Latest Carriers Headlines

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

Low Disaster Claims Boost Profits in Third Quarter for European Insurers

Nov 6 2014 // European insurers posted strong increases in earnings in the third quarter, helped by a slump in payouts for catastrophe damage, rising premium income, cost cuts and a weaker euro. Besides losses from the Malaysia Airlines...

Big Data: It Isn’t Just for Carriers

Nov 5 2014 // This is the era of big data and while it’s no surprise that insurance carriers are big players, the fact is that agents and brokers of all sizes also have a growing stake in big data. While the insurance industry has...

Canadian P&C Insurer Intact Financial’s 3rd Quarter Profit Rises

Nov 5 2014 // Intact Financial Corp., Canada’s largest property and casualty insurer, reported a more than four-fold rise in quarterly profit, helped by a sharp fall in catastrophe losses. The company’s profit last year was...

South Carolina Approves CAT Models, Weighs Building Public Model

Nov 4 2014 // South Carolina regulators have approved seven private catastrophe models for use in ratemaking while conducting a legislatively mandated study on the feasibility of constructing a public model. South Carolina Insurance...

Foreign Mortgage Bond Buyers Surpass Danish Pension Funds, Insurers

Nov 4 2014 // International investors are overtaking Danish pension funds and insurers as the biggest buyers of the Nordic country’s covered mortgage bonds, creating new risks for the $500 billion market. The institutional...

Maryland Insurers Using ‘Price Optimization’ Ordered to File Corrective Action Plan

Nov 3 2014 // The Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) issued a bulletin alerting insurers that the use of “price optimization” in Maryland is in violation of §27-212(e)(1) of the state’s Insurance Article. MIA...

Insurers Win Case to Kill HUD Disparate Impact Rule

Nov 3 2014 // Property/casualty insurer trade groups won a court victory Monday when a federal judge ruled in their favor that the U.S. Fair Housing Act does not prohibit housing practices including the pricing of homeowners insurance...

South Carolina Approves CAT Models, Weighs Building Public Model

Nov 3 2014 // South Carolina regulators have approved seven private catastrophe models for use in ratemaking while conducting a legislatively mandated study on the feasibility of constructing a public model. South Carolina Insurance...

Homeowners No Longer Taking Back Seat to Auto for Insurers

Nov 3 2014 // Property/casualty insurers are increasingly using analytics as a tool to help with their homeowners’ pricing, reflecting a belief that the line could become a bigger growth engine than their auto business. At the...

Claims Trends

Nov 3 2014 // In terms of agency E&O trends, carriers are closely eyeing an uptick in claims severity. According to Curtis Pearsall, president of Pearsall Associates Inc., a risk management consulting firm specializing agency...

Average Claims Experience Not Enough to Retain Customers: Accenture

Nov 3 2014 // Although a large majority (86 percent) of home and auto insurance customers who have submitted a claim in the past two years are satisfied with how it was handled, 41 percent of those who have submitted a claim are still...

Predictions on the Demise of the Independent Agent Are Premature Yet …

Nov 3 2014 // This column has covered a number of important technology issues facing agents, including security, social media, mobile technology, and the customer experience. A groundbreaking study issued last month and an equally...

E&O Insights: How Important Is Your E&O Policy?

Nov 3 2014 // Errors and omissions (E&O) coverage: It’s one of the most important coverages you can secure. After all, your agency’s protection depends heavily on your E&O policy and how it works. Despite this, it...

Workers’ Comp Writers Using More Mobile Device Apps, Other Technology

Nov 3 2014 // Workers’ compensation insurers are increasingly turning to mobile device applications and other technology innovations in their bid to remain a force in the industry and serve their clients, Novarica determined in a...

How to Navigate Today’s Agency E&O Market

Nov 3 2014 // While many agencies stick with their agency errors and omissions (E&O) carrier, those that do shop around tend to do so when premiums are rising. According to Insurance Journal‘s exclusive 2014 Agency E&O...

Wind Insurer Settles Lawsuit with South Texas School District

Nov 3 2014 // The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association has agreed to pay nearly $8 million to settle an unpaid claims lawsuit filed by a South Texas school district, according to district court records in Cameron County. The...

Jury Finds Texas Windstorm Insurer Adequately Paid City for Ike Claims

Nov 3 2014 // Texas’ wind and hail insurer of last resort in coastal areas announced that a judgment has been entered in its favor in a lawsuit brought by League City in Southeast Texas. The judgment signed on Oct. 16, 2014, by...

The Pitfalls of Rejecting a Defense Under Texas ‘Same Facts’ Test

Nov 3 2014 // Texas law recognizes that an insurer’s reservation of rights can create a potential conflict of interest. (Northern County Mut. Ins. Co. v. Davalos, 140 S.W.3d 685 (Tex. 2004)). Although there is a potential for...

Small Businesses Moving to Obamacare Exchanges

Nov 2 2014 // U.S. small businesses are dropping health insurance for their workers, as Obamacare lets them send employees to new marketplaces where they can often get subsidies from the government to buy coverage. WellPoint...

Louisiana’s Direct Action Statute’s Effect on Claims-Made Policy Notice Provisions

Oct 31 2014 // Typical claims-made insurance policies require claims to be both made and reported within the applicable policy period. Under this type of policy, the risk of a claim incurred but not made, as well as a claim made but not...