Latest Commercial Lines Headlines

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

Alaska Workplace Fatalities Down 42.5%

May 11 2011 // Alaska has seen a significant decrease in workplace fatalities — down 42.5 percent from the previous decade — according to the epidemiology branch of the state Division of Public Health. According to the Division,...

MMA UK Names Bradshaw as Commercial Development Manager

May 10 2011 // MMA Insurance, the wholly owned UK subsidiary of French multi-national insurer, MMA IARD Assurances Mutuelles, has appointed Derek Bradshaw as Development Manager, to drive commercial growth through its broker partners. He...

Business Insurance Associates Joins Iroquois Group

May 5 2011 // Business Insurance Associates (BIA) of Davidsonville, Maryland has joined The Iroquois Group. BIA started in 2000 as an employee benefits agency. Agency Principal Ed Coogan expanded the agency into property and casualty...

Small Business Owners Concerned Over Taxes, Healthcare Issues

May 4 2011 // Tax-related regulations and concerns over health care burden many small business owners today. Nearly two out of three business owners believe that tax-related regulations are too burdensome, while 51 percent find health...

Calif. Agents: Tread Carefully When Providing Workplace Safety Advice

May 4 2011 // Woe to the employer who is not attentive and actively engaged in health and safety.” That’s the warning the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is giving employers in the Golden...

Survey: Commercial Lines Prices Fall 3% in Q1

May 4 2011 // Commercial property/casualty pricing declined again with an average decline 3 percent in the first quarter of 2011. But according to a new industry survey, the pace of pricing declines may be slowing down. The market...

Florida Legislature Approves Commercial Rate Deregulation Bill

May 3 2011 // Commercial insurers in Florida will have more leeway in setting rates on a number of lines of insurance under a bill approved today by state lawmakers. The Florida legislature approved CS/HB 99 that expands the list of...

Missouri Governor Vetoes Workplace Discrimination Measure

May 2 2011 // Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has vetoed legislation that would have changed the legal standard workers must meet when they file discrimination lawsuits against former employers. Nixon said the measure would have undermined the...

Rate of Workplace Deaths in North Dakota Remains High

May 2 2011 // North Dakota’s per-capita rate of on-the-job deaths remains among the highest in the country, a new report shows. Officials cite the state’s rural nature as a big reason. The AFL-CIO report shows the state had...

North Carolina Employers, Workers Square Off Over Benefits

May 2 2011 // Business groups are praising proposed legislation that changes North Carolina’s workers’ compensation laws in ways that lower employer costs, while workers and the lawyers who represent them complained the...

Overcapacity in P/C Insurance Keeping Commercial Prices Down

May 2 2011 // Most commercial lines insurance prices continued their downward trend in the first quarter, as underwriters’ efforts to hold the line on premiums buckled under the pressure of a highly overcapitalized market. Three...

Agents: Tread Carefully When Providing Workplace Safety Advice

May 2 2011 // Woe to the employer who is not attentive and actively engaged in health and safety.” That’s the warning the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is giving employers in the Golden...

Both Sides Lobby Missouri Gov. on Workplace Discrimination Bill

Apr 28 2011 // Several Missouri lawyers and civil rights groups are urging Gov. Jay Nixon to veto a bill that would change the legal standard workers must meet when they file discrimination lawsuits against former employers. In letters...

Employers Promotes Dix to VP of Customer Support

Apr 27 2011 // Reno, Nev.-based Employers has promoted Dennis Dix to vice president of customer support. Since joining Employers in 2007, Dix’s successful background in process excellence and operations management has enabled him...

Peerless Insurance Adds 40-Plus Business Classes to Small Commercial Program

Apr 27 2011 // Peerless Insurance, a Liberty Mutual Agency Corp. regional company, has expanded its small commercial appetite with the addition of more than 40 business classes to its Commercial Protector BOP product. The majority of the...

NFIB, EMPLOYERS Expand Work Comp Program to Additional States

Apr 26 2011 // The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has extended discounted workers’ compensation coverage benefits to its members in Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia and Missouri through EMPLOYERS. EMPLOYERS...

Overcapacity in P/C Insurance Keeping Commercial Prices Down

Apr 26 2011 // Most commercial lines insurance prices continued their downward trend in the first quarter, as underwriters’ efforts to hold the line on premiums buckled under the pressure of a highly overcapitalized market. Three...

Alabama Boosts Tax Break for Small Businesses Buying Health Insurance

Apr 25 2011 // Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has signed legislation increasing the state income tax deduction that small businesses get for supplying health insurance for their employees. The new law applies to the current tax year....

SEC: Mid-Size Firms Should Follow Sarbanes Oxley Internal Control

Apr 25 2011 // Accountants at the U.S. securities regulator are recommending that medium-size public companies should not be exempted from a key auditing provision in the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, saying the benefits to investors outweigh...

Oregon Sees 4 Workplace Fatalities in Q1 2011

Apr 25 2011 // Oregon recorded four compensable workplace fatalities in the first quarter of 2011, compared to seven compensable workplace fatalities for the same period in 2010. According to the Department of Consumer and Business...