Carriers - Latest Insurance News

SCOR’s Kessler Confident Insurers Will Weather Current Crisis

Dec 10 2002 // Denis Kessler, who recently took over as CEO of France’s SCOR Group, told delegates attending the Les Entretiens de l’Assurance Conference in Paris that the insurance industry would weather the current storms...

NAFTA: Borders Open, Regulators Review Privacy and Inspection Concerns

Dec 9 2002 // Although the Bush Administration technically opened selected border crossings under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Nov. 27, two key issues have arisen that could keep Mexican commercial vehicles from...

ISO Files Policy Forms and Rules for Insurers to Meet Terrorism Coverage

Dec 6 2002 // Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) has filed with all state insurance regulators the commercial insurance policy forms carriers can use to sell terrorism coverage. The new ISO-developed forms contain standardized policy...

Top 5 Reasons Calif. Homeowners Insurance Rates are Rising

Dec 6 2002 // Representatives from the Personal Insurance Federation of California (PIFC), the Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) and the American Insurance Association (AIA) recently announced the top five reasons...

S&P’s Maintains Negative Outlook on Commercial Insurers

Dec 5 2002 // U.S. commercial-lines insurers are still plagued by inadequate reserves, according to Standard & Poor’s just-published outlook for 2003, and bullish pricing cannot simply sweep the problem away. Standard &...

ISO Says Insurers’ Losses from Seven-State Tornado Damage Stand at $460M

Dec 4 2002 // Insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses $460 million for insured-property losses from the rash of tornadoes, strong thunderstorm winds and hail that struck seven states on Nov. 9-10, according to preliminary...

S&P’s: Higher Premiums Support Personal Lines Insurers

Dec 4 2002 // Cash-strapped homeowners and automobile insurers have enacted the steep price increases necessary to recapture profitability, according to Standard & Poor’s just-published outlook for 2003, which puts the...

Calif. Court of Appeals Overturns E&O Decision

Dec 3 2002 // In a significant victory for insurance agents and brokers, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court decision that had permitted an E&O insurer to deny coverage to an insurance broker by...

S&P’s Sees Improvement for Personal Lines Insurers

Dec 3 2002 // The performance of both of the major coverages written by predominantly personal lines insurers – automobile and homeowners multi-peril insurance – have begun to improve, and there is the prospect of continued...

Pa. Gov: Insurers Should Postpone MCARE Collection to Allay Med-Mal Crisis

Dec 2 2002 // Pa. Gov. Calls for Postponement of MCARE to Allay Med-Mal Crisis Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker announced he has directed Insurance Commissioner Diane Koken to request a postponement of Medical Care Availability and...

Ark. DOI Credit Directive Captures Insurer Attention

Dec 2 2002 // The National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) announced that insurers are weighing the ramifications of a directive filed by the Arkansas Department of Insurance that amends the requirements for insurers using...

A.M. Best Places Ratings of Kingsway Under Review

Nov 28 2002 // A.M. Best Co. announced that it has placed the financial strength ratings of the insurance subsidiaries of Ontario-based Kingsway Financial Services Inc., and the senior unsecured debt rating of “bbb” on its...

S&P’s: Little Ratings Cheer for Insurers in Terror Law

Nov 26 2002 // The newly mandated adoption of terrorism risk by commercial property/casualty insurers in the U.S. casts a shadow on ratings prospects, compounding Standard & Poor’s negative outlook on the industry, according...

Littlefield Says Key Focus for U.S. Marine Insurers is to Improve Combined Ratio, Secure Ports

Nov 25 2002 // While the marine insurance industry has performed slightly better than the overall property/casualty market in recent years, the business is still navigating in some extremely stormy seas. That’s the assertion of...

S&P Says Japanese Non-Life Insurers’ Mid-term Results in Expected Range

Nov 25 2002 // Standard & Poor’s announced that the mid-term financial results for Japan’s major non-life insurance companies were within expectations and would not immediately affect its ratings on the...

MOODY’S EXPECTING MODEST LOSSES FOR P/C INSURERS’ INVESTMENT PORTFOLIOS

Nov 25 2002 // Moody’s reports that further decline is likely for many U.S. P/C insurers’ investment portfolios because of credit losses resulting from exposure to troubled companies. However, in the newly released report,...

Brother, Could You Spare Some Coverage’ Some Nonprofits Face Shrinking D&O, EPL

Nov 25 2002 // Since the book-cooking scandals that undid Enron, Worldcom and other concerns surfaced in recent months, insurers have ratcheted up their already growing scrutiny of corporate clients, resulting in higher premiums and...

Public Entities: A Specialized Niche

Nov 25 2002 // Take the hard market, combine it with the Sept. 11 tragedy, and mix those two ingredients into an already intricate and compound underwriting process and you’ve got yourself the public entities marketplace. Ask any...

Helping Nonprofits through Difficult Times

Nov 25 2002 // This year nonprofit acquaintances often have asked me a question for which I have no answer. That is, “Why are commercial insurers non-renewing my nonprofit?” Our experience with nonprofits has been favorable,...

Brother, Could You Spare Some Coverage’ Some Nonprofits Face Shrinking D&O, EPL Capacity