Latest Carriers Headlines

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

Lloyd’s Defends Insurers Against ‘Spoilsport’ Image

Jan 27 2008 // An increasingly common complaint against the insurance industry charges that it is largely responsible for the disappearance of traditional events and activities due to the unavailability and/or the increasing cost of...

Consumer Group Claims Insurers Overcharge, Underpay Policyholders

Jan 27 2008 // Insurers defend recent years’ profits, deny allegations and call national consumer group’s report ‘fatally flawed’ A national consumer organization has charged that property casualty insurers are...

An Insurer’s Success Relies on the Expertise of Its Underwriters

Jan 27 2008 // An insurer’s success rests largely in the expertise of its underwriters. As the U.S. Department of Labor noted in its Career Overview series, “Great trust is placed in underwriters as an insurance company may...

Agents Have Options to Profit as Cycles Turn

Jan 27 2008 // Trust, efficiency, quality, knowledge are among the values independent agents bring to the insurance transaction Managing insurance cycles to maintain profitability is a tricky proposition. Higher premiums produced by hard...

Ariz. Court Goes Against State Farm in Uninsured Motorist Case

Jan 27 2008 // A recent Arizona Supreme Court ruling blocks insurance companies from lowering underinsured motorist payments to injured people who have received workers’ compensation. Because the lawsuit was filed as a class...

European Risk Managers, Industry Face New and Not so New Challenges

Jan 27 2008 // FERMA conference highlights growing importance of risk management in complex global business environment The insurance industry’s “traditional model” has become outdated and is so abstruse that the...

Commercial Insurers’ Stocks Flat in 2007; M&As Heat Up

Jan 27 2008 // Stock Prices: Commercial lines insurers’ stocks have been relatively flat in 2007. Chubb Corp. (NYSE:CB) posted the largest gain at 5 percent. M&A Activity: The fourth quarter started with a bang as two large...

ISO: Insurers to Pay $6.5 Billion in 2007 Catastrophe Claims

Jan 27 2008 // U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses $6.5 billion for 2007 property losses from 23 catastrophes — the eighth lowest cost in a decade and the seventh lowest frequency for the...

Shares in US Bond Insurers Rise on Bailout Hopes

Jan 25 2008 // Shares of bond insurers rose sharply Thursday on hopes the sector could receive support from a possible bailout orchestrated by New York insurance regulators. Shares of Ambac Financial Group Inc. rose $1.49 (euro1.02), or...

Mass. Regulator Subpoenas Municipal Bond Insurers

Jan 25 2008 // Massachusetts’ top securities regulator on Wednesday said he issued subpoenas to a pair of municipal bond insurers, seeking information on how much the firms disclosed to cities and towns about their exposure to...

Ward Group to Benchmark Insurers’ Finance Operations

Jan 24 2008 // Ward Group, a consulting firm specializing in the insurance industry, is kicking off a new benchmarking program for finance and related operations. Ward Group has applied its benchmarking methodology to analyze expenses...

Minn. Victim Fund Bill Raises Questions on Caps, Insurer Reimbursement

Jan 24 2008 // United in a desire to provide state money to victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Minnesota lawmakers are split over whether to cap those awards at $400,000 or leave the check size to a neutral...

Major China Insurer Ping Selling Shares to Finance Acquisitions

Jan 23 2008 // A major Chinese insurer has announced plans to raise up to $22 billion (euro15.0 billion) for acquisitions at a time when U.S. and European banks, battered by mortgage losses, want infusions of Asian capital to replenish...

Insurers Must Focus on Opportunities, Avoid Price Wars to Stay Profitable

Jan 23 2008 // Margin compression and continued pricing erosion will put increasing pressure on the insurance industry to achieve top line objectives in 2008, according to industry analysts. “With pricing becoming increasingly...

Workers Comp Insurer Guard Begins Rollout of Businessowners Policy

Jan 23 2008 // Guard Insurance Group in Wilkes-Barre, Penn. is venturing beyond its workers compensation roots by introducing a small businessowners policy (BOP) during the first quarter of 2008. The company said it will begin rolling...

Supreme Court to Rule Whether Disability Insurer in Conflict of Interest

Jan 22 2008 // The Supreme Court last Friday said it would rule on an appeal by MetLife Inc. in a case that could make employee benefit plans more expensive. The dispute centers on whether insurance companies such as MetLife have a...

New York Increasing Efforts to Attract More Muni-Bond Insurers

Jan 22 2008 // The victory scored last month when the Empire State enticed Berkshire Hathaway to begin writing municipal bond insurance in New York is part of a larger strategy to help stabilize the faltering market for that coverage,...

Tenn. Restaurant Owners Concerned about Workers’ Comp Insurer

Jan 21 2008 // Some Tennessee restaurant owners are concerned that a small, unrated insurance company with ties to the state has been chosen to take over a worker’s compensation fund. Already liable for a $4.8 million fund that the...

Fla. Halts Allstate from Writing New Business in All Lines; Insurer Appeals

Jan 18 2008 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation issued a final order immediately suspending Allstate Insurance Co. and its subsidiaries from writing any new business in all lines of insurance in Florida – including auto...

Calif. Title Insurers to Pay $3.5M for Alleged Unfair Rating Practices

Jan 17 2008 // Commissioner Poizner Announces $3.5 Million Settlement with LandAmerica Corporation, $2 Million Refunded to Customers Commonwealth Land Title, Lawyers Title, and Transnation Title agree to Cease and Desist from unfair...