Latest Carriers Headlines

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

U.S. Treasury Mulls Aid Program for Life, Bond, Mortgage Insurers

Oct 27 2008 // The Treasury Department is studying how it could give relief to insurance companies under a $700 billion financial services rescue package, two sources familiar with the deliberations said Friday. The Troubled Asset Relief...

Arkansas Insurance Company Owner Sentenced to 6 Years

Oct 27 2008 // The owner of a Little Rock, Ark., insurance company has been sentenced to six years in prison on a federal fraud conviction, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Frank Whitbeck, 61, also was ordered to pay $3.8 million...

China’s Life Insurers Post Disappointing Results

Oct 27 2008 // China’s biggest life insurers posted disappointing quarterly results on Monday, hurt mainly by investment income which took a hit from plunging stock markets across the region. China Life Insurance, the...

Economic Downturn Presents Challenges for Title, Mortgage Industry

Oct 27 2008 // Reserving for mortgage insurance and title insurance in an economic downturn and amid a stressed real estate market can present challenges for insurers and actuaries, attendees at the Casualty Loss Reserve Seminar were...

Insurers to Pay $11.5 Billion in Q3 Catastrophe Claims

Oct 27 2008 // U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $11.5 billion for third-quarter property losses resulting from a total of 11 catastrophes in 22 states — the fourth-largest...

Property/Casualty Insurers on Government Rescue Funds: No Thanks

Oct 27 2008 // Following reports that the U.S Treasury is considering adding life, bond and mortgage insurance companies to its list of beneficiaries for some of the $700 billion federal bailout package, property/casualty insurers are...

Ohio Health Insurer Investigates Missing Data on Retirees

Oct 24 2008 // Eleven computer disks containing personal information on thousands of Ohio retirees are missing and are believed to be somewhere in the US Postal Service, Medical Mutual of Ohio recently announced. The disks contain member...

Texas Monitoring for Fairness in Treatment of Ike-Affected Policyholders

Oct 23 2008 // In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) reported it has received complaints from consumers indicating that through the words, tone, demeanor or actions of their insurance adjusters, they...

Minnesota Fines Agency for Advertisement Exploiting AIG Situation

Oct 23 2008 // The Minnesota Department of Commerce has taken action against a Duluth insurance agent and agency for publishing a newspaper advertisement that solicited business from current policyholders of American International Group...

Update: Georgia Insurer, Association Resolve Proxy Dispute

Oct 22 2008 // Atlanta-based Builders Insurance Group and the Home Builders Association of Georgia agreed to resolve and conclude HBAG’s proxy contest and other outstanding issues between the parties. Earlier this year when...

Towers Perrin Sees P/C Insurer Surplus Decline of 8% for Q3

Oct 22 2008 // The U.S. property/ casualty industry’s reported statutory surplus at the end of the third quarter is projected to decline as much as $42 billion, or 8 percent, from the beginning of the year, according to estimates...

What Keeps Independent Agents Awake at Night? Commissions Just One of Several Concerns

Oct 21 2008 // Independent insurance agents and brokers are concerned about the future of contingent commissions, according to a recent survey. But that’s just one of several major concerns agents have. They also have doubts about...

Insurers’ Study Warns on North Carolina Beach Plan Deficit

Oct 21 2008 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America unveiled results of an independent report which found that the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association, a.k.a. the Beach Plan, is not financially prepared to...

Annual Survey Lists Top 10 Ease of Doing Business P/C Insurers

Oct 20 2008 // West Bend Mutual Insurance Company of Wisconsin (No. 1), Central Mutual Insurance (No. 2), Safety Insurance (No. 3), Frankenmuth Insurance (No. 4), and Selective Insurance (No. 5) earned the top five spots when it comes to...

Insurers Need to Beware of Business ‘Red Flags’

Oct 20 2008 // Identity Theft Rules to Take Effect on November 1 New federal “Red Flag” regulations will soon require businesses of all sizes to have identity theft and data breach protections in place. By Nov. 1, 2008, the...

Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilweg

Oct 20 2008 // From tornadoes, hail and flooding to the impact of the AIG bailout and the federal versus state regulation debate, Sean Dilweg has a lot on his plate as Wisconsin’s insurance commissioner. Appointed by Wisconsin...

Carriers’ Marketing to Latinos is Good but Could be Better, Say Agents

Oct 20 2008 // A majority of independent agents and brokers in a good position to know say insurance carriers do an acceptable job marketing to the Latino community, although as many as 40 percent also rate carriers’ efforts as...

Face-to-Face

Oct 20 2008 // Insurance carriers have not perfected the art of marketing to Latin independent agents or the Latino market. They are not terrible at it but they could be better. In a recent Insurance Journal survey (see page 50), nearly...

Insurers Need to Beware of Business ‘Red Flags’

Oct 20 2008 // Identity Theft Rules to Take Effect on November 1 New federal “Red Flag” regulations will soon require businesses of all sizes to have identity theft and data breach protections in place. By Nov. 1, 2008, the...

California Approves Legislation To Transform Workers’ Comp Insurer

Oct 20 2008 // Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed Assembly Bill 1874 and Senate Bill 1145 into law to help increase transparency and strengthen corporate governance at the Golden State’s workers’ compensation...