Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Driving Up Agency Valuation
Apr 4 2005 // Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? There is a general perception that agency value has been increasing the past few years. This belief is partially true and is the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the past...
Michigan DOI Study Finds Competition Doesn’t Equal Affordability
Apr 4 2005 // Michigan’s Office of Financial and Insurance Services last month released the results of its long-awaited study of competitiveness in the state’s insurance market. While the report found competition under the...
FIGHT OVER CREDIT BAN MOVES TO COLO. SENATE:
Apr 4 2005 // Legislation that would prohibit insurers’ use of credit information narrowly advanced out of the Colorado Senate State Affairs Committee on a 4-3 vote and will be opposed by the insurance industry on the Senate...
What Should be Industry Response to Ethical Lapses?
Apr 4 2005 // CPCU Society Looking at IMSA The property casualty industry’s leading educational society is weighing what role to play in helping the industry restore its image after months of charges about bid rigging and...
Court Upholds Industry Lawsuit: CDI’s Homeowners Regulations Illegal
Apr 4 2005 // Charges by the California Department of Insurance that the California homeowners insurance industry arbitrarily nonrenews or raises rates on homeowners who file one claim or make an inquiry about their coverage is little...
New GAO Study: U.S. Needs Government Help to Insure for Catastrophes and Terrorism
Mar 31 2005 // A new U.S. government report indicates that the private U.S. insurance industry would be placed under enormous strain without government intervention if there were a major terrorist or catastrophic event or series of...
Q4 Rescues Hannover Re 2004 Profits from Hurricanes
Mar 30 2005 // Germany’s Hannover Re Group reported 309.1 million euros ($400 million) net after tax income for 2004, down 12.9 percent from 2003’s 354.8 million euros ($459.8 million). The company’s earnings report,...
Fla. Senate Committee Postpones Insurance Bill Until Next Week; Industry Hopes for ‘More Balanced’ Approach
Mar 30 2005 // Insurance industry representatives hope the announcement of the postponement until next week of an insurance bill now before the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee signals that a “more balanced” bill will...
Judge Rules W.V. Insurance Commission Must Reveal Sources in Third-Party Bad-Faith Lawsuit Study
Mar 25 2005 // A West Virginia Circuit judge has ruled in Charleston that the West Virginia Insurance Commission must reveal the names of companies and organizations it consulted to complete a study that recommended eliminating...
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...
