Latest Claims Headlines
All the headlines from our Claims Topic Page, ordered by recency.
U.K.’s FSCS to Refund $74 Million to Insurers; No Levy for 2006/07
Jan 20 2006 // The U.K.’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which administers claims payments when insurers are unable to do so (usually due to insolvency), has made what has to be an unprecedented announcement. It...
Mercury General Revises Loss Estimates from Hurricane Wilma
Jan 19 2006 // Mercury General Corp. has revised its estimate of losses caused by Hurricane Wilma. On Oct. 24, 2005, Hurricane Wilma made landfall as a Category 3 storm on the southern gulf coast of Florida. The storm crossed the Florida...
Ohio Business Groups Push for Workers’ Comp Reforms
Jan 19 2006 // Business groups in Ohio are pushing lawmakers to enact reforms to the state insurance fund for injured workers that were agreed upon before a scandal broke over the fund’s investments, according to a recent account...
N.J. Court Upholds Claims-Made Policy Where Insured Refused ‘Lookback’
Jan 17 2006 // In what lawyers say is a precedent-setting decision, a New Jersey court has ruled that a claims-made insurance policy that did not include retroactive coverage does not violate public policy and is enforceable. An...
Severe Avian Flu Pandemic Could Generate $133 Billion in New Claims, I.I.I. Says
Jan 17 2006 // A moderate avian flu outbreak similar to the 1957 and 1968 flu pandemics could significantly impact the life insurance industry, generating $31 billion in additional death claims, according to a new analysis by the...
AIA: Paper on Insurance Claims Handling is Reckless
Jan 12 2006 // A paper issued Thursday by Americans for Insurance Reform (AIR) is “untrue, irresponsible and reckless,” according to the American Insurance Association (AIA). “Tens of thousands of insurance company...
DIMA Rejects Claims it Opposes EC Reinsurance Regs
Jan 11 2006 // The Dublin International Insurance & Management Association (DIMA), which represents the majority of non-life insurers, non-life and life reinsurers, and captive managers located in Ireland, has strongly rejected...
La. DOL: Fewer Hurricane-Related Unemployment Claims Being Paid
Jan 6 2006 // The number of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita victims continuing to receive unemployment benefits has dropped by over 100,000 since benefit claims peaked in early November, the Louisiana Department of Labor reported. Some...
Escape Blocked: Black Hole Claims 12 in W.Va. Nightmare
Jan 5 2006 // With their escape routes blocked by heavy smoke, most of the 13 miners caught in an explosion in Tallmansville, W. Va. did what they were trained to do: They retreated deeper into the mine and hung a curtain-like barrier...
IRC: Insurance Fraud, Buildup Add Some $400M to Calif. Auto Injury Claims
Jan 5 2006 // A recent Insurance Research Council (IRC) study of auto injury insurance claims puts a hefty price tag on the cost of claim abuse in California. In 2002, between $319 million and $432 million in bodily injury liability...
I.I.I.: Claims in Louisiana Equal to 25 Years of State’s Homeowners Premiums
Jan 5 2006 // The record total of homeowners insurance claims payments resulting from the 2005 hurricanes in Louisiana is enough to wipe out all homeowners premiums paid in the state during the past 25 years, as well as every dollar of...
Seattle Firm Chosen to Evaluate Hanford Injured-Worker Claims
Jan 4 2006 // The Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) has selected Seattle audit and consulting firm Miller & Miller to review the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) administration of workers’ compensation...
Crawford & Co. Unveils Service Delivery Model to Manage Comp Claims
Jan 4 2006 // Crawford & Company reported the formation of Crawford Integrated Services, a new business unit that was developed specifically to solve the most pressing issues facing the workers’ compensation industry:...
Okeechobee Contractor Alleged to Have Filed Fake Workers’ Comp Claims
Jan 2 2006 // Okeechobee building contractor Merle Dee Johnson bonded out of the Okeechobee County Jail on $30,000 bond, after Florida investigators charged him with workers’ compensation fraud and grand theft. Johnston was...
AUTO DEALERS COMPENSATION OF CALIF. RETURNS $9.6 MILLION
Jan 2 2006 // The trustee board of the Auto Dealers Compensation of California Inc. has announced an equity distribution of approximately $9.6 million to its auto dealership members. AD-COMP is a private workers’ compensation...
Days of ‘arrogance’ over, claims UnumProvident CEO
Jan 1 2006 // Problems including lawsuits, stock losses and negative publicity have created a humbler UnumProvident Corp. that is emerging from its financial troubles as a stronger company, the company’s chief executive says. The...
Auto-Liability
Jan 1 2006 // Co. v. Dennison (Hawaii Court of Appeals, Oct. 11, 2005) Ruling: The insurer in this case filed a declaratory judgment action against its insured, alleging that it was not liable for emotional distress damages caused when...
Mississippi Coast faces the storm after the storms: wind or water damage?
Jan 1 2006 // The wind came first. It pried off boards and shot debris into windows at Ron Peresich’s home on Biloxi’s (Mississippi) Back Bay. It tore off rooftops and buckled walls in Bud Ray’s Long Beach...
N.J. Neurologist Charged with Million Dollar Insurance Fraud Scam
Jan 1 2006 // New Jersey Attorney General Peter Harvey reported that a Mercer County neurologist, his former medical practice and four former medical diagnostic and/or medical equipment corporations, along with the former office...
FTCR: Insurers Inflated Med-Mal Claims to Justify Rate Hikes
Dec 30 2005 // In documents filed with state regulators and in statements to public officials, medical malpractice insurance companies consistently inflated the amount they estimated they would pay out in claims, according to a study by...
