Latest Business Insurance Headlines

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

Agents Welcome N.J. Ban on Business Auto Liability ‘Step-Downs’

Sep 11 2007 // New Jersey insurance agents praised Gov. Jon Corzine for signing into law a bill that bans so-called step-down provisions in businesses’ motor vehicle liability insurance policies and frees agents from a having to...

Dallas Agency Receives 2007 Employer Excellence Award

Sep 7 2007 // Dallas-based insurance and risk management firm McQueary Henry Bowles Troy L.L.P. (MHBT) was recently selected as a recipient of the 2007 Greater Dallas Chamber Employer Excellence Award. According to the announcement,...

Zurich Expands Middle Market Directors & Officers Coverage

Sep 7 2007 // Zurich announced the expansion of its directors & officers liability insurance offering for middle market companies in North America. The enhanced offering, which includes several management liability products under...

Unitrin to Sell Business Insurance Segment to AmTrust

Sep 6 2007 // Chicago-based Unitrin, Inc. has agreed to sell its Unitrin Business Insurance segment to AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. in a cash transaction. Terms were not disclosed; however, Unitrin indicated that the transaction is...

Calif. Cites Garment Employers for Avoiding Workers’ Comp Insurance

Sep 5 2007 // Investigators with California’s Economic and Employment Enforcement Coalition (EEEC) recently targeted businesses in the garment industry that were operating illegally. The businesses visited were in Los Angeles and...

Fatal workplace injuries drop slightly in 2006

Sep 3 2007 // The Department of Labor’s BLS National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries for 2006 reported that 5,703 people died from on-the-job injuries in 2006 compared with 5,734 in 2005. The rate of fatal work injuries in...

Agency Specialty Forms Alliance with Midwest Employers Casualty

Aug 31 2007 // Agency Specialty Product Network (ASPN) has announced it has formed an alliance with Midwest Employers Casualty Co. (MECC), based in Chesterfield, Mo., to offer large deductible workers’ compensation programs (single...

Merchants Mutual Adds Commercial Lines Subsidiary in Mich.

Aug 27 2007 // Merchants Mutual Insurance Co. recently announced that it has recently formed a subsidiary, Merchants Preferred Insurance Co. Merchants Preferred Insurance Co. is now accepting commercial lines business in Michigan,...

Arrowhead Hires Ball to Lead Texas Commercial Division Office

Aug 15 2007 // San Diego, Calif.-based Arrowhead General Insurance Agency Inc. announced that Charles R. Ball was appointed vice president and general manager of its Commercial Division’s Texas office. In this position, Ball will...

Employers Holdings Records Q2 Net Income of $30.8 Million

Aug 15 2007 // Reno, Nev.-based Employers Holdings Inc. has reported consolidated net income of $30.8 million for the second quarter of 2007, an increase of 43.9 percent from $21.4 million in the second quarter of 2006. Net income...

Minn. Workplace Fatalities in 2006 Lower than Average

Aug 13 2007 // Seventy-eight people died from work-related injuries in Minnesota last year, a decrease of nine work-related deaths from the year before, the state Department of Labor and Industry announced on Thursday, Aug. 9th. The 2006...

Maine Court Rules Employer May Offset Workers Comp by Disability Sum

Aug 10 2007 // An employer may use a payment to an injured worker under its group life and disability plan to offset its workers’ compensation benefit payment, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court has ruled. The plaintiff had argued...

Fatal Workplace Injuries Drop Slightly, Census Reports

Aug 10 2007 // The Department of Labor’s BLS National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries for 2006 released today show 5,703 people died from on-the-job injuries in 2006 compared with 5,734 in 2005. The rate of fatal work...

Workers’ Compensation Compliance Sweep Nabs 23 Fla. Employers

Aug 8 2007 // Florida workers’ compensation compliance investigators conducted a recent sweep of 177 businesses in two Panhandle counties that resulted in 23 Stop Work Orders against employers found to be operating without the...

2 W. Va. Employers Indicted on Fraud Charges

Aug 8 2007 // A Kanawha County Grand Jury indicted two West Virginia employers on multiple charges relating to failing to subscribe to the former Workers’ Compensation Commission. On the indictment of Susan Borman and Leonard Cox,...

Calif. Appeals Court Says Workers’ Comp Sole Remedy in Workplace

Aug 8 2007 // The California Court of Appeals has ruled that claims of assault and battery and emotional distress are barred by the workers’ compensation exclusivity rule, meaning that workers’ compensation is the only...

Hawaii Commissioner Announces New Commercial Lines Provider

Aug 7 2007 // Hawai’i State Insurance Commissioner J. P. Schmidt announced the launch of DTRIC Insurance Underwriters Ltd. (DIU), an “A-” Best Rated Co and subsidiary of local insurance provider DTRIC Insurance. The...

Commercial lines insights of top agencies

Aug 6 2007 // While much of the talk about the current commercial and professional lines market turns to insurers lowering their prices, the soft market is requiring agents to raise their agencies’ level of attention paid to...

Commercial Lines Leaders

Aug 6 2007 // About the Commercial Lines Leaders: The Commercial Lines Leaders in this special feature are taken from Insurance Journal’s Top 100 Property Casualty Independent Agencies as reported in April. This list utilizes only...

Commercial lines insights of top agencies

Aug 6 2007 // While much of the talk about the current commercial and professional lines market turns to insurers lowering their prices, the soft market is requiring agents to raise their agencies’ level of attention paid to...