Latest Claims Headlines
All the headlines from our Claims Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Survey of Analysts Projects Healthy Underwriting Profits
Dec 17 2007 // Next year may just go down on record as one of the best insurance industry underwriting performances in the past 80 years, according to an industry survey of Wall Street stock analysts and industry professionals. Analysts...
Okla. Gov. Estimates Ice Storm Damage Will Exceed $200M
Dec 17 2007 // Winter storms are nothing new for Steve Kennedy in his work as a claims supervisor for Farmers Insurance. He’d never seen anything quite like this week’s deadly ice storm in Oklahoma. “The front yard of...
California Fines Health Insurer Blue Shield $12.6 Million
Dec 14 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is seeking $12.6 million in fines and penalties against health insurer Blue Shield for violations regarding healthcare rescissions and irresponsible claims processing. The...
Lawmaker Suggests Review of Denied Workers Comp Claims
Dec 14 2007 // North Dakota’s workers compensation agency should undertake a new review of some denied benefit claims from injured workers, a lawmaker says. Rep. George Keiser, R-Bismarck, said the review is needed because of...
Insurance Australia Group Claims Report on Sydney Storms
Dec 13 2007 // Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) has issued a bulletin noting that as of 11:00 a.m. today, “approximately 13,000 claims had been received as a result of the storm that hit Sydney last Sunday. Further lodgments...
State Farm Customers in Neb. Ask Supreme Court to Reinstate Lawsuit
Dec 7 2007 // A group of State Farm policyholders want the Nebraska Supreme Court to reinstate their lawsuit against the company, because they say State Farm failed to deliver the medical coverage it promised in its automobile...
Case Watch
Dec 2 2007 // Actions and Proceedings In Re Madrid Tex. App. El Paso Oct. 11, 2007 Reservation of rights letter protected by work product privilege. A party injured in a motor vehicle accident sued the insured. The injured party made a...
Texas Supreme Court Shakes up Outlook for Co-insurers at Odds
Dec 2 2007 // Overpaying insurer may not always have cause of action against underpaying company It is common for an insured to have two insurers cover the same risk. When the insured is sued regarding that risk, both insurers have a...
Communication is Key When Managing Program Contracts
Dec 2 2007 // The insurance industry survives on relationships built between agents and carriers. The two parties can strive for a harmonious partnership with few problems. Yet when communications break down and there are disagreements,...
Guaranty Fund System Continues to Deliver
Dec 2 2007 // Funds fulfill statutory promise to protect policyholders At the heart of every property and casualty insurance contract lies a promise to soften the blow of misfortune. But what happens when an insurance company becomes...
Survey: 22,700-Plus Wildfire Insurance Claims Filed in Calif.
Nov 29 2007 // The Insurance Information Network of California has confirmed that at least 22,700 claims filed from October’s Southern California fire and wind storms. The tally includes at least 2,000 insurance claims for damage...
Zurich Appoints Kath, Barnes to New Claims Positions
Nov 29 2007 // Zurich Financial Services announced changes in the claims division of its global corporate and European General insurance units. Jutta Kath, 47, who is currently Chief Claims Officer for Global Corporate, has been...
FBI Targets Miss. Lawyer Known for Handling Katrina Insurance Claims
Nov 29 2007 // FBI agents who searched the law offices of Mississippi attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs on Tuesday left with copies of the office’s computer hard drives, a lawyer for the firm said Wednesday. Joey...
Calif. SCIF Names Claims Manager in Sacramento
Nov 28 2007 // Jürg Morach has been named claims manager for California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund’s Sacramento District Office. Morach brings more than 18 years of State Fund experience to his new post. He was...
Florida Malpractice Insurance Rates Down 4 Years after Limits
Nov 25 2007 // Four years ago, many Florida doctors threatened to quit their practices because their malpractice insurance premiums were spiraling out of control. Some doctors retired early, some moved out of state. A few briefly walked...
Legislators Adopt Model Law to Strengthen State Guaranty Funds
Nov 21 2007 // A new model law adopted by the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) will create a stronger safety net for property/casualty guaranty funds nationwide. According to legislators, the Post-Assessment Property...
Ruiz Named SCIF Claims/Rehabilitation Operations Systems Manager
Nov 20 2007 // Jose Ruiz has been appointed claims/rehabilitation’s operations and systems manager for California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund. Ruiz started his State Fund career as a claims adjuster in the...
Judge OKs Dana Corp.’s $2M Settlement with Asbestos Victims
Nov 19 2007 // Dana Corp. has won court approval to pay $2 million to settle personal-injury claims from 7,500 people who say they were sickened by Dana products that contained asbestos. Judge Burton Lifland of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court...
Calif. State Fund Promotes Two
Nov 19 2007 // Maria Rosario D. Martinez has been appointed claims manager of Los Angeles Claims Services in the California State Compensation Insurance Fund’s Glendale office. Martinez began her State Fund career in 1987 servicing...
It Figures
Nov 18 2007 // $1 Million The amount a federal judge has ordered jailed Alabama outdoorsman Edmond H. “Eddie” Smith IV to pay to an insurance firm that accused him of filing a bogus post-Hurricane Katrina damage claim for a...
