Latest Carriers Headlines

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

Better State Policy Will Make Better Insurance Policies

Oct 25 2004 // The Texas home and auto insurance market is finally on the mend. Rates have begun to stabilize, and thanks to landmark reforms passed in 2003, companies are even eyeing our state as a place to do business. Competition and...

N.Y. Attorney General Spitzer Sues Marsh Over Contingent Commissions

Oct 25 2004 // New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer on Oct. 14 sued Marsh & McLennan Companies, the nation’s biggest insurance brokerage firm, alleging that it steered clients to insurers with whom it had lucrative...

Is Big Brother Good for the Industry’

Oct 25 2004 // Some drivers in Minnesota will soon have an added passenger in their cars: their insurance company. Progressive Insurance Company is using so-called “black box” technology to offer drivers discounts based on...

Take Two: Looking at the Med-Mal Crisis from Both Sides

Oct 25 2004 // National editor Andrea Ortega-Wells recently moderated a “Take Two” debate discussing the hot topic of medical malpractice, and what, if any, reforms are needed. The debate featured Paula Sweeney, partner with...

The Case for Appraisal in Settling Claim Disputes

Oct 25 2004 // Appraisal can be readily implemented, costs less than a trial, and can often be completed within a short time, for practically any valuation dispute. As someone who makes his living representing people who sue each other,...

Insurer Sues Lenny Kravtiz in N.Y. Over Water Damage

Oct 24 2004 // An insurance company has sued rocker Lenny Kravitz, saying it had to pay for more than $300,000 worth of water damage in a neighbor’s apartment after one of Kravitz’s toilets overflowed two months ago. Amica...

Calif. Commissioner Grills Insurers on Underinsured Homeowner Problem

Oct 22 2004 // Replacement cost, policy limits, and non-renewal of policies were the source of a heated debate in a day-long hearing investigating underinsured homeowners affected by last year’s wildfires. California Insurance...

Insurers: N.Y. Coastal Property Market Restored

Oct 22 2004 // While affordability is still an issue, insurance coverage is now widely available in coastal areas of New York, according to the New York Insurance Association (NYIA). Addressing a public hearing before the New York State...

Northern Capital Insurance Co. to Begin Writing Homeowners Policies in South Florida in 2005

Oct 22 2004 // Northern Capital Insurance Company announced it plans to begin writing homeowners policies in Southeast and Southwest Florida in 2005. Alexander Anthony and Albert Fernandez, the principal shareholders of Citizens...

S&P Revises Overall P&C Outlook to Negative

Oct 22 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on the U.S. property/casualty commercial lines sector to negative from stable. “The outlook revision follows allegations of widespread misconduct...

Emerging Risk Evaluation Critical to Urban Insurers

Oct 21 2004 // Insurers doing business in urban areas should adopt a loss prevention program that looks at emerging risks and new risk management techniques, recommends the Chicago-based Urban Insurance Partners Institute, an urban and...

RemedyTemp to Fight Calif. Workers’ Comp Case Decision Following Appeal Court Ruling

Oct 21 2004 // RemedyTemp Inc., which operates as Remedy Intelligent Staffing and RemX Specialty Staffing, said it will ask the California Supreme Court to review the ruling by a California Court of Appeal panel that the insurers that...

Fla. CFO Requests Deadlines Be Set for Insurers to Handle Storm Claims

Oct 21 2004 // Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher on Thursday asked state regulators to develop an emergency rule directing insurance companies to speed up their efforts to resolve hurricane claims, and setting...

Evaluating Overcharges: Should Your Company Pursue Claims Against Brokers and Carriers’

Oct 20 2004 // Editor’s note: This is a commentary piece submitted by David E. Wood of the law firm Wood & Bender. The recent suit by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer alleging price-fixing and deceptive practices by...

Garamendi Unveils Proposal to Protect Consumers from Undisclosed Commissions

Oct 20 2004 // Calling secret broker commissions a “serious problem that betrays the public’s trust,” California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced new regulations on Oct. 20 to require agents and brokers...

Pa. Insurers Cleared of Murder Spree Claims

Oct 19 2004 // Two insurance companies are not obligated to pay claims for a shooting rampage that left five people dead and another critically injured four years ago near Pittsburgh, a Superior Court panel recently ruled. The ruling...

Former N.J. Carrier Employee Sentenced

Oct 19 2004 // New Jersey’s Division of Criminal Justice Director Vaughn McKoy announced that a former Middlesex County insurance carrier employee has been sentenced to prison for reportedly falsifying overtime records in order to...

Spitzer Invites Health Insurer into Expanding Broker Compensation Probe

Oct 19 2004 // After going after a number of big property/casualty and life insurers, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer appears to have UnumProvident Corporation on his radar screen too. UnumProvident Corporation (NYSE: UNM) today...

N.J. AG Notes Racketeering Convictions of Pair in Multi-Million Dollar Staged Accident Conspiracy

Oct 16 2004 // New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey announced that a Union County man and a Middlesex County man were convicted this week of racketeering, conspiracy, Health Care Claims Fraud and theft for their roles in a...

Insurers to Pay $6B on Claims for Hurricane Ivan

Oct 15 2004 // U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $6 billion for insured property losses from Hurricane Ivan, according to ISO’s Property Claim Services (PCS) unit. Hurricane...