Latest Carriers Headlines

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

Financial Crisis Imperils Re/Insurers Ability to Access Capital

Apr 1 2009 // Insurers and reinsurers may have weathered the global financial crisis comparatively well so far, but they could be facing another threat. “We’re not capitalized enough,” was the way Michael...

Florida Suspends License of Weakened Coral Insurance

Apr 1 2009 // A Florida domestic property insurance company has been told to stop writing business– the second time in a week state regulators have had to act against an insurer. Hollywood-based Coral Insurance, which began doing...

Prepayments Planned by Backlogged Oklahoma Insurer

Apr 1 2009 // A state workers’ health insurance plan in Oklahoma recently came under renewed criticism when state lawmakers and plan administrators said it may take months to get rid of a backlog of more than 200,000 unpaid health...

Massachusetts Enters Second Year of Car Insurance Experiment

Apr 1 2009 // For decades, Massachusetts had some of the nation’s highest automobile insurance premiums and was the last state to have rates determined by the government, not the open market. That changed one year ago this week,...

Illinois Tells Crop Insurer to Cease ‘Improper Rebate’

Mar 31 2009 // The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation’s (IDFPR) Division of Insurance has ordered First Farm Credit Services to discontinue its Patronage Program, calling the program an “improper...

Insurer Group Takes Issue with Wrongful Death and Other Iowa Bills

Mar 27 2009 // The Iowa General Assembly is considering several insurance-related bills that could pose threats to consumers, including one that would expand wrongful death claims to allow recovery of highly speculative damages, which...

Insurers Find Geithner Regulatory Plan Unclear on Federal Role

Mar 27 2009 // The nation’s insurance industry found some things to like and not to like in Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s proposed restructuring of financial services regulation. While Secretary Geithner said that any...

Study: Agency Satisfaction Linked to Amount of Business Sent to Insurers

Mar 26 2009 // When it comes to an agency’s satisfaction with its personal lines insurance companies, commissions do not rank as tops. Nor do commissions rank second. In fact, out of six satisfaction factors, compensation from an...

Allstate Agents Back in Court over Claims of Age Bias by Insurer

Mar 25 2009 // A group of insurance agents asked a federal appeals court on Monday to revive an age discrimination lawsuit over the Allstate Insurance Co.’s decision to switch thousands of them from employees to independent...

Insurers Oppose Minnesota Consumer Credit Ban Bill

Mar 24 2009 // While insurance consumer advocates step up their criticism of insurers’ use of credit scores, the American Insurance Association (AIA) and Property Casualty Insurers Association of America testified before a...

2 Iowa Insurers Cancel Merger

Mar 24 2009 // Two Des Moines area insurance companies have called off plans for a merger. American Enterprise Group Inc. of Des Moines and Homesteaders Life Co. of West Des Moines said in a joint statement that they’ve nixed the...

Michigan’s Auto Insurance Rate Denials Reignite Credit Scoring Fight

Mar 23 2009 // Michigan’s regulator has reignited a debate over credit scoring by denying auto insurance companies requested rate increases because their proposed rate schemes include discounts for good credit scores. Commissioner...

As Credit Scores Fall, Criticism of Insurers’ Credit Scoring Rises

Mar 23 2009 // With consumers’ credit scores dropping as lenders tighten credit terms, insurance consumer advocates are stepping up their criticism of the use of credit scores by insurance companies. They are also warning insurers...

As Credit Scores Fall, Criticism of Insurers’ Credit Scoring Rises

Mar 23 2009 // Consumer Advocates Focus on How Insurers Treat Insureds in Difficult Economic, Credit Climate With consumers’ credit scores dropping as lenders tighten credit terms, insurance consumer advocates are stepping up their...

Greener Opportunities

Mar 23 2009 // Insurers Compete for a Growing Green Industry Jim Henson’s famous Kermit the Frog said it the best, “it’s not easy being green.” Today’s property owners and insurers understand that while...

Younger Drivers Distracted by Music Says Australian Insurer NRMA

Mar 23 2009 // According to a study from Australian insurer NRMA, part of the Insurance Australia Group (IAG), younger drivers, who listen to music while at the wheel, are acting dangerously. NRMA said its research “revealed almost...

Mass. AG Questions Insurer’s High Risk Insurance Auto Rates

Mar 23 2009 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley wants a public hearing to review the auto insurance rates of a new company entering the market in Massachusetts. Occidental Fire and Casualty Insurance Co. of North Carolina is...

California Supreme Court to Review Pollution Liability Insurance Case

Mar 20 2009 // The California Supreme Court has granted review of State of California v. Continental Ins. Co. (2009) 170 Cal.App.4th 160 [Fourth Dist., Div. Two]. In a prior proceeding in federal court, the State of California was...

Florida Home Insurer People’s Trust Ordered to Stop Writing New Policies

Mar 20 2009 // One of Florida’s new startup property insurance companies has been told to stop selling policies — at least for a while. Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said Boca Raton-based People’s Trust has not...

Report: Insurers Boost Calif. Economy by $28.2B

Mar 19 2009 // California has a $1.7 trillion economy that ranks it as a global financial power, and the insurance industry aids in this effort, says a new industry report. In 2006, insurers contributed $28.2 billion to...