Latest Carriers Headlines
All the headlines from our Carriers Topic Page, ordered by recency.
U.S. property/casualty industry posts record 1Q profits
Jul 24 2006 // News Currents The U.S. property/casualty industry’s net gain on underwriting rose $1.4 billion, or 20.8 percent, to $8.4 billion in first-quarter 2006 from $6.9 billion in first-quarter 2005. The combined...
Optional federal charter is needed
Jul 24 2006 // Editor’s note: The following excerpt is edited from an oral statement made by Joseph J. Beneducci, president of Fireman’s Fund at the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s July 11 hearing...
Strong earnings keep insurers’ stock prices stable; M&A activity remains flat
Jul 24 2006 // Stock Prices: Insurers’ stock prices remained relatively stable during the second quarter of 2006. In a time of the year when stock prices tend to fluctuate depending on the weather forecast, companies were able to...
Riding out soft and hard market cycles with quality relationships
Jul 24 2006 // Analyzing the economic rhymes and reasons of soft and hard market cycles in the insurance industry would make for a challenging university-level business course. Theories abound on why and when these cycles occur, but no...
‘Adequate rate for the risk’ a big concern for industry executives
Jul 24 2006 // The question of how to structure property insurance rates adequately in coastal zones while still making it affordable for people to live and work there is becoming an increasingly important one to insurers and consumers...
Optional federal charter is needed
Jul 24 2006 // Editor’s note: The following excerpt is edited from an oral statement made by Joseph J. Beneducci, president of Fireman’s Fund at the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s July 11 hearing...
Case Law Watch
Jul 24 2006 // Arbitration Allstate Insurance Company v. Great American Insurance Company (Super. Ct. N. J. June 15, 2006) Ruling: Insurance company could contest adverse arbitration finding where plaintiff insurance company improperly...
Exemption protection
Jul 24 2006 // The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee last month received testimony on whether to continue the insurance antitrust exemption contained in the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act. This law placed responsibility for insurance...
KATRINA threatened to paint a dark picture for fine art insurer
Jul 24 2006 // Christiane Fischer, CEO of AXA Art Insurance, was in Chicago when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, but that doesn’t mean the giant storm was off her radar screen. In town for a meeting of the...
Insurer Praetorian, Broker Paulk Offer Builder’s Risk in Fla. and Gulf States
Jul 21 2006 // Specialty insurer Praetorian Financial Group has entered into a partnership with Britt Paulk to launch a Builder’s Risk program. The partnership will initially be launched in Florida and the Gulf states, where...
Insurers File Lawsuit to Stop Calif. Auto Insurance Regulations
Jul 20 2006 // Three insurance trade groups have filed a lawsuit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to stop enforcement of California Department of Insurance (CDI) auto rating regulations, which they say are “unfair”...
State Legislators Eye Market Conduct, Building Codes, Federal Charter
Jul 20 2006 // State legislators who deal with insurance issues in their legislatures back home are expected to discuss amendments to their market conduct model law as well as state building codes during their summer meeting that runs...
Vesta Fire and Subsidiaries Headed for Liquidation in Texas
Jul 19 2006 // Vesta Fire Insurance Company (Vesta Fire) and its Texas subsidiary insurance companies have begun issuing notices to agents to cease writing new and renewal insurance business, including homeowners policies for Texas...
Texas Fines Carrier for Late Payment of Workers’ Comp Benefits
Jul 19 2006 // Texas’ State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) recently ordered University Health System to pay a fine of $2,500 to the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) for late...
Washington Commissioner Hits Wrong Note on Use of Credit, Insurers Say
Jul 18 2006 // The American Insurance Association (AIA) today said recent comments by Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler about insurer use of credit are off-the-mark and ignore established consensus on the...
N.Y. Nixes Workers’ Comp Hike; Blasts ‘Anemic’ Anti-Fraud Efforts
Jul 18 2006 // New York officials have denied a requested 7.5 percent hike in workers compensation premiums and criticized carriers’ attitude towards combating fraud in doing so. The decision means rates will not be going up in...
Oregon Activitst Tries to Prohibit Insurers from Raising Rates
Jul 18 2006 // Sidelined for the past four years because of legal troubles brought on by a racketeering lawsuit, Oregon’s most prolific initiative author — Bill Sizemore — is getting back into the fight. Sizemore is...
NetRate Systems Enables Commerce West Insurance Company to Implement Straight-Through Processing.
Jul 18 2006 // OKEMOS, MI – NetRate Systems has successfully partnered with Commerce West Insurance Company to enable Commerce West to implement rate/ quote/ issue of Personal Auto policies. The process utilizes a NetRate Systems...
Argonaut’s Great Central Appoints Keystone Insurers Group
Jul 18 2006 // Peoria, Ill.-based Great Central, a member of the Select Markets segment of Argonaut Group Inc., has appointed Keystone Insurers Group of Northumberland, Pa., as a distribution partner in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and...
Pennsylvania’s Two Biggest Health Insurers in Merger Talks Again
Jul 17 2006 // Pennsylvania’s two largest health insurers are discussing a possible merger, which could happen as early as September. Independence Blue Cross, based in Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh-based Highmark Inc. are part of...
