Latest Claims Headlines
All the headlines from our Claims Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Lessons learned from 2005’s Katrina and 2006’s calm hurricane season
Feb 11 2007 // It’s been more than a year since Katrina made landfill and businesses are still recovering. Then the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season came and went with barely a blip — despite initial projections by some that...
Why a regional carrier might be an agent’s best friend
Feb 11 2007 // The old saying “all politics is local” is born of the realization that the things that most directly affect us are local issues. In that respect, one could say that insurance is a local business. Risk...
Doctors Suspect Insurers’ Rankings Measure Cost, Not Quality
Feb 9 2007 // A less confident physician might have been humbled by the letters Dr. Mike Kelly received last year from two insurers. Regence BlueShield and UnitedHealthcare informed Kelly that he failed to qualify for their respective...
Bakersfield Businesswoman Charged with Fraud
Feb 9 2007 // A Bakersfield, Calif., businesswoman and two accomplices have been arrested in California on a list of charges stemming from a variety of alleged fraud. Shawn Dodd, 40, is charged with four felony counts of insurance...
Fla.: Citizens Tornado Claims Payments Top $500,000
Feb 8 2007 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp. paid out more than $520,000 in claims payments to policyholders affected by the Feb. 2 storms according to a company official. “We’ve paid $521,951 in damage claims and have...
Fla. Gov. Crist Visits Citizens Catastrophe Response Center; Claims Count Rising
Feb 7 2007 // Gov. Charlie Crist talked with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation catastrophe response employees Tuesday at one of four Emergency Operations Centers serving Central Florida residents affected by tornadoes and high...
USAA Defends Its Katrina Response Against Comments by Miss. AG Hood
Feb 1 2007 // In response to a recent pending settlement involving State Farm Insurance, certain victims of Hurricane Katrina and the State of Mississippi, USAA or United Services Automobile Association, came forward to define what it...
Converium Estimates Kyrill Claims between $32 to $46 Million
Feb 1 2007 // Swiss-based reinsurer Converium has estimated that its gross claims for winter storm Kyrill will be around €25 to €35 million ($32.5 to $46.5 million). Converium said its estimates were “based on an assumed...
Allianz Kyrill Losses Around $452 Million
Jan 31 2007 // Germany’s Allianz Group announced that “based on the current state of knowledge,” it estimates net claims of around €350 million ($452 million) before taxes. “The amount of claims is within the...
Case Law Watch
Jan 29 2007 // Additional Insureds Alpha Holdings Ltd. v. Travelers Indemnity (California Court of Appeals, Second District, July 13, 2006) Ruling: This case involved a declaratory judgment action on insurance coverage under a...
Calif. declares insurance claims emergency in wake of cold freeze
Jan 29 2007 // A recent proclamation by California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is allowing out-of-state insurance adjusters to be dispatched to California’s agricultural community to assist in the state of emergency...
Proactive agents help contractors and subcontractors reduce comp costs
Jan 29 2007 // Transitional duty assignments, return-to-work goals, regular communication, information gathering are all part of a solid program When helping contractors and subcontractors reduce their workers’ compensation costs,...
Homeowners win key water v. wind Katrina claims case against State Farm
Jan 29 2007 // Insurer then settles next case without going to trial; U.S. Rep. Taylor calls for Congressional probe of industry claims practices In a Hurricane Katrina claims decision watched closely by the insurance industry, a federal...
Southern surprise?
Jan 29 2007 // There was an important court ruling in Mississippi earlier this month that had the whole industry, not just Mississippians, watching closely. The insurance industry, or at least State Farm, was surprised when the insurer...
Enron’s legacies and directors and officers risk
Jan 29 2007 // Shortly after former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s Oct. 23, 2006, sentencing, the Enron Task Force said it was closing down, with its mission mostly complete. Yet did that event really signal an endpoint in the Enron...
Midwestern states top 2006 list for largest catastrophe losses
Jan 29 2007 // While most of the country tends to consider the coastal areas to be the jackpot winners for pending catastrophes, in 2006 the Midwest won in the disaster lottery. Living in the Midwest, all of us know the devastating...
Report: Nevada workers’ comp system needs to examine serious claims
Jan 29 2007 // The Nevada workers’ compensation system “has undergone dramatic change since 1993″ becoming more competitive and allowing private insurers to enter the market,” but it has room for improvement...
Biggest U.S. property cat losses in 2006 were away from coasts
Jan 29 2007 // Property casualty insurers increasingly steered clear of the water out of fear of catastrophe losses during the past year. But while they were keeping a wary eye on the coasts in 2006, and escaped relatively unscathed in...
Mississippi surprise?
Jan 29 2007 // The insurance industry, or at least State Farm, was surprised earlier this month when the insurer lost a closely-watched Mississippi case involving wind and water damage from Hurricane Katrina. “We did not expect...
Editor’s Note: Mississippi surprise?
Jan 28 2007 // The case appears to be more about how one insurer handled a particular claim and not a ruling with widespread impact on the industry. The insurance industry, or at least State Farm, was surprised earlier this month when...
