Latest Business Insurance Headlines

All the headlines from our Business Insurance Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Argo Surety, SureTec Launch Mid-Market Surety Program

Jun 11 2014 // Argo Surety, together with SureTec Financial Corp., is now providing expanded combined capacity for the middle market contract surety segment. Through the new program, Argo Surety and SureTec can extend up to $50 million...

Commercial Lines Prices Up Only 4% in Q1: Towers Watson

Jun 10 2014 // Commercial insurance prices increased by 4 percent in aggregate during the first quarter of 2014, marking the lowest level of growth since fourth-quarter 2011, according to a new survey by Towers Watson. The increase is a...

Willis Launches UK’s 1st Shariah Compliant Commercial Property Insurance

Jun 10 2014 // Willis Group Holdings announced that in “response to growing demand from property investors for insurance cover that is compliant with Islamic law it has launched the UK’s first Shariah compliant commercial...

The Hartford Names Carano Commercial Markets Loss Control VP

Jun 5 2014 // The Hartford has appointed Carl J. Carano vice president of loss control for the company’s Commercial Markets division. Carano will lead development of a risk management services for commercial insurance customers....

CNA Appoints Middle Market Underwriting Director for Philadelphia Branch

Jun 4 2014 // Lori Feller CNA Financial Corporation has appointed Lori Feller as middle market underwriting director for the company’s Philadelphia branch. Feller joined CNA in 2006. Most recently she served as middle market...

Virginia Raises Fines for Employers Without Workers’ Comp

Jun 2 2014 // Employers in Virginia who fail to provide workers’ compensation insurance for their employees will be assessed, beginning July, a civil penalty of up to $250 per day for each day of noncompliance, subject to a...

Union Mutual of Vermont Cos. Names Director of Commercial Lines Underwriting

May 30 2014 // Geoffrey J. Smith Union Mutual of Vermont Companies has hired Geoffrey J. Smith as the director of commercial lines underwriting. He is based in Montpelier, Vermont. Smith has over 27 years of experience underwriting and...

FirstComp Launches Small Business BOP Product in Hawaii

May 28 2014 // FirstComp, a division of Markel Service, Inc., has launched a new small business owner policy, FirstComp EssentialBOP, for FirstComp-appointed independent agents writing business in Hawaii. The BOP product is also...

Private Employer Workers’ Comp Rates to Fall Again in Ohio

May 22 2014 // Ohio private employers will again benefit from lower overall workers’ compensation base-rates with a 6.3 percent reduction that will take effect July 1, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC)...

Employers Names Mikulsky Senior Vice President in Nevada

May 19 2014 // Employers named Aaron Mikulsky as senior vice president of business process and policyholder services. He will be based out of Employers’ headquarters in Reno, Nevada. Mikulsky has more than 19 years of experience in...

Liberty Mutual Adds Cyber Coverages to Small Business BOP Policies

May 19 2014 // Liberty Mutual Insurance is now offering its small business customers data compromise and CyberOne endorsements for its BOP product available on the company’s eCLIQ policy administration platform. The data compromise...

Court: Ohio Overcharged Employers Workers’ Comp For Years

May 19 2014 // The director of the state insurance fund for injured workers said Friday that he’s disappointed with an unusually pointed appeals court decision that says the fund overcharged employers by hundreds of millions of...

Disaster Loans Made Available for New Mexico Small Businesses

May 19 2014 // Small businesses in eight New Mexico counties are eligible for federal disaster loans due to the drought. The U.S. Small Business Administration made the announcement in April, saying the loans can help offset economic...

Scottsdale, Virtue Risk Partners to Offer Commercial Package Product

May 14 2014 // Scottsdale Insurance Co. has partnered with Virtue Risk Partners, LLC to offer a commercial package product. Virtue Risk Partners will offer commercial package products, including commercial general liability,...

Virginia to Raise Penalties for Employers Without Workers’ Comp Coverage

May 13 2014 // Employers in Virginia who fail to provide workers’ compensation insurance for their employees will be assessed, beginning July, a civil penalty of up to $250 per day for each day of noncompliance, subject to a...

Commercial Auto Insurers Still Struggle to Profit: Fitch

May 6 2014 // Commercial automobile insurers reported a third consecutive year of underwriting losses in 2013. According to an analysis by Fitch Ratings, the combined ratio came in at 106 for 2013 compared with 107 for 2012. In a...

Business Risk Partners Hires Brault as Broker Relations Director in Conn.

May 5 2014 // Business Risk Partners, a Windsor, Conn.-based managing general underwriter, has appointed Stephen L. Brault to the newly created position of director of broker relations. Stephen L. Brault In his new role at Business Risk...

Employers Names Two Key Executives in its Nevada Headquarters

May 5 2014 // Reno, Nev.-based Employers named Larry Rogers senior vice president and chief underwriting officer and Frank Buonomo vice president of IT infrastructure and operations. Rogers has more than 25 years of experience in the...

Report: Small Businesses Still Feel Effects of Superstorm Sandy

May 5 2014 // When suburban New York delicatessen owner P.J. Whelan heard the findings of a Federal Reserve Bank of New York poll released on April 21 regarding Superstorm Sandy’s effect on small businesses, he began nodding in...

Missouri Law Bars Contractors from Paying Deductibles on Commercial Property

May 2 2014 // Missouri lawmakers have given final approval to legislation that supporters say is aimed at protecting commercial property. A 2011 Missouri law bars residential contractors who fix roofs or complete other exterior repairs...