Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
N.Y. Bill Seeks Fiduciary Duty on Producers, Permits Profit Sharing with Disclosure
Mar 2 2005 // Assemblyman Ryan Scott Karben (D/I-Rockland), a majority member of the New York State Assembly’s Insurance Committee, has introduced a legislative package on agent and broker compensation that would require...
IBC Reports 2004 Financials for Auto, Home and Business Insurance Companies
Mar 1 2005 // Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) recently announced estimated 2004 financial results for Canada’s home, auto and business insurance companies. Industry data indicate that in 2004, the industry’s 206 companies...
PIA of W. Va. EVP Describes Medical Liability Crisis; Hopes for Legislative Action
Feb 24 2005 // West Virginia’s medical liability insurance market is in a crisis and it has be fixed soon according to Gray Marion, Professional Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia executive vice president. Marion...
Another Marsh Exec Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging in Spitzer Probe
Feb 24 2005 // New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said today that a former senior executive of Marsh, Inc. has pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection with an ongoing investigation of fraud and bid rigging in the insurance...
R.I. State Senate Bills Seek to Spur Competition in Health Insurance Market
Feb 22 2005 // Saying that a competitive insurance market is critical to making health insurance more affordable for Rhode Island consumers and businesses, Sen. Marc A. Cote has introduced a package of legislation aimed at attracting...
Commercial Insurance Posts Full Year in Soft Market, RIMS Survey Reveals
Feb 21 2005 // The commercial insurance industry experienced a full year of a soft market conditions in 2004, as the last months of the year represented the fourth consecutive quarter of declining prices, according to the RIMS Benchmark...
Is the Industry Repeating the Past – Yet Again’
Feb 21 2005 // In a collection of works titled The Life of Reason, the philosopher George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Currently there’s a momentous shift underway in...
TRIA Renewal Remains Uncertain
Feb 21 2005 // Efforts to extend the federal terrorism insurance backstop, set to expire at the end of the year, face significant hurdles despite widespread belief among carriers that such a program is necessary to prevent massive market...
Accentuate the Positive
Feb 21 2005 // This month I attended several conferences, first, the Windstorm Insurance Network Conference in Tampa, at which several well-known and interesting experts were speaking, including Max Mayfield, the veteran director of the...
E&S Markets Medium, Softening Across the Board
Feb 21 2005 // Rising property prices and a healthy economy after the election year have encouraged competition for casualty business. Although account size is sometimes a factor in the directions prices move, E&S specialists say...
A Conversation with TSLA President Marshall Leicht
Feb 21 2005 // When Marshall Leicht was installed as president of the Texas Surplus Lines Association in November 2004 he reminded attendees at TSLA’s annual meeting of the many issues confronting surplus lines agents. Leicht, who...
