Latest Carriers Headlines

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

Law Firms See Rise in Malpractice Claim Frequency, Severity

Jun 27 2013 // Multi-million dollar payouts for legal malpractice claims are climbing, and so are the total number of claims for law firms, in general. A new study by insurance broker Ames & Gough found that most leading legal...

In R.I., Debate Continues Over 38 Studios Bonds as Insurers Await

Jun 26 2013 // This week, Rhode Island lawmakers are negotiating the final details of the state’s $8.2 billion budget. One controversial part of the discussion has been what Rhode Island should do with the state’s failed...

EPLI in Southern California Playing ‘Hard’ to Get

Jun 25 2013 // Employment practices in California is a known and growing concern for insurers, agents and employers, and that concern has some carriers ramping up rates dramatically or quietly pulling back from the area, say those...

A.M. Best: P/C Insurer Impairments Down in 2012

Jun 25 2013 // Financial impairments in the property/casualty insurance industry fell more in line with recent trends and historical levels in 2012, following a sharp spike in 2011. There were 21 P/C impairments in 2012, a sizable...

Insurers Abandon Long Island After Superstorm, N.Y. Senator Schumer Says

Jun 25 2013 // Allstate Corp. is among insurers retreating from the Long Island, New York, homeowners market after superstorm Sandy and should be compelled to offer coverage there, New York Senator Charles Schumer said. Liberty Mutual...

Health Insurers to Pay $500M in Rebates

Jun 25 2013 // U.S. insurers will pay $500 million in rebates to employers and individuals this summer because of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, about half the amount they paid last year. The law, often called Obamacare,...

Many in Mississippi ‘Out of Luck’ as Health Insurers Shun Exchange

Jun 25 2013 // People in 36 of Mississippi’s 82 counties may not be able to buy health insurance through the new federal online marketplace when it starts enrolling customers in October. Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said two...

P/C Insurers Turned Profit on Underwriting in Q1, Attained Record Surplus

Jun 24 2013 // First quarter results for U.S. property/casualty insurers show they made a profit on underwriting for the first time since late 2009. Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes rose to $14.4...

Auto Insurance Customer Satisfaction Drops Due to Rising Rates: J.D. Power

Jun 24 2013 // Due to rising insurance prices and some unhappiness with policy offerings, overall customer satisfaction with auto insurance companies is down in 2013 from an all-time high in 2012, but remains comparatively high relative...

Geneva Association Ocean Warming Report Reviews Implications for Re/Insurers

Jun 24 2013 // “In some high-risk areas, ocean warming and climate change threaten the insurability of catastrophe risk,” according to one of the conclusions of a research report issued today by the Climate Risks and...

Industry Group Opposes Massachusetts Proposal to Set Auto Labor Rates

Jun 21 2013 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies is opposing bills currently under consideration in Massachusetts that would require the state to set a minimum hourly labor rate that insurers must pay for auto...

North Carolina Enacts Captive Insurance Bill

Jun 21 2013 // A recently enacted bill in North Carolina will permit, for the first time, the creation of captive insurers based in the Tar Heel State. The North Carolina Captive Insurance Act (HB 473) was signed into law by Gov. Pat...

Positioning with Companies as the Market Changes

Jun 21 2013 // A huge amount of press has been devoted to how important price is to insurance buyers — and it clearly is. But this is not specific to insurance. Price is a key factor in almost all buying decisions, excluding medical...

Survey: Specialty Carriers Look to Grow Through Program Business in 2013

Jun 20 2013 // Guy Carpenter & Co., LLC, a global risk and reinsurance specialist and member of Marsh & McLennan Cos., has released the findings of its eighth annual Specialty Insurance Program Issuing Carrier Survey. The survey,...

U.S. Regulators See No Need for Enhanced Insurer Capital

Jun 19 2013 // Insurers should not be forced to hold extra capital just because of their size, because the extra cost would simply be passed on to consumers, U.S. regulators said on Tuesday. G20 world leaders have backed imposing extra...

Market Forces, Technology Transforming P/C Agents’ Role: McKinsey

Jun 19 2013 // A report this month from consulting firm McKinsey & Company says market forces and technology are changing the role of the agent in the property/casualty insurance distribution. The report, titled “Agents of the...

Iowa Health Insurer to Seek Smaller Rate Hikes

Jun 19 2013 // Months after customers blasted the company for skyrocketing rates, Iowa’s dominant health insurer says it will limit premium increases in 2014 to less than six percent for individual and small business...

Why Restaurant Franchises Make Good Program Business

Jun 19 2013 // One industry segment ideal for the program market and somewhat immune to the effects of a battered economy is the fast-food, multi-unit restaurant franchise industry, the experts say. The larger a company grows, the slower...

IPO-Seeking China Companies Pay More to Avoid Boards Going Naked

Jun 18 2013 // Stephen Markscheid holds one of the riskiest jobs in the world — or so say directors and officers liability insurers. The 59-year-old former banker, a Mandarin-speaking American, sits on the boards of five...

Analysts: Travelers/Dominion Deal Makes Sense, More U.S.-Canadian M&A May Follow

Jun 18 2013 // The Travelers Companies’ decision to acquire Dominion of Canada General Insurance, a unit of E-L Financial Corp., for $1.1 billion makes strategic sense, according to analysts. The acquisition now allows Travelers to...