Latest Claims Headlines

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

Toyota Says Subrogation By 7 Insurers for Acceleration Claims Is Meritless

Jan 4 2011 // Seven automobile insurance firms have followed Allstate Insurance Co. in suing Toyota Motor Corp. to recover money they paid in claims for car crashes blamed on unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles. The...

Obesity Increases the Risk of Disabling Workplace Injuries

Dec 31 2010 // Recent research confirms anecdotal data that work-related injuries are far more costly if an injured worker is obese. In fact, a claim with an obese diagnosis can be 30 times to 60 times more expensive than a comparable...

UK Homeowners Insurance is Biggest Fraud Target; $3.55 Million a Day

Dec 30 2010 // Home insurance is now the number one target for insurance fraudsters according to the hundreds of fraudulent insurance claims exposed every day, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). To back up is...

Report: Questionable Insurance Claims Increased 12%

Dec 30 2010 // The economic crisis might have had a hand in pushing people to commit insurance fraud. However, it isn’t entirely to blame, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Nationwide, there has been a 12 percent...

Report: Some Insurers ‘Low-Balling’ Auto Insurance Claims for Bodily Injury

Dec 29 2010 // Some insurance companies that use computerized systems to process their claims are making unfair, “low-ball” claims offers to people injured in automobile accidents, according to a consumer advocacy group. The...

Oklahoma State Bar Association to Reimburse Client Losses

Dec 29 2010 // The Oklahoma Bar Association’s board of directors has voted to reimburse several Oklahomans who were the victims of deceased or dishonest attorneys. The association announced its Clients’ Security Fund will pay...

BP Oil Spill Fund Pays $43 Million in ‘Quick Pay’ Claims

Dec 28 2010 // The administrator of BP Plc’s $20 billion compensation fund has paid $43 million to residents of the U.S Gulf Coast who agree not to sue the company for damages stemming from the nation’s worst offshore oil...

Insurers’ Recent Success a Milestone in a Year of Chinese Drywall Litigation

Dec 23 2010 // A federal judge in Louisiana recently let 10 insurance companies being sued by Louisiana homeowners over property damage resulting from the installation of defective drywall from China off the hook for coverage from those...

2 Years After Ike Texas Coastal Residents Still Filing Claims

Dec 22 2010 // Windstorm claims from Hurricane Ike continue to be reported more than two years after the storm made landfall. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) continues to average receiving at least one new claim every...

Feds Pursuing Fraud Charges Against Oil Spill Claimants in 5 States

Dec 21 2010 // A woman was indicted last week in the Eastern District of Louisiana for allegedly filing fraudulent claims for compensation due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Four other individuals were also charged last week in...

The Hartford Selling Third Party Claims Unit for $278M

Dec 21 2010 // The Hartford said it has inked a $278 million deal to sell its third-party claims administration business, Specialty Risk Services (SRS), to Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. The Hartford said the deal is expected...

Fact or Fiction? Insurance Tidbits of Known and Little-Known Information

Dec 20 2010 // Have you ever wondered what big events helped shape regulation of the current U.S. insurance industry? Or if drivers of certain cars have more risk? What about the most attractive insurance job in the industry? These are...

Trustees Face Big Liability

Dec 20 2010 // Why Clients Need Errors and Omissions Coverage An attorney, family member or friend asked to serve as trustee faces a big responsibility as well as significant liability. Trustees are often called upon at a challenging...

American Claims Management Announces New Business Relationship with Zurich

Dec 20 2010 // CLARIFICATION OF RELEASE SENT ON 12/20/2010 San Diego, CA 12/21/10 – American Claims Management, Inc. (ACM) announces a new business relationship with Zurich North America Commercial’s Programs business...

How an E&O Claim Could Affect Agency Employee’s Career

Dec 20 2010 // Survey Finds Agencies Take a Second Look at Hiring Employees With Past E&O Histories Today’s soft insurance market, reduced commissions and a tough economy for agency owners and their clients might be adding to...

Lloyd’s Names Lang to Replace Chaplin as Head of Claims

Dec 17 2010 // Lloyd’s has appointed David Lang, former chairman of the market’s Claims Service Review Board, as the new head of claims. He replaces Kent Chaplin who is moving to Singapore to become the new head of...

Study: Texting Bans Don’t Reduce Crashes

Dec 17 2010 // It’s illegal to text while driving in most U.S. states yet a new study finds such bans do not reduce car accidents and may actually increase insurance claims. Researchers at the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI)...

Summary and Status of Gulf Oil Disaster Litigation

Dec 16 2010 // The U.S. Department of Justice has joined the hundreds of lawsuits that have been filed as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the largest in U.S. history. The following is a summary of the legal cases stemming from...

Suspicious Claims Rose 12% in Q3, Insurers Report

Dec 16 2010 // Questionable property/casualty insurance claims rose 12 percent in the third quarter over last year, according to the latest reports from insurance companies. Through the third quarter of 2010, the National Insurance Crime...

Alaska Loses Claim Against BP for Lost Taxes from 2006 Oil Spill

Dec 15 2010 // An Alaska judge has dismissed the state’s claim that BP owes several hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues the state claims it lost when the Prudhoe Bay oil field was partially shut down in 2006 because of...