Utoya island, with investigators searching the waters nearby for victims who may have drowned trying to escape the shooter.

Authorities are also still trying to determine how many people died in the Oslo bombing, where the explosion badly damaged several government buildings as well as the majority Labour Party office.

They are also hunting for new evidence.

On Sunday, police raided a property the suspect owned in the eastern Oslo area of Slettelokka looking for explosives.

"We were there with dogs but found nothing of any value as evidence," Sponheim said.

Police said Sunday that the area around the blast site would remain cordoned off, but members of the public in the area were not at risk.

In addition to the dead, at least 96 people were wounded in the attacks -- 30 in the blast and 66 in the mass shooting, Sponheim said.

Doctors at Oslo University Hospital Sunday were treating 31 patients injured in the terror attacks, 18 of whom were critically or seriously injured, Oslo University Hospital spokesman Jo Heldaas told CNN.

CNN's Michael Holmes, Erin McLaughlin, Chelsea J. Carter and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

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Police: Suspect in Norway attacks says he acted alone

Norway suspect allegedly posts videoNEW: Authorities say they have not established the suspect's motiveInvestigators are still searching waters around Utoya island for victimsThe man accused in Norway's twin terror attacks that killed at least 93 says he acted alonePolice are looking into a 1,500-page manifesto purportedly written by the suspect

Oslo, Norway (CNN) -- The man accused of killing at least 93 people in Norway has said he carried out the bombing and mass shooting, authorities said Sunday, as an ashen-faced and openly weeping King Harald V led the nation in mourning.

The suspect has not pleaded guilty, and said he acted alone with no accomplice, acting National Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim told reporters Sunday.

"There is no progress on the question of what (his) motive was," Sponheim said, but he said investigators were studying a 1,500-page manifesto that authorities believe was published online the day of the attack.

The document, apparently compiled over a period of nine years, rants against Muslims and their growing presence in Europe and calls for a European civil war to overthrow governments, end multiculturalism and execute "cultural Marxists."

The author of the document identifies himself as Anders Behring Breivik, the suspect in the Norwegian terrorist attacks. CNN could not independently verify that Breivik wrote the document, and Norwegian authorities would not confirm that the man in their custody wrote the manifesto, saying it was part of their investigation.

Police have not identified the suspect, but local television and newspaper reports say the man in custody is Breivik, 32.

Authorities allege that he set off a car bomb outside government buildings in Oslo on Friday, then ambushed an island political youth retreat in a shooting spree that left at least 86 dead. The suspect was still carrying a considerable amount of ammunition when he surrendered to authorities, Sponheim told reporters.

Police raised the official death toll from the twin attacks to 93 after a person wounded in the shootings died Sunday. That number could increase, they said, as investigators continue searching waters around the island for victims who may have drowned trying to escape the shooter. At least four people have not been accounted for from the shooting.

Authorities were also still trying to determine how many people died in Friday's bombing in downtown Oslo, where the explosion badly damaged a number of government buildings as well as the majority Labour Party office.

The investigation continued Sunday as memorial shrines with flowers and candles dotted the city's streets and Norwegians gathered at a cathedral in the capital to mourn the victims of the attacks.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called the attacks "incomprehensible."

"Soon, names and photographs will be released. The enormity of the evilness will surface in all its horror, and that will be a new test for us all," he said.

Attorney Geir Lippestad, who claimed to represent Breivik, told TV2 late Saturday that his client "is ready to explain himself" on Monday when it is anticipated he will make his first court appearance. Breivik believed the terrorist attacks were "horrible," but "in his head (they) were necessary," Lippestad said.

CNN was unsuccessful in its attempts to reach Lippestad for comment.

While they have arrested only one suspect, Sponheim said authorities have not ruled out the possibility that someone else was involved in the shooting on the island. Statements from witnesses to the mass shooting "make it uncertain if it was more than one person," Sponheim said.

A police raid searching for explosives on property the suspect owned in the eastern Oslo area of Slettelokka Sunday did not turn up any leads, he said.

"We were there with dogs but found nothing of any value as evidence," Sponheim said.

Authorities Saturday were searching for bodies of victims in the bomb attack in downtown Oslo.

On Sunday police said the area around the blast site would remain cordoned off, but members of the public in the area were not at risk.

Seven people have been confirmed dead from the bomb attack. Police said that the explosive was in a car.

At least 97 people were wounded in the attacks -- 30 in the blast and 67 in the mass shooting, Sponheim said. That total includes the person who died Sunday.

Investigators will conduct autopsies over the next few days, Sponheim said, and the identities of the victims will be released once all the next-of-kin have been notified.

Doctors at Oslo University Hospital Sunday were treating 31 patients injured in the terror attacks -- 18 of whom were critically or seriously injured, Oslo University Hospital spokesman Jo Heldaas told CNN.

On Saturday, an employee at a Norwegian agricultural cooperative told CNN that the man identified in media reports as the suspect bought six tons of fertilizer from her company in May.

Oddmy Estenstad, of Felleskjopet Agr, said she did not think the order was strange at the time because the suspect has a farm, but after Friday's explosion in Norway's capital, Oslo, she called police because she knew the material can be used to make bombs.

"We are very shocked that this man was connected to our company," said Estenstad. "We are very sad about what happened."

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday offered his "fervent prayers for the victims and families, invoking God's peace upon the dead and divine consolation upon those who suffer."

"At this time of national grief he prays that all Norwegians will be spiritually united in a determined resolve to reject the ways of hatred and conflict and to work together fearlessly in a shaping a future of mutual respect, solidarity and freedom from for coming generations," according to a statement released by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on behalf of the pope.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed U.S. solidarity with Norway.

"The United States strongly condemns any kind of terrorism no matter where it comes from or who perpetuates it, and this tragedy strikes right at the heart of the soul of a peaceful people," she said in a statement.

CNN's Michael Holmes, Erin Mclaughlin, Chelsea J. Carter, Jim Boulden, Laura Smith-Spark, Joe Sterling, Moni Basu, Chelsea Bailey, Claudia Rebaza and Cynthia Wamwayi contributed to this report.

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