The Independent Insurance Agents of Houston recently installed Donald E. (Woody) Woodard, Jr. as the association’s president for 2004-2005. Woodard began his insurance career in 1973 at Houstoun Stevenson and Cummings, in the casualty department. He co-founded Houstoun Woodard and …
With the latest insurance industry market conduct problem, consumers once again see not only the failure of state insurance regulation to protect them but the refusal of state insurance regulators to take responsibility for their failure. The latest actions by …
According to an analysis conducted by AIR Worldwide (AIR), a risk modeling company, the 2004 hurricane season should not be considered rare. The analysis, based on the AIR hurricane model, revealed that insurers should expect to see four hurricanes make …
Voters in Colorado Nov. 2 overwhelmingly turned back an effort to amend the state’s constitution and gut a construction defects reform measure passed by the legislature last year. In a victory for consumers and the real estate industry alike, voters …
The California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) has received approval from the Office of Administrative Law on the first set of regulations implementing SB 899, workers’ compensation reforms passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger last April. The …
Voters in Oregon said yes to keeping state-run workers’ compensation carrier SAIF Corp. from being abolished by rival Liberty Northwest, according to the Associated Press. Supporters of the abolishment said that the measure would have decreased insurance rates if the …
Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (MMC) revealed it would lay off about 3,000 employees to reduce annual expenses by $400 million. About three-quarters of the layoffs will occur in the insurance and risk management sectors. Market services revenues declined to …
Anthem Inc. and WellPoint Health Networks Inc. announced that John Garamendi, Commissioner of the California Department of Insurance (CDI), has granted his approval for their pending merger. In July of this year, the companies received approval from California’s Department of …
Some Predicted Reality TV Would be Tough to Insure But Insurers Have Reduced the Risks Jon Paulsen was one of millions of TV viewers watching as contestants on the NBC reality show Fear Factor went bobbing in a vat of …
Four Professional Insurance Association (PIA) affiliate chapters recently united to form the PIA Western Alliance, a 1,500-member organization for independent agents based in Vancouver, Wash. The four PIA chapters that make up the Western Alliance, which was formed on Oct. …
