METLIFE SUED BY EEOC

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit in Houston against Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. based on allegations the company retaliated against an employee who complained about age discrimination. The EEOC alleges that Johnny F. Holley was prevented from working as an account representative at one of Metlife's agencies in Sharpstown. Holley filed an age discrimination complaint with the EEOC.

STATES TO LIQUIDATE QUEENSWAY UNIT

Queensway Financial Holdings Ltd. said in late January that the Florida and Georgia departments of insurance had both obtained court orders to have Queensway insurance units liquidated. The company is closing down its Queensway Casualty Insurance Company unit in Florida and the International Indemnity Co. in Georgia.

Following this action, Standard & Poor's revised its financial strength rating on International Indemnity Co. to 'R" from 'Bpi'.

TEXAS LEADS 2000 CAT LOSSES

U.S. property/casualty insurers paid $4.3 billion in catastrophe claims, making 2000 the second-lowest year for catastrophe losses in the last 10, according to estimates by Insurance Services Office's Property Claim Services unit.

The year's 24 natural disasters produced 1.4 million catastrophe claims, also the second lowest since 1991. Catastrophe losses in 2000 were 53 percent below the 10-year average for insured-property losses of $9.1 billion per year, the ISO unit's year-end analysis shows.

Last year's 24 catastrophes were also well below the 33 events-per-year average of the last 10 years. In 2000, personal lines accounted for 44 percent of the total catastrophe losses, auto 29 percent and commercial properties the rest, a significant shift from the last four years when personal lines accounted for almost 60 percent, commercial properties slightly above 30 percent, and vehicles less than 10 percent.

In 2000, 35 states sustained insured-property damage from catastrophes. Texas led in losses - $1.2 billion from six events. Louisiana ranked second with $523 million in insured losses, followed by: South Carolina, $204 million; Pennsylvania, $175 million; Florida, $158 million; Illinois, $143 million; New Mexico, $140 million; Arkansas, $131 million; Wisconsin, $125 million; and New York, $119 million.

NATIONWIDE CALLS ON SAN ANTONIO

Nationwide Insurance, one of the country's largest property-casualty insurers, will establish a national claim call center in San Antonio. The center will employ between 300 to 400 people once fully operational.

Nationwide has partnered with developer Darren Casey and is in the process of finalizing plans to renovate and occupy space in the Cinema Plaza, which is located near US Highway 281 North near Nakoma Street. It is the site of the former Nakoma Theater. Until the center becomes operational in mid-March, a temporary center has opened at Nationwide's satellite office located at 8415 Datapoint Dr.

HOUSE INSURANCE COMMITTEE

The 77th Regular Session Texas House Insurance Committee was appointed with few changes to its makeup from the 76th Session. Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, will continue to chair the committee, and Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, will remain in his role as vice-chair Rep. Kip Averitt, R-Waco is the only new addition to the committee, replacing Rep. Miguel Wise, D-Weslaco. The remainder of the committee members are Rep. Gene Seaman, R-Corpus Christi, Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth; Rep. Glenn Lewis, D-Fort Worth; Rep. Joe Moreno, D-Houston; Rep. Dora Olivo, D-Rosenberg; and Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston.

TRAVELERS PERSONAL LINES AGENTS

Travelers has launched a new Internet-technology-based automation system for personal lines independent agents in an effort to save them time and improve their profitability by simplifying the quoting and issuing of new insurance policies. The system, called ATLAS3, allows agents to quote and issue policies using Internet technology. The interface is Internet browser-based and allows user-friendly navigation and input just by pointing and clicking. One of the key features is the ability to print ACORD applications and ID cards and to quote proposals in the agent's office. More than 165 agents are piloting the system. The broad rollout of ATLAS3 will begin in February 2001.

DALLAS FIRM SHUT DOWN BY TDI

A March hearing has been scheduled for the owner of a Maryland company whom Texas insurance regulators allege posed as president of a Dallas insurance company on at least one medical policy. Dr. Maruthi S. Manney, owner of SAI Plus, is also accused by the Texas Department of Insurance of participating in the sale of insurance without a license.

In December, the department asked a judge to shut down SAI Plus' operations in Texas and fine the firm $1 million. The hearing is scheduled for March 26.

Meanwhile, Knight Ridder/Tribune News service reports that court documents filed in Greenbelt, Md. Show that Manney and others involved with SAI Plus are under investigation by the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the federal Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration because of fraud allegations and complaints from policyholders.

According to the report, a federal magistrate authorized federal investigators to seize records from SAI Plus and Manney. Knight Ridder also reported that, last year, SAI Plus held $13 million in contracts to provide medical coverage for thousands of Texas residents, including employees of seven school districts and 35 Dallas-area businesses.

