Aviva

• TORONTO, Aug. 3, 2023 /CNW/ - The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) calls for an immediate investigation into the conduct of Aviva Insurance and its subsidiaries.
• OTLA has learned that Aviva hired government insurance adjudicator, Thérèse Reilly, when she was employed with the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), the quasi-judicial body that handles insurance claims disputes.
• OTLA has filed a formal complaint against Aviva with the Ontario insurance regulator, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA).
• "Aviva would have known that the adjudicator handling their disputes had accepted their employment offer but apparently did not say anything.

• Facile.it, a leading Italian online brokerage and price comparison platform, helping customers save time and money by comparing prices on key areas of their household spending, today announces the appointment of Maurizio Pescarini as new CEO effective as of October 1, 2023.
• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230726211638/en/
  Maurizio has 25 years of experience within the insurance and banking industries, most recently as CEO of Genertel and GenertelLife where he successfully led a digital transformation generating significant value for customers and other stakeholders.
• Maurizio Pescarini commented: “I have been very impressed by Facile.it and how it has established itself as a leading Italian consumer brand over the past years with an entrepreneurial spirit and a clear value proposition for its customers.
• I would also like to thank the majority shareholder Silver Lake, and Oakley Capital, for their outstanding partnership during my tenure and I wish all the best to Maurizio in his new role.”

• Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) today announced that it has named David Corrigan as Head of Property for the UK, where he will oversee underwriting of BHSI’s comprehensive line of property coverage for a wide range of risks, including Construction, Energy and Mining.
• “BHSI continues to drive robust growth across our property portfolio in the UK and throughout Europe,” said Nick Major, UK Country Manager, BHSI.
• Most recently, he spent five years as Head of Property, Global Corporate & Specialty, at Aviva.
• In Europe, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) trades under Berkshire Hathaway European Insurance DAC (BHEI) and Berkshire Hathaway International Insurance Limited (BHIIL).

• By the start of the 20th century, Britain and Ireland had become the least-wooded region in Europe, with only small fragments remaining in both countries’ western coastal rainforest zones.
• And while the climate in Britain and Ireland is wet relative to the south and east of Europe, the question remains: how wet is wet enough to support a rainforest?
• In Britain and Ireland, the climate is characterised by lower seasonality in rainfall, with dry summers being the exception rather than the rule.
• So, this leaves us with a dilemma: how can you spot a rainforest in Britain and Ireland?

1. Characteristic types of plant

• The most iconic plant types characteristic of temperate rainforests are the epiphytes.
• These are plants that grow above the ground and attach themselves to the stems of trees or shrubs.

2. Horizontal precipitation

• In upland or coastal environments, where ground-level cloud or mist is common, another important source of moisture for epiphytes is horizontal precipitation (droplets of water that are suspended in the cloud).
• This moisture source is particularly important for the epiphytes that are most susceptible to drought, such as filmy ferns and some mosses and lichens.

3. Woody climbers

• One such feature is woody climbers (or liana) that use trees to ascend to the forest canopy.
• However, the presence of woody climbers alone is not indicative of a temperate rainforest.

4. Tree structure

• The species of tree found in rainforests in Britain and Ireland are not good indicators of their rainforest status.
• The dominant canopy tree in many is sessile oak, which is the same species that dominates many forests producing straight stems of high-quality oak timber in northern France.
• However, this small tree structure is unlikely to be a direct result of high rainfall.