Latest Michigan Headlines
All the headlines from our Michigan Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Unique Safety Barricades Tested at Mich. Railroad Crossing
Mar 5 2008 // Automated safety barricades typically reserved for directing traffic are being tested in a unique pilot program at a suburban railroad crossing to see if they can deter drivers from crossing train tracks when the gates go...
Mich. Acting Commissioner Ross Staying on the Job
Feb 25 2008 // Michigan’s acting insurance commissioner is staying on the job. Ken Ross was named commissioner of the state’s Office of Financial and Insurance Services by Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Friday, Feb. 22nd. Ross has...
Mich. House Bills Open Door to Scrutiny of Auto Insurance Fee
Feb 25 2008 // An insurance panel that sets rates for coverage of severely injured motorists would be subject to more public scrutiny under terms of legislation that passed the state House on Thursday. Some deliberations by the Michigan...
Mich. Accident Fund Honors Agencies with 2007 President’s Club Award
Feb 22 2008 // Accident Fund Insurance Company of America recently recognized agencies by presenting its 2007 President’s Club Awards. The award is presented each year to a select number of independent insurance agencies that work...
Mich. Schools Say Recalled Beef Had Been Served to Students
Feb 21 2008 // Portage Public Schools is reporting that hamburger from the largest beef recall ever in the United States had earlier been served to its students, and some other Michigan districts say they also got meat now involved in...
Lawsuit Presses Mich. Lawmakers to Allow Licenses for Legal Immigrants
Feb 15 2008 // When Michigan officials recently reinterpreted state law to stop nonresidents from getting driver’s licenses, critics said it had an unintended consequence. The crackdown, intended to target illegal immigrants, also...
Ratings: CUNA/CUMIS, Fremont, National Interstate, Patrons et.al., FGIC, Munich Re (US)
Feb 4 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned an issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a+” and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) of Madison Wis.-based CUNA Mutual Insurance Society, the lead...
Insurers Oppose Mich. Governor’s Consumer Advocate Proposal
Jan 29 2008 // A proposal by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to create a state automobile and homeowner insurance consumer advocate is being called “unnecessary and duplicative,” by one property/casualty insurance trade...
AIG to Pay $42.5 Million to Cleanup After Failed Company
Jan 27 2008 // The American International Specialty Lines Insurance Co. Inc. (AISLIC) has agreed to pay $42.5 million to clean up contamination at four industrial facilities run by a bankrupt insured in a suit in which the Department of...
Mich. Stryker to Recall Hip Surgery Product after Warning from Feds
Jan 25 2008 // Medical device maker Stryker Corp. announced earlier this week that it will voluntarily recall certain hip surgery products, a week after it received a warning from regulators. The company is recalling Trident PSL and...
Brown & Brown Buys Michigan’s Smith-Peaboy-Stiles Insurance
Jan 23 2008 // J. Scott Penny, regional executive vice president of Brown & Brown, Inc., and James “Jim” Peabody, president of Smith-Peabody-Stiles Insurance Agency, Inc., with offices in Fenton and Brighton, Mich.,...
Burns & Wilcox Add Broker to Michigan Office
Jan 17 2008 // Burns & Wilcox recently announced that Jeffrey Brown has joined the company’s Farmington, Mich. office as a broker. Brown will be responsible for placing business for large complex risks, including large...
Hylant Group Names Savage Regional Chief Operating Officer in Michigan
Jan 8 2008 // Hylant Group, the nation’s seventh largest privately held commercial insurance brokerage, recently named Patrick Savage as the regional chief operating officer in Michigan. His position will serve Hylant’s...
CarInsurance.com Adds Insurance Carriers for 2008
Jan 3 2008 // CarInsurance.com, which sells auto insurance over the Internet, has added more carriers to its current 28 state agency product offering. In November and December 2007, the firm expanded and now offers Encompass Insurance...
Mich. Orders Agent to Stop Selling Bogus Auto Insurance Certificates
Dec 28 2007 // The Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services (OFIS) has issued a “cease and desist” order against a Flint insurance agent for selling bogus Michigan no-fault auto insurance certificates. Chris...
People
Dec 23 2007 // Toledo, Ohio-based privately held commercial insurance brokerage, the Hylant Group, has named John W. Chaney as president of the Cleveland office and regional vice president. Chaney will be responsible for the overall...
Mich. Report: House Fires and Deaths on the Rise
Dec 23 2007 // The number of reported house fires and fire-related deaths in Michigan increased last year, with many homeowners not maintaining working smoke alarms, according to a report released by the Michigan Association of Insurance...
Squabble Over Mich. Drug Law Intensifies After Vioxx Settlement
Dec 23 2007 // More than 1,000 Michigan residents could end up getting part of a $4.85 billion national settlement if they or their loved ones took the painkiller Vioxx. But that hasn’t squelched a firestorm over the state’s...
Mich. Insurer Fined for Failing to Make Sure Agents Were Licensed, Appointed
Dec 21 2007 // A Michigan-based insurer has been fined $230,000 by the Conneticut Department of Insurance for failing to make sure agents were licensed and appointed to sell policies in the state. Foremost Insurance Co., which...
Mich. Woman Starts House Fire to Collect Insurance Money
Dec 19 2007 // A Kent County, Mich. woman has pleaded no contest to setting her home on fire with her husband and teenage children inside to collect insurance money. Prosecutors say 38-year-old Sheryl Christman of Grand Rapids Township...
