Latest Business Insurance Headlines
All the headlines from our Business Insurance Topic Page, ordered by recency.
S&P Affirms, Withdraws Westport Ratings after Merger with Employers Re
Jan 16 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘AA-‘ financial strength rating on Westport Insurance Corp. and then withdrew the rating at the request of management. The outlook had been...
Survey: Prices Continue to Drop for Commercial Lines Market
Jan 14 2008 // Commercial lines insurance premiums continued to tumble during the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the RIMS Benchmark Survey, an industry survey of policy renewal prices as reported by corporate risk managers. Despite...
Employers Should Evaluate Testing Procedures to Eliminate Bias
Jan 13 2008 // Employers often use test and other selection procedures to screen applicants when hiring and evaluating employees for promotion. In fact, there has been an increase in employment testing due in part to post 9/11 security...
Workers’ Comp Writer Employers Holdings to Acquire AmCOMP
Jan 11 2008 // Employers Holdings, Inc. of Reno, Nev., reports it has agreed to acquire AmCOMP Inc. for approximately $230 million, including the assumption of $37 million in debt. The acquisition will expand Employers’...
California Governor To Propose Homeowners, Business Property Insurance Policy Tax
Jan 10 2008 // California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to propose a 1.25 percent tax on homeowners and business property insurance policies when he unveils his state budget today. “The expected proposal will unfairly...
S&P: TRIPRA’s Passage Keeps U.S. Commercial Lines Outlook Stable
Jan 8 2008 // On Dec. 26, 2007, President George W. Bush signed into law the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (TRIPRA), thereby retaining the federal backstop for terrorism risk through Dec. 31, 2014. The...
Maryland Employers with Illegal Workers Could Be Fined
Jan 3 2008 // Frederick County, Md. Commissioner Charles Jenkins is calling for penalties for local businesses that hire illegal immigrants. He is talking to the county attorney about a plan to audit local businesses that receive...
IRISK Solutions Targets Risk Management Services to Middle Market
Jan 3 2008 // IRISK Solutions is a new independent risk management consulting firm, targeting small to middle market companies with annual gross premiums from $50,000 to $1 million. IRISK uses an Enterprise Risk Management approach to...
Ruling Affirms Employers May Factor Medicare into Retiree Benefits
Dec 28 2007 // Employers may continue the long-standing practice of taking Medicare into account when structuring the health care benefits voluntarily provided their retired workers, says the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a...
Zurich Establishes Asia-Pacific Corporate Business Unit
Dec 14 2007 // Zurich Financial Services Group announced that it will expand its services for corporate customers into the Asia-Pacific region with the creation of a new business unit, Global Corporate in Asia-Pacific (GCiAP). The new...
N.C. Court Gives Unlicensed Employer Organization Temporary Reprieve
Dec 14 2007 // The Superior Court of Wake County, N.C., extended and continued a temporary stay for Castleton Group Inc., a professional employer organization based in Raleigh to remain in operation for an additional 60 days. North...
Arrowhead Offers Package Policy Program for Contractor’s Commercial Auto
Dec 13 2007 // Arrowhead General Insurance Agency Inc. has announced a new package policy program to write contractor’s commercial auto as part of a package with general liability, property and inland marine products. The program...
Liberty Mutual Expands Middle-Market General Liability Coverage
Dec 13 2007 // Liberty Mutual has enhanced its general liability offering to mid-market businesses in order to account for coverage gaps. In addition, Liberty Mutual is expanding general liability coverages for 10 specific industry...
Small Business Groups Get Big Dividends from Texas Mutual
Dec 13 2007 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported $684,997 in dividends to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) workers’ compensation purchasing groups. The dividends were based largely on the groups’...
AmTrust Agrees to Acquire Unitrin’s Business Insurance Unit
Dec 10 2007 // Unitrin, Inc. reports it has worked out an agreement to sell its Unitrin Business Insurance unit to AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. in a cash transaction. Terms were not disclosed. Unitrin had previously announced in...
Texas Unemployment Insurance Rate Cut Should Save Employers $270M
Dec 10 2007 // A state agency said it cut the unemployment-insurance tax rate, which will save Texas employers $270 million next year. The rate cut was due to low recent jobless rates and the Legislature’s decision to eliminate a...
Employer Organization Insolvent, Could Affect Up To 3,000 N.C. Jobs
Dec 5 2007 // North Carolina Insurance Department officials denied an ongoing licensure request of Castleton Group Inc., a professional employer organization based in Raleigh, “due to its hazardous financial condition.” The...
OSHA Rules Employers Must Pay for Workers’ Safety Equipment
Dec 2 2007 // Employers will have to pay the full cost for almost all personal safety equipment used by their workers, the Labor Department said recently, a move advocates say will prevent thousands of on-the-job injuries. The...
S&P: Softening Prices Should Start To Affect U.S. Commercial Lines Insurers
Nov 30 2007 // Another very profitable year for commercial lines insurers, sparked by yet another exceptionally mild hurricane season, is emerging for the entire U.S. property/casualty industry, says Standard & Poor’s Ratings...
NAS Insurance Services Offers EPLI for Small Businesses
Nov 28 2007 // Encino, Calif.-based NAS Insurance Services has a new small business employment practices liability insurance coverage (for companies with 10 full time employees or less) featuring higher commissions. This new EPLI...
