Latest Carriers Headlines

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

Illinois Supreme Court Rejects Insurer’s Claim That 2 Deaths Were Single Event

Feb 22 2009 // The accidental deaths of two teenage boys at an excavation site in 1997 were separate occurrences under the liability insurance policy of the property owner, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled in reinstating a $2 million...

Industry Blasts Granholm’s Rate Freeze, Advocate’s Report

Feb 22 2009 // Insurance trade groups have come out swinging against Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s call for auto insurers to freeze rates until lawmakers can enact some of the reforms in a report by the state’s insurance...

Now Playing in Florida: A Scary Surplus Lines Scenario

Feb 22 2009 // Court Rulings Strike Fear That Surplus Lines Could Lose Freedom Have you ever seen anything like this in Florida? Never. I haven’t seen anything like this anywhere in the country. If it were a horror flick it might...

Attitude Adjustment

Feb 22 2009 // The tiff between State Farm Florida and the Office of Insurance Regulation that has culminated in the insurer’s withdrawal from the state’s property market is disturbing. It’s not disturbing because an...

Florida Attaches Major Conditions to State Farm Withdrawal

Feb 22 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has offered his own plan for State Farm Florida Insurance Co.’s withdrawal from the state that includes conditions not in the insurers’ own plan. McCarty wants State...

Implications of the 2008 Farm Bill

Feb 22 2009 // Could Reduce Agent Commissions, But Create New Insurance Categories The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the Farm Bill) authorizes farm programs for the next five years. The Act’s provisions encompass a...

Top 5 Insurance Issues for Farmers in a Soft Economy

Feb 22 2009 // Review Exposures, Values and Maximize Insurance Value to Ensure Satisfied Farm Customers Thanks in part to commodity prices that are still higher than average and, thankfully, less volatile than in 2008, the agricultural...

Oliver to Retire as President of Texas Mutual Insurance Company

Feb 20 2009 // Russell R. Oliver, president of Texas Mutual Insurance Company since 1995, is retiring from the company at the end of August 2009, the company has announced. “I am very proud of Texas Mutual and our accomplishments,...

Travelers Broadens Coverage for Private/Mutual Insurers

Feb 19 2009 // As mounting economic uncertainty leads to new and increasingly complex business challenges for executives, Travelers Bond & Financial Products has unveiled new program enhancements and a Private/Mutual Insurance...

5 Insurers Asked to Testify at Florida Hearing on Credit Scoring Today

Feb 18 2009 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation will hold a public hearing this morning in Tallahassee about the use of credit scoring, credit history and credit models by insurers in the underwriting and setting of rates. The...

South Carolina Celebrates Licensing 200 Captive Insurers Since 2000

Feb 18 2009 // The South Carolina Department of Insurance is celebrating issuing its the 200th captive insurance company license. State Insurance Director Scott H. Richardson presented the license to Hardin Construction Co. of Atlanta,...

Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Insurer to Pay $7.5M Dividend

Feb 18 2009 // Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation (LWCC) announced it will pay a $7.5 million dividend to qualifying policyholders in February. The pay out will bring LWCC’s cumulative total dividend paid to...

A.M. Best Downgrades Kingsway & Several Subsidiaries

Feb 18 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the issuer credit ratings (ICR) and senior debt ratings to “b-” from “b” of Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (KFSI) (Mississauga, Ontario) and Kingsway America Inc....

Aegon, L&G See More Defaults, Insurer Woes Continue

Feb 18 2009 // Writedown woes hit European insurers again on Tuesday as life insurers Legal & General Plc and Aegon NV predicted more companies would default on loans, sending insurance shares down. Legal & General more than...

Beazley Acquiring The Hartford’s Surplus Lines Insurer, First State

Feb 17 2009 // London-based insurer and reinsurer Beazley Group is acquiring Boston-based First State Management Group, an underwriting manager specializing in excess and surplus lines commercial property insurance for $35.4 million in...

Reinsurers Seem Ready to Flex Muscles, Raise Prices by Double-Digits

Feb 17 2009 // Reinsurers’ tough talk about raising prices on the risk cover they sell to insurers may have rung hollow before, but this time the promise is credible. Reinsurance companies such as global leader Munich Re have been...

Best’s Insurer Rating Upgrades Barely Outpaced Downgrades in 2008

Feb 17 2009 // Natural catastrophes and financial upheaval drove a sharp reversal in the property/casualty industry’s fortunes in 2008, and the effects spread to A.M. Best Co.’s rating activity, as upgrades barely outpaced...

Florida Rejects State Farm Withdrawal Plan; Requires Major Conditions on Citizens, Agents

Feb 13 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has offered a withdrawal plan for State Farm Florida Insurance Co. and its parent company with major conditions that were not in the original plan submitted by the insurer. In...

5 Michigan Auto Insurers Pledge to Freeze Rates

Feb 12 2009 // One week after Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm called on auto insurance companies to freeze their rates, five insurers have said they will comply. In a Feb. 3 order, Granholm asked each automobile insurance company doing...

Mississippi Rejects 6 Insurers’ Appeals of Windpool Assessments

Feb 12 2009 // Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney has upheld the efforts of the state’s wind insurance pool to collect millions of dollars in past assessments from six insurance companies. The insurers had claimed that...