Latest Carriers Headlines
All the headlines from our Carriers Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Most Health Insurers Meet Controversial Medical Loss Ratio
Dec 1 2011 // Most U.S. health insurers last year would have satisfied the much-disputed spending rules under President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform, according to a new report by a congressional watchdog agency. The rules...
Insurers Pay Out $1.13B for Joplin, Missouri Tornado Damage
Nov 30 2011 // Insurance companies have paid out $1.13 billion in claims from the Joplin tornado, and that’s expected to climb to as much as $1.9 billion, the state’s insurance department director said. An estimated 7,500...
Feds Reject Indiana Request for Health Care Waiver
Nov 30 2011 // The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has rejected Indiana’s bid for an exemption from federal health care overhaul rules that require insurers selling policies to individuals to essentially dedicate 80...
Florida’s HomeWise Insurance Ordered Into Liquidation
Nov 30 2011 // A Florida judge has ordered a homeowners’ insurer to shut its doors and hand its business affairs over to the state after state regulators found it no longer has enough money to pay its bills. Florida’s...
Foreign Insurers Must Decide If China’s Growth Outweighs Disadvantages
Nov 30 2011 // Foreign insurers will have to answer for themselves whether their disadvantaged position relative to domestic insurers in China is outweighed by the country’s very substantial overall market growth, according to...
Insurers Boost California’s Economy by $34.7 Billion
Nov 29 2011 // California’s a $1.9 trillion economy gets a multi-billion dollar boost from the property/casualty insurance industry, according to a report from the Insurance Information Institute issued Tuesday. In 2009, insurers...
Insurers Win First Round of Climate Change Coverage Litigation
Nov 29 2011 // In light of the economic turmoil currently engulfing the United States and Europe, the Republican sweep in the 2010 midterm congressional elections, the various protests going on around the country and the upcoming...
Insurer Must Pay for Florida Rental Car Crash by Unauthorized Driver
Nov 28 2011 // A Florida rental car customer’s auto insurer must cover crash injuries, even though the driver was someone not authorized under the rental car company’s contact. In a 5-2 opinion on Nov. 23, the Florida Supreme...
N.Y. Court Rules on Asbestos Defense Costs for Primary Insurer
Nov 23 2011 // A New York State court ruled last Friday that an asbestos defendant is entitled to full defense from its primary insurer for certain asbestos liabilities, with the primary insurer paying all defense costs for covered...
Best Affirms Zurich American and Subs ‘A+’ Ratings; Outlook Stable
Nov 22 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of Zurich American Insurance Company (Zurich US), headquartered in...
Agency E&O Survey: Why Agents Buy Coverage
Nov 22 2011 // Agency owners have a lot to protect. Of course, first and foremost they must protect their clients. But they must also protect their book of business. They must protect their relationships. They must protect their...
New York Insurance Association Elects Rice as New Chairman
Nov 21 2011 // Jeffrey Rice, president and CEO of Wayne Cooperative Insurance Company in Clyde, N.Y., was elected chair of the New York Insurance Association (NYIA) at the group’s annual meeting last week. Rice will serve a...
Insurers Bracing for Thai Flood Claims over $10 Billion
Nov 21 2011 // Insurers are bracing themselves for claims in excess of $10 billion after floods in Thailand disabled major foreign-owned manufacturing operations there, adding to an already record-breaking natural catastrophe bill this...
Insurers Win First Round of Climate Change Coverage Litigation
Nov 21 2011 // But How Significant Is the Victory? In light of the economic turmoil currently engulfing the United States and Europe, the Republican sweep in the 2010 midterm congressional elections, the various protests going on around...
E&O Insights: Can the Manner in Which an Agent Handles a Claim Cause an Errors & Omissions Claim?
Nov 21 2011 // The answer to the question posed in the headline is a definite “yes.” This has actually developed into a significant issue for agents and is one of the current errors and omissions (E&O) hotspots agents...
Colorado Wants Insurance Company to Cut Severance
Nov 21 2011 // Colorado wants top executives at the state-chartered workers’ compensation insurance fund to waive big severance payments if the quasi-state agency is privatized. Gov. John Hickenlooper and Pinnacol Assurance are...
How to Produce and Keep Happy Claimants
Nov 21 2011 // The best way to keep agency customers happy is to avoid claims in the first place but, of course, that’s easier said than done. When claims do happen, independent agents can play a valuable role in determining...
Mass. AG Wants to Put Brakes on ‘Excessive’ Homeowners Insurance Rate
Nov 18 2011 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is urging the State Rating Board to hold a hearing to scrutinize the data insurers use to set homeowners insurance rates in her state. The Attorney General’s office says...
Insurance Company Poll: Oregon Drivers Want Harsher Penalties for Cell Phone Violators
Nov 16 2011 // According to a poll from PEMCO Insurance, nearly half of Portland-area drivers are upset enough at the prospect of sharing the road with distracted drivers that they believe lawmakers should treat those caught talking,...
Minnesota-based Medical Liability Insurer OK’d to Become a Mutual Company
Nov 16 2011 // Medical liability insurer MMIC Group Inc. (MMIC), headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., has received final regulatory approval to change from a stock holding company to a mutual insurance holding company. The move...
