Latest Carriers Headlines
All the headlines from our Carriers Topic Page, ordered by recency.
U.S. P/C Insurers’ Catastrophe Losses for Q2 Double to $6 Billion; Average Claim $5K
Jul 21 2008 // U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $6.025 billion for second quarter property losses resulting from a total of 16 catastrophes in 27 states, which is nearly double...
2 Health Insurers to Pay $13M to California Regulators
Jul 21 2008 // Two of California’s biggest health insurers have agreed to collectively pay $13 million and reinstate more than 2,000 insurance policies to settle claims with the state that they illegally dropped policyholders from...
N.Y. Health Insurer Sued Over Coverage for Same-Sex Spouse
Jul 17 2008 // The New York Civil Liberties Union is suing a western New York health insurer accused of refusing to cover the same-sex spouse of a policy holder. A suit filed in state Supreme Court in Buffalo says Blue Cross and Blue...
Appeals Court Dismisses Nebraska Crop Insurance Company’s Lawsuit
Jul 17 2008 // A federal appeals court has dismissed the remaining portions of a lawsuit filed by a Nebraska crop insurance company against the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. American Growers Insurance Co. filed a lawsuit against FCIC in...
Zurich Eyes Latin America; Buys Majority Stakes in Brazilian Insurers
Jul 17 2008 // Zurich Financial Services Group reported that its Brazilian subsidiary Zurich Participações e Representações Ltda., has agreed to acquire 87.35 percent of shares in Companhia de Seguros Minas Brasil, a BOVESPA-listed...
Study: Buyer Satisfaction Better When Local Agent Plays a Role
Jul 15 2008 // A new industry study says that buyers who purchase their auto insurance policies through local agents give significantly higher average satisfaction scores compared with those who purchase policies from call center...
Georgia Insurance Company Discounts Gas for Publicity
Jul 14 2008 // Georgia drivers lined up at a Citgo gas station in Norcross to take advantage of $1.99 gas. It was part of a promotion campaign by Infinity Insurance Co. of Alpharetta on July 10. There was a catch though, no one could...
N.D. Workers’ Comp Committee Studying Benefits of Privatization
Jul 14 2008 // Complaints about North Dakota’s Workforce Safety and Insurance (WSI) agency may not translate into support for making WSI a private business and allowing competition from other insurers, state lawmakers say. The...
Parties Clash Over Proposed Merger of Pennsylvania Health Insurers
Jul 14 2008 // State lawmakers, doctors and health care industry executives clashed last week over whether the proposed merger of Pennsylvania’s two largest health insurers will benefit or hurt consumers. They were among roughly...
Conning Research: Insurers’ Financials Strong Despite Price Deterioration
Jul 14 2008 // The financial condition of the property/casualty industry is strong; and, it should be able to withstand the current price deterioration, according to a new Property-Casualty Industry Forecast by Conning Research and...
Watchdog Group Ranks Insurers on Consumer Friendliness and More
Jul 11 2008 // Washington, D.C.-based the American Association for Justice, formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), recently released its study ranking insurance companies based on consumer friendliness and more. The...
S&P Advises Floods Could Lead to Ratings Actions on Midwest-Focused Insurers
Jul 11 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said it does not expect the 2008 Midwest floods to impact ratings or outlooks for the majority of companies that it rates. However, property/casualty writers that are...
AIG, Other Mortgage Insurers’ Stocks Fall on Mortgage Loss Fears
Jul 11 2008 // Shares of American International Group Inc, the world’s largest insurer, fell 8.2 percent Thursday on concerns that a rating cut at its mortgage insurance unit could signal more losses in the...
S&P Rates Polish Insurer as Stable
Jul 10 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook on non-life insurer Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen S.A. and life insurer Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen na Zycie S.A., core entities of Poland-based composite...
Strengths and Weaknesses, Part 2: What Agents Think of Regional, National P/C Insurers
Jul 10 2008 // Regional carriers come out on top in agency compensation and claims services, while nationals outscore regionals on loss control and technology. That’s according to an Insurance Journal weeklong survey in June on...
India’s WNS Buys Insurer Aviva’s Business Process Offshoring Business
Jul 10 2008 // Back-office firm WNS (Holdings) Ltd said it acquired insurer Aviva’s business process offshoring (BPO) business for about $228 million, a deal that will give the company $1 billion worth of outsourced work over a...
Florida Property Insurer Offers Boat Insurance to Members
Jul 9 2008 // Florida-based PURE Risk Management recently launched an insurance program for personal boaters called PURE Watercraft Insurance. PURE provides hull coverage, including coverage for windstorm, on an agreed-value basis, and...
Axis CEO Sees Insurers’ Returns Eroding; Plans Axis Expansion
Jul 9 2008 // John Charman, chief executive of Bermuda-based Axis Capital says insurers are caught between softening policy rates and volatile investment markets, a situation he expects to hurt returns. “You could make the case...
Tulsa Has More Traffic Accidents Than Oklahoma City, Insurer Says
Jul 9 2008 // A report by an automobile insurer concludes that Oklahoma City drivers are less likely than Tulsa drivers to be involved in traffic collisions. “Its kind of weird,” Lt. Roger Bratcher of the Oklahoma City...
Mass. Allows Liquor Liability JUA to Expand as Hospitality Mutual
Jul 8 2008 // Massachusetts lawmakers have approved legislation converting the state’s liquor liability insurer of last resort into a competitive mutual insurance company offering liquor liability insurance to the entire...
