Latest Claims Headlines
All the headlines from our Claims Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Nevada Caughlin Ranch Fire Claims Exceed $16 Million
Dec 16 2011 // Nevada’s insurance carriers have reported they have received around 600 claims as a result of the Caughlin Ranch Fire resulting in more than $16 million in claims, Nevada’s insurance commissioner said on...
Alabama Awaits Detail of Data Call from Windstorms
Dec 16 2011 // Regulators and consumer groups in Alabama are awaiting the results of a data call from insurers to see if they are quickly handling claims and resolving other residents’ claimants. Commissioner Jim Ridling issued the...
Top 10 Most Read from ClaimsJournal.com
Dec 16 2011 // In 2011, ClaimsJournal.com readers took an interest in weather-related matters and educational articles on issues impacting claims handling, fraud and bedbugs. Three articles on insurance and television were among the top...
Swiss Re Estimates 2011 Economic Cat Loss at $350 Bn; Insured Loss $108 Bn
Dec 15 2011 // Swiss Re describes 2011 as the “year with the highest catastrophe-related economic losses in history, at $350 billion.” It could have been the most costly year ever for the insurance industry, if Japan had been...
Travelers Indemnity Seeks Claims Limit in Western Penn. Turnpike Mess
Dec 14 2011 // An insurance company says its liability for a pre-Thanksgiving asphalt spill on the Pennsylvania Turnpike should be limited to $1 million. Hundreds of vehicles were reportedly damaged when a leaking valve on a tanker...
Alabama Judge Grants Probation to 4 in Oil Spill Claims Fraud
Dec 14 2011 // Four people will spend five years on probation after being convicted of pocketing money from Gulf oil spill claims. The Press-Register reported that U.S. District Judge William Steele also ordered the four to pay back...
SEC Sues Brokerage Insurance Fund Over Stanford Victims’ Claims
Dec 13 2011 // Federal securities regulators have sued a brokerage industry backed fund on behalf of victims who lost money in Allen Stanford’s alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme and have yet to recover any funds. The U.S. Securities...
FEMA, N.Y. Officials Settle Dispute Over Flood Insurance Regulation
Dec 12 2011 // Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a new bulletin telling insurers that they should cooperate with state regulators on questions regarding federal flood insurance. There has been an ongoing turf battle...
3 Small Insurers Placed into Receivership in Missouri
Dec 8 2011 // A Barton County, Mo., judge has placed a group of three small insurance companies into receivership, after claims from the Joplin tornado left the group insolvent, the Missouri Department of Insurance reported. Missouri...
Willis Re Spots Downward Trend UK Auto Claims; Premium Increases
Dec 8 2011 // UK motor [auto] insurance premiums “have continued to rise in 2011, with some drivers facing price increases of up to 50 percent,” according to findings of the annual UK Motor Market Review by Willis Re. It...
Munich Re Estimates Thai Flood Claims around $670 Million
Dec 8 2011 // The widespread floods in Thailand, which reached their highest point in October and November, “are the costliest natural catastrophe in the country’s history,” according to a bulletin from Munich Re....
Festa Named Vice Chair of California Insurance Guarantee Association Board
Dec 7 2011 // Stephen V. Festa, senior vice president and chief claims officer for Employers Insurance Company has been named vice chair to the board of governors of the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA), a body that...
South Carolina Court Throws Out Claims Over Softball Game Injury
Dec 7 2011 // People playing contact sports assume the risk they will be injured, South Carolina’s Supreme Court ruled this week, upholding a lower court’s ruling that said a man injured in a softball game should have known...
Swiss Re Estimates Thai Flood Claims at $600 million; Subject to Uncertainty
Dec 6 2011 // Swiss Re has estimated its claims costs from severe flooding in Thailand at $600 million, after intense rainfall caused hundreds of deaths and floods affecting approximately 1500 industrial facilities. “The estimate...
Third of Illinois Workers’ Comp Awards in 12 Facilities
Dec 5 2011 // Workers filing on-the-job injury claims at just a dozen state institutions clustered in southern Illinois collected nearly one-third of the total $127 million awarded in recent years for permanent impairment under...
Sen. Schumer Says Flood Insurers Are Too Slow in Processing Claims
Dec 5 2011 // U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is calling on flood insurance companies to speed up their processing of insurance claims from tropical storms Irene and Lee to ensure that FEMA aid reaches flood-damaged communities...
80% of Claims from May Tornado in Minneapolis Resolved
Dec 5 2011 // The Minnesota Department of Commerce reported that insurance companies have resolved about 80 percent of the claims generated after a tornado swept through north Minneapolis in May. The agency said that policyholders filed...
Insurers Bracing for Thai Flood Claims at More Than $10B
Dec 5 2011 // Insurers are bracing themselves for claims in excess of $10 billion after floods in Thailand disabled major foreign-owned manufacturing operations there, adding to an already record-breaking natural catastrophe bill this...
Judge: Transocean Insurance not Available to BP for Oil Spill
Dec 5 2011 // States May Pursue Punitive Damages Against BP and Others. BP has lost two big rulings in its fight to shield itself from potentially having to pay billions of dollars more in damages related to the worst offshore oil spill...
Wisconsin Court: Malpractice Claims Can Go to AG’s Headquarters
Dec 5 2011 // An appeals court has dealt a setback to three state doctors who are fighting a malpractice suit by arguing their patient sent a claim notice to the Minnesota Justice Department’s headquarters in Madison. The doctors...