TDI alleges that SAI Plus failed to obtain a third-party administrator's license before contracting with Texas employers to manage health plans for their workers. TDI also alleges that SAI Plus failed to purchase some of the insurance promised to customers.

Also, the Dallas insurer refused to accept some of the health plans forwarded to it by SAI Plus. Dallas General Life was placed under state supervision in July 1999 due to financial difficulties. The following September, SAI Plus made its investment. Four months later, the company was released from supervision.

U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE TAKES SHAPE

The House Financial Services Committee subcommittee has been revised for the newly minted panel, which will have broad sway across the financial sector.

The committee was formed earlier this month by adding the securities and insurance jurisdictions once held by the House Commerce Committee to the former banking panel. Rep. Richard Baker, a Republican from Louisiana will now head the new subcommittee that will add the new securities and insurance responsibilities to his current portfolio encompassing capital markets and government-sponsored enterprises such as housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Rep. Marge Roukema, R-New Jersey, will now head the committee's housing subcommittee. Other subcommittee chairs and their jurisdictions are: Rep. Peter King, R-New York, will chair the domestic monetary policy subcommittee; Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Nebraska, will head up the international monetary policy subcommittee; New York Rep. R-Sue Kelly, will head the committee's oversight and investigations subcommittee.

SAFECO POSTS LOSS

Safeco has reported lower profits for 2000, and an operating loss for the fourth quarter. For the full year 2000, SAFECO reported net income of $114.6 million, or $0.90 per diluted share, on revenues of $7.1 billion. Operating income, excluding realized gains from investments, was $24.2 million, or a profit of $0.19 per diluted share. This compares to operating income of $1.32 per diluted share in 1999. SAFECO Personal Insurance, including auto and homeowners insurance, reported a quarterly underwriting loss of $70.2 million, compared with an underwriting loss of $19.4 million during the same quarter a year earlier. The change is the result of weather-related homeowners losses, which were nearly three times higher in the fourth quarter than during the same period in 1999, and losses for SAFECO's auto insurance lines, which increased by $5 million when compared with the fourth quarter of 1999.

SAFECO Business Insurance continued to show improvement as fourth-quarter underwriting losses declined to $26.1 million. That represents a 30 percent improvement over the $37.1 million underwriting loss reported during the same period in 1999. SAFECO Commercial Insurance reported an underwriting loss of $51.9 million, a slight improvement over the $59.1 million loss during the fourth quarter of 1999.

PRUDENTIAL FACES $1 BILLION LAWSUIT

Prudential Insurance Co. is the focus of a lawsuit filed by 15 Palm Beach County residents who are aiming to prove the company sold bogus policies. Pretrial motions were scheduled for today, and jury selection has been set for Feb. 1.

The residents filed their own lawsuit after deciding a national class-action suit would not provide sufficient damages, David Sheller, the plaintiffs' attorney, told the Associated Press.

"It was a lousy settlement,'' he was reported as saying. "The average settlement was anywhere from $40 to a few hundred bucks.'' Prudential settled the national suit in 1997, paying customers $2.4 billion, or roughly $220 each for the 10.7 million policies it sold between 1982 and 1995.

The Florida plaintiffs are accusing Prudential agents of falsely promising customers that policies would be paid for in a few years when in fact, the contracts required policy holders to pay premiums for life or risk policy lapse. The Associated Press reported that Prudential has denied the charges in court filings.

INSURERS CITE DATA LIMITS

Four insurance trade associations have said they cannot supply data to federal safety regulators that will indicate whether certain passenger vehicles pose a potential danger to consumers.

In a joint statement filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the American Insurance Association, the Alliance of American Insurers, the National Association of Independent Insurers and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies said the insurance industry does not maintain the type of information that would be useful in establishing an early-warning detection system for defects.

The statement was in response to last year's legislation, Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act, or TREAD, which came in the wake of allegations that Ford Motor Co. and Bridgestone/Firestone were slow to notify consumers about defective tires.

The legislation calls for a feasibility study on safety-related data that Congress and others thought might be available from the insurance industry. In the joint statement, the associations said claims information collected by the industry is not useful for the purposes of the legislation. But the information could possibly be available through vehicle and component manufacturers. Two types of information the industry can provide, however, are industrywide aggregate data on non-crash fires and vehicle crash test data.

E.W. BLANCH NAMES NEW COO

Insurance broker E.W. Blanch Holdings Inc. has named Chris Walker as its new president and chief operating officer, succeeding Ted Blanch. Blanch has been named the Dallas-based company's chairman emeritus.

IIAA LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE

Nearly 800 independent insurance agents will come together in the nation's capital May 2-4 for the 25th Annual Independent Insurance Agents of America National Legislative Conference. The 2001 IIAA National Legislative Conference will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. For more information visit www.iiaa.org.