National News for October 2006 Study Reveals Leading Indicators for Hospital Professional Liability Claims Employee Crime: Big Threat to Small Companies Rapper Sues Insurer for Failing to Cover Students’ Deaths Court Affirms Limit on Replacement Cost for World Trade Center HUD Charges Erie, Agents with Unfair Bias; Erie Calls Charges ‘Misguided’ The Hartford’s Net Income Jumps 41% for Third Quarter J.D. Power: Homeowners Want Carriers to Offer Identity Theft Bieler Named Treasurer at Marsh Profits Surge at Chubb; Professional Liability Continues Improvement After School Hours Dangerous for Teens Who Drive, Says AAA Risk of Pedestrian Fatality Four Times Higher on Halloween Consumer Group Says P/C Rates Drop ‘Irrespective’ of Tort Reform Enactment Insurance Contributors Favor Republicans; Santorum, Clinton, McGavick Top Recipients Aon Moves On Exit Plan, Announces Sale of Construction Program New Risk Assessment Techniques a Must If Credit Scoring Bans Enacted Navy, Marines Battling Fatal Off-Base Car Crashes Darwin, PCM Partner on Standard Market Lawyers’ Liability Program Barry to Head Media Relations for Insurance Information Institute USI Holdings Reports Buyout Inquiry DiFrancesco Named President of OneBeacon’s AutoOne Subsidiary PGI Expands Habitational Program into 11 Additional States Marsh Adopts New Governance Rules for Directors Bush Extends Workplace Safety Program for Federal Government Best Sees No Change in National Indemnity Ratings from Equitas Deal Venture Launches All-Lines Marine Insurance Program Hanover Adds Employment Practices Liability to Business Owners Policy Big ‘I’ Refutes State Attorneys General on Zurich Settlement Democrats Recommend All-Perils Disaster Plan, Antitrust Repeal Arbitrators: Former MassMutual CEO Wrongly Fired Liberty Mutual Appoints LeRoy to Lead Large Commercial Division NBIS Appoints Foley as Vice President With 1,100 Katrina Lawsuits, Court Schedule Stretches into 2008 Berkshire Hathaway Says General Re Not Target of Investigation Court Upholds Juries’ Rulings in World Trade Center Claims Truckers Seek to Slow Big-Rigs Allstate Swings to $1.16 Billion Gain in 3rd Quarter with Fewer Hurricanes Survey: Commercial Market Softens, Insurer Appetite Increases Fed Survey Finds Easing of Credit Underwriting Standards Hurricane Center Identifies 10 Most Hurricane Vulnerable Areas Regulators Tell Anti-Trust Commission McCarran Exemption Fosters Competition Insurance Carriers Moving to Service-Oriented Architecture New Website Launched For Business Insurance Agents BISYS Reaches Settlement Over Securities Class Action Portable Seat Belt Promises Safety While Traveling Abroad Motor Parts Maker Tower to Cover Directors’ Defense Costs Swett & Crawford to Appear on World Business Review Maritime Terrorism Risk Extends to Cruise Ships, Ferry Boats, Study Says Fireman’s Fund Introduces Green Building Coverage 860 Fire Departments Share $92M in Homeland Security Grants Small Business Hopes Elections Address Health, Taxes, Regulation Agents Seek Delay in Approval of Zurich Compensation Settlement Aetna to Cut 650 Jobs What Does the Future Hold for Insurance Agents’ E&O? Supreme Court Rejects W.R. Grace Asbestos Clean-Up Appeal Arrowhead General Offers Online Quotes for Private Company D&O Distinguished Programs Launches New Small Condo/Apartment Program Surety Bond Groups Hail SBA’s Small Contractor Rule Changes Report: U.S. Economy Headed for Slow Growth But Not Recession Hurricane Risk Reduces Prospective Profit of Homeowners Insurance Litigation Trends Continue to Mount Worldwide; Insurers Face Five Times the Average Number of Lawsuits Aon’s Rodell Named CIAB Chairman Callahan Appointed CEO of Affirmative Insurance Holdings Supreme Court Declines to Hear Tobacco Case Banks’ Insurance Revenues, Insurance Brokerage Fees Up The Hartford Introduces Professional Liability Policy for Business Services Insurance Charity Foundation Opens in N.Y.; Plans National Expansion Great Central, Irving Weber Assoc. to Provide Cover for Fabricare Group Former HRH Exec Building Brokerage Firm; Starts with N.Y.’s Genatt Study: Side Air Bags Save Lives Willis Promotes Ealy, Gunn and Joost on North American Team Barran Named President of Marketing Association Mercator Hires Magyar as Professional Liability VP Darwin Offers Mental Health Liability Program Through N.Y. Agency CEOs Rewarded for Layoff Decisions Updated Atlantic Hurricane Forecast Indicates Below-Average Activity Travelers Launches Product for Millwright Contractors Banking and Insurance Execs to Spend More for Anti-Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing Compliance MSB Promotes Linnell to Assistant Vice President Supreme Court to Hear Several Cases Affecting Business Community Financial Reporting Changes Create New Challenges for Actuaries Tort Versus No-Fault Reform Paradigm Is False Choice, Paper Says Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Insurance Credit Score Cases American Bar Donates $7.3M from Insurance Funds to Legal Research Treasury Report on Terrorism Insurance Says Backstop Negatively Affects Private Capacity General Star Offers Alternative and Integrative Professional Liability Program OneBeacon Completes Transfer of Agricultural Unit to QBE Parker Named Personal Lines V.P. at Main Street America Group Praetorian Completes Acquisition of Specialty Insurer Alea AMS Users Gain Access to ChoicePoint; AMS Also Buys Priority Data Systems P/C Insurers’ Profitability Drops in First-Half of 2006 National Science Board Urges More Coordinated Hurricane Research Hurricane Research Bill Introduced in U.S. Senate U.S. Risk Launches New Physician Med-Mal Product Brown & Brown Grows Wholesale: Hull Buys DVUA; PRU Acquires Apex National News Archives