Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mich. DOI Study Finds Competition Doesn’t Equal Affordability; Insurers Say Losses Driving Rates
Mar 24 2005 // Michigan’s Office of Financial and Insurance Services last week released the results of its long-awaited study of competitiveness in the state’s insurance market. While the report found competition under the...
Washington Commissioner Ends Med Mal program
Mar 23 2005 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler announced March 22 that he is closing the voluntary Market Assistance Program for medical malpractice insurance due to a lack of business. Kreidler points out that the...
Fight Over Credit Ban Moves to Colo. Senate Floor
Mar 22 2005 // Legislation that would prohibit insurers’ use of credit information narrowly advanced out of the Colorado Senate State Affairs Committee Monday on a 4-3 vote and will be opposed by the insurance industry on the...
Killer Tsunamis and the Marine Insurance Market
Mar 21 2005 // Early in the morning hours on Dec. 26, 2004, opposing subterranean tectonic plates deep beneath the Indian Ocean floor shifted in violent unison along a line about 300 miles long. The energy released was on par with a...
CPCU Society Looking into IMSA Standards Model for P/C Industry
Mar 21 2005 // Should P/C Industry Response to Ethical Lapses Include a Self-Regulatory Body? The property casualty industry’s leading educational society is weighing what role to play in helping the industry restore its image...
N.C. Agenda Tight, No Time for Golf!
Mar 21 2005 // I was surprised and impressed by the efficiency and expertise shown by everyone participating in the March 3-6 National Conference of Insurance Legislators meetings in Hilton Head, S.C. When I heard hundreds of...
Research and Markets Adds Global Insurance Handbook to 2005 Offering
Mar 10 2005 // Research and Markets announced the addition of The Global Insurance Handbook 2005 to their offering. The increasing size of risk in the world is reportedly influencing multinational and global companies to protect ever...
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett on Insurance Economics and 2004 Results
Mar 8 2005 // By Chairman Warren Buffett’s own admission, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. did not have one of its best years in 2004. Last year, Berkshire’s book-value gain of 10.5% fell short of the S&P 500 Index’s 10.9%...
90 Days Until Hurricane Season: Fla. Legislators Hope to Solve Problems
Mar 7 2005 // With less than 90 days to go until the 2005 hurricane season begins, Florida legislators are scrambling to solve a wide-variety of hurricane-related problems: Getting insurance claims settled; solving problems with...
Progressive Drives Into S.C. Commercial Auto Insurance Market; Signs 430 Agents
Mar 7 2005 // Progressive Insurance’s Drive Group (Drive Insurance) has announced it will offer its commercial auto product in South Carolina through more than 430 agents. Drive(SM) Insurance is The Progressive Group of Insurance...
Warren Buffett Praises N.J. Auto Insurance Market Turnaround and Outgoing Chief Bakke
Mar 7 2005 // Star mogul Warren E. Buffett loves New Jersey, at least its auto insurance market. In his annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. of which he is chairman, Buffett has high praise for the turnaround in the...
Talking ’bout Ethics
Mar 7 2005 // Getting people in the insurance industry to speak with the media can be tough. But when the subject is ethics, it’s near impossible. It’s easier to get President Bush to talk about a tax hike. Barry Bonds about...
As Michigan Agents Gather, Industry Finds Itself in Crosshairs
Mar 7 2005 // The vote by the Michigan Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to file a notice of objection to Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s rule banning the use of credit scores in underwriting was...
PIA Legislative Day Topics: Medicaid Reform, Term Limits, Ethics, Citizens
Mar 7 2005 // Medicaid reform, changing term limits and ethics will be three major issues of concern to the Florida Legislature during upcoming meetings and through 2006, Ron Villella, Professional Insurance Agents of Florida lobbyist...
Hurricane Experts Unsure About 2005
Mar 7 2005 // Support Windstorm Impact Reduction Program Hurricane expert Max May-field and Rep. Jim Davis attempted to make long-range predictions about future events that will affect the Florida insurance industry during the annual...
Killer Tsunamis and the Marine Insurance Market
Mar 7 2005 // Early in the morning on Dec. 26, 2004, opposing subterranean tectonic plates deep beneath the Indian Ocean floor shifted in violent unison along a line about 300 miles long. The energy released was on par with a 50-kiloton...
ChoicePoint: ‘Insurance Industry Databases Were Not Compromised’
Mar 7 2005 // ChoicePoint’s Clue Auto, Clue Property and Current Carrier insurance industry databases were not in any way involved or compromised by the fraud ring that obtained data from other ChoicePoint databases of public...
Consumer Group Applauds Washington Commissioner For Refunding Premiums to Doctors
Mar 4 2005 // The Center for Justice & Democracy, a national consumer organization that monitors insurance industry practices, applauded the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner for ordering the state’s...
As Mich. Agents Gather, Industry Finds Itself in Crosshairs
Mar 4 2005 // GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—The vote by the Michigan Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to file a notice of objection to Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s rule banning the use of credit scores in...
Best Assigns Rating for Century Insurance
Mar 4 2005 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of B+ (Very Good) to Century Insurance Co. Ltd. (CIC) (Northern Mariana Islands). The rating outlook is stable. The rating reflects CIC’s well established market...
