Latest Commercial Lines Headlines

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

U.S. Commercial Insurance Prices to Firm in 2013: Marsh

Feb 11 2013 // Rates for commercial lines insurance will continue to rise in 2013, thanks to above average losses, low investment returns and receding reserve releases. However, according to a report by Marsh, traditional signs of a...

Insurance Prices ‘More of Same’ in 4th Quarter, Say Commercial Brokers

Feb 5 2013 // Insurance brokers across the country reported price increases in the commercial lines market in the fourth quarter of 2012. According to The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ quarterly Commercial P/C Market...

Ohio Employers Want $860M from Work Comp Bureau After Ruling

Feb 4 2013 // Attorneys for employers who won a ruling against the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation are asking the state to pay $860 million. The lawyers say there are 270,000 Ohio employers who are due restitution after a...

Kansas Bill Would Limit Employer Access to Applicants’ Social Media Accounts

Jan 31 2013 // Two Kansas lawmakers are seeking support for a measure that would limit employers’ access to job applicants’ social media accounts. Rep. Gail Finney and Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, both Democrats, back measures...

U.S. Commercial Insurance Prices to Firm in 2013: Marsh

Jan 30 2013 // Rates for commercial lines insurance will continue to rise in 2013 thanks to above average losses, low investment returns and receding reserve releases. However, according to a new report published by Marsh, traditional...

EMPLOYERS Names Robertson Medical Director in Southern California

Jan 29 2013 // Reno, Nev.-based EMPLOYERS named Dwight L. Robertson, M.D., medical director. Dr. Robertson will provide physician oversight for the clinical direction of medical services for EMPLOYERS, as well as medical expertise with...

Less Than 50% of Small Businesses Offer Employee Benefits: LIMRA

Jan 29 2013 // Only 47 percent of small businesses (2-99 employees) in the United States offer benefits to their employees, the lowest level in two decades of research by the life insurance industry research organization LIMRA. According...

Travelers Adds Cyber Protection Tailored to Small Businesses

Jan 22 2013 // Small businesses may not think they are at risk for cybercrime, but almost 72 percent of the 855 data breaches worldwide analyzed by Verizon’s forensic analysis unit were at companies with 100 employees or less*....

Supreme Court to Hear Stanford Ponzi Lawsuits, Workplace Bias Case

Jan 21 2013 // The U.S. Supreme Court last Friday agreed to hear four new cases, addressing matters as diverse as the reach of a law designed to combat chemical weapons, and whether lawyers could be sued for having once represented...

2012 Landmark Year for Workplace Class Action Litigation: Study

Jan 14 2013 // When it comes to complex employment-related legal disputes, 2012 will be considered a landmark year, according to a new report on employment class action litigation. Many of the key rulings of 2012 in class action cases...

The Dilemma of Tiny Commercial Accounts

Jan 14 2013 // Many advisors suggest agents simply jettison small commercial accounts. But sometimes small is good. When small accounts are processed and serviced efficiently, these books can be much more stable in tough times than a few...

Bridges Joins RSI International as Commercial Underwriter

Jan 4 2013 // Texas-based RSI International Inc. announced that Brian Bridges has joined the firm in the role of commercial underwriter. Bridges brings 10 years’ experience in commercial property/casualty insurance, specializing...

270,000 Ohio Employers Win Workers’ Comp Ruling

Dec 31 2012 // A judge’s ruling against the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation may end up costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars. The ruling issued Friday also could mean that more than 270,000 Ohio employers are...

Most Commercial Insurance Buyers Accept Coverage Changes, Price Hikes: Survey

Dec 28 2012 // The vast majority of commercial insurance buyers renewing their policies appear willing to accept coverage adjustments, moderate price increases, or both, according to a new survey. Still, the survey of risk managers and...

U.S. Apppeals Court Revives Workplace Cybertheft Claim

Dec 27 2012 // In a decision that could make it easier for businesses to police cybertheft in the workplace, a U.S. appeals court revived a chemical company’s lawsuit accusing a former Toronto-area employee of using her home...

Workplace Deaths Rise In North Dakota Oil Patch

Dec 26 2012 // North Dakota’s workers’ compensation agency is offering safety training to companies in the state’s booming oil patch, an effort to decrease job-related deaths and injuries happening most often to...

Montana Company Accused of Workplace Safety Hazards

Dec 26 2012 // Federal safety regulators have proposed $75,600 in penalties for a Montana manufacturing company over alleged workplace hazards. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Fiberglass Structures, Inc. of Laurel...

NIP Launches Business Insurance Program for Restaurant Industry

Dec 19 2012 // NIP Programs — a division of Woodbridge, N.J.-based NIP Group Inc. that designs and manages specialty business insurance programs — introduced a business insurance program targeting owners and operators of...

Foremost Insurance to Take Over Zurich’s Small Business Insurance Program

Dec 18 2012 // Beginning January 2013, Foremost will introduce business insurance into its portfolio of products. Foremost is a part of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies. Zurich North America is ending the Zurich Small Business...

Conn.-Based Business Risk Partners Appoints Senior Underwriter

Dec 14 2012 // Business Risk Partners (BRP), a Windsor, Conn.-based managing general underwriter, appointed Jayne Downey as a senior underwriter overseeing the firm’s technology errors-and-omissions (E&O) and data...