Latest Georgia Headlines

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

Georgia Insurance Chief Issued Himself Licenses Before Leaving Office

Feb 22 2011 // Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine issued himself several licenses to sell insurance and adjust claims in his last full day in office, according to a newspaper report. Oxendine used his authority as the...

People

Feb 21 2011 // Rodney Smith Lloyd’s of London has appointed Rodney Smith to serve as the regional director for Lloyd’s newly established Southeast region. Smith will be based in Atlanta, Georgia and be responsible for market...

Business Moves

Feb 21 2011 // Buckeye Insurance Group, Marias Technology Buckeye Insurance Group, of Piqua, Ohio, formed Marias Technology, an information technology company. Marias Technology provides a range of IT services in areas such as system and...

Business Moves

Feb 21 2011 // Mercury General, Florida Citing fourth quarter losses in Florida of $19 million, Mercury General said it would begin withdrawing from the state’s homeowners insurance market. The company will send the mandatory...

Ratings Roundup: Westchester Fire, Middle Georgia

Feb 16 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has withdrawn the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “aa-” of New York-based Westchester Fire Insurance Company (WFIC) and assigned an...

Buckeye State Mutual Partners With Middle Georgia Mutual

Feb 7 2011 // Buckeye State Mutual Insurance Co. (BSMIC), a property and casualty insurer based in Piqua, Ohio, has agreed to affiliate with Middle Georgia Mutual Insurance Co. (MGM) of Griffin, Ga. The agreement is contingent upon...

Hudgens Directs Insurers to Exercise ‘Leniency’ After Georgia Storms

Jan 21 2011 // Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens has issued an order directing insurers to exercise leniency in dealing with individuals and businesses that may have trouble paying premiums due the winter storms that swept...

GUARD Introduces BOP in Georgia

Jan 10 2011 // GUARD Insurance Group has begun offering businessowner’s policy (BOP) coverage in Georgia. This new line complements the company’s traditional specialty – workers’ compensation insurance for small-...

USG Adds Holloman as Broker in Georgia

Jan 6 2011 // National wholesale broker USG Insurance Services, Inc. has added Jason Holloman as a property broker specializing in large commercial and catastrophe-exposed risks. He will be based in USG’s office outside...

Marsh Agency Buys Georgia Benefits Brokerage

Jan 4 2011 // Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC reports it has acquired Strategic Benefit Solutions, Inc. (SBS), a $4 million benefits brokerage and consulting firm based in Alpharetta, Georgia. Terms of the transaction were not...

Test Your 2010 Insurance News IQ: 25 Questions

Dec 31 2010 // Are you an insurance news hound? Test your insurance news IQ and find out. The following questions and answers (at bottom of the page– don’t cheat!) were developed based on news stories published by...

Southeast’s Top Stories: Disasters That Happened and 1 That Didn’t

Dec 23 2010 // The top insurance stories in the Southeast in 2010 included several disasters that caused considerable death and destruction in the region and one that didn’t do as much harm as feared. The April 20 blowout of...

Georgia Insurers, Incoming Commissioner Plan Fraud Crackdown

Dec 17 2010 // Georgia’s insurance industry is teaming up with state authorities to launch an ambitious effort to crack down on the rising number of insurance fraud cases. Incoming Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, who takes...

Georgia Supreme Court Upholds Insurers in 2 Uninsured Motorist Cases

Dec 16 2010 // The Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled in favor of insurance companies in two cases involving how much people injured in car wrecks should get under uninsured motorists coverage. At issue was whether the two injured...

Georgia Regulator Ignored Licensing Requirements, Judge Rules

Dec 16 2010 // A Fulton County judge has ruled that Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine disregarded application requirements when awarding small-loan licenses. Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington ruled that Oxendine was not...

Georgia’s N-Surance Outlets Names Alexander Underwriting Manager

Dec 14 2010 // Gary Alexander has been named underwriting manager at N-Surance Outlets, a regional propertyt/casualty managing general agency based in Roswell, Georgia. Alexander, a 30 year veteran of the insurance industry, has held...

Georgia Regulator Goes After Blue Cross ‘Favored’ Contracts

Dec 8 2010 // Georgia’s largest health insurer has such a strong hold on the market that hospitals can’t make better deals with other insurers, which is raising flags for the state’s insurance commissioner. A routine...

Georgia Insured Storm Damage Estimated at $5 Million

Dec 2 2010 // Georgia Insurance Commissioner John W. Oxendine said that heavy winds, rain and thunderstorms on Nov. 30 caused an estimated $5 million in insured losses in Gwinnett County on Nov. 30. This estimate includes damage to cars...

Georgia’s Hudgens Among New State Insurance Commissioners

Nov 14 2010 // The Nov. 2 elections will mean there will soon be a number of new insurance commissioners across the country. Three states – Georgia, California, and Oklahoma-elected new insurance commissioners. Republican state...

Republican Hudgens Elected Georgia Insurance Commissioner

Nov 3 2010 // Republican state Sen. Ralph T. Hudgens will be the new Georgia insurance and fire safety commissioner. Hudgens defeated Democrat Mary Squires, garnering 54 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Squires. Hudgens will...