Latest Minnesota Headlines
All the headlines from our Minnesota Topic Page, ordered by recency.
IFM Reports Credit Scoring Ban Bad for Consumers
Feb 8 2002 // Credit scoring saves money for a majority of Minnesotans and is fair, Bob Johnson, executive vice president, of the Insurance Federation of Minnesota (IFM) testified Feb. 5 to a legislative panel considering a ban on...
Companies Face $10M Fine, License Revocation
Feb 7 2002 // Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Jim Bernstein has charged American Bankers Insurance Company (ABIC) and American Bankers Life Assurance Company (ABLAC), both of Florida and both subsidiaries of American Bankers Insurance...
Minn. Workers’ Comp Costs Flatten
Jan 30 2002 // After five years of decline, workers’ compensation costs in Minnesota leveled-off in 2000, according to a report released by the state’s Department of Labor and Industry (DLI). The Workers’ Compensation...
Minn. Trucking Industry Hit Hard by Rising Insurance Increases
Jan 23 2002 // Minnesota’s trucking firms have been hit hard with insurance rate increases according to results of a joint survey conducted by the Minnesota Trucking Association (MTA) and the American Trucking Associations...
WCRA Reducing Reinsurance Rates
Dec 28 2001 // The Workers’ Compensation Reinsurance Association (WCRA) announced it is reducing the reinsurance rates it charges to self-insured Minnesota employers and insurance companies by an average of 12 percent. The rate...
Erie Insurance to Expand into Minnesota
Dec 10 2001 // Just months after Erie Insurance began writing insurance in Wisconsin, the property/casualty insurer announced its intention to expand operations even further into Minnesota by September 2004. This is the 12th state that...
Minnesota Commissioner Takes Action Against Retailers
Nov 20 2001 // Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Jim Bernstein announced enforcement action against two retailers engaged in the sale of credit insurance in Minnesota. The Zale Corporation, Irving, Texas with approximately 20 stores in...
Minnesota Hearing Looks at Fight Against Fraud
Nov 14 2001 // The insurance industry called for widespread personal injury protection (PIP) insurance reform to Minnesota’s no-fault auto insurance laws during a House legislative hearing Nov. 13. The House Commerce Committee is...
Minnesota Commissioner Extends Insurance Agent Licenses
Oct 18 2001 // Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Jim Bernstein announced that due to a strike by state employee unions that slowed license-processing procedures, insurance agent licenses that were set to expire on Oct. 31 will remain in...
Minnesota Dept. of Commerce Investigating Agents
Oct 17 2001 // The Minnesota Department of Commerce has become aware of companies and individuals targeting insurance agents to participate in the sale of non-insurance products with the guarantee of high commissions ranging from 11...
Minnesota-Based Agency Fined for Infractions
Oct 3 2001 // Ohio Department of Insurance Director Lee Covington signed a consent order last week fining Securian Financial Network Inc., a St. Paul, Minn.-based agency licensed in Ohio, $15,000 for engaging in insurance activity in...
Insurance Federation Elects New Officers, Board Members
Sep 28 2001 // Five insurance industry executives have been elected to the board of the Insurance Federation of Minnesota. IFM members also selected a new slate of officers to lead the organization. Bruce H. Lonnes, president and CEO of...
Commerce Commissioner Appoints Minn. Property Insurance Placement Facility Board
Jun 29 2001 // Commerce Commissioner Jim Bernstein announces the following appointments to the board of the Minnesota Property Insurance Placement Facility. Each appointee will begin their term on July 1, 2001 and serve until January 1,...
Company Ordered to Halt Policies in Minnesota
Jun 20 2001 // Georgia-based Econ-O-Check Corporation has been ordered to cease and desist from marketing unapproved insurance policies to Minnesota residents following an order from Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Jim Bernstein. The...
Minn. Governor Signs Producer Licensing Legislation, Senior No-Fault Wage Benefits
May 31 2001 // Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura signed insurance producer licensing legislation that appears to meet the reciprocity requirements of the federal Graham-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act. The Act requires twenty-nine states to pass...
Workers’ Comp Reinsurance Assoc. to Refund $310 Million
Mar 16 2001 // The Workers’ Compensation Reinsurance Association Board of Directors has approved a surplus distribution of $310 million to Minnesota employers and insurance companies. Including the current $310 million...
ROC Study: Texas Workers’ Comp Claim Costs Topping the Charts
Mar 5 2001 // Texas has the highest average medical costs per workers’ compensation claim of nine states according to a survey recently released by the Texas Research and Oversight Council on Workers’ Compensation. The...
Community First Acquires Wyoming, Minnesota Agencies
Jan 8 2001 // Community First Bankshares, has acquired insurance agencies in Wyoming and Minnesota through its affiliate, Community First Insurance Agencies, Inc. The acquisition of Barnard Insurance Agency, with offices in Casper and...
Minnesota Agents Association Floats Legislative Collective Bargaining Draft; Seeks Input
Jan 8 2001 // In 1900, Texas independent agents approved a plan to unionize. The plan eventually faltered at the national level, but now, more than a century later, Minnesota agents are floating a similar idea. The board of directors of...
Minnesota Agents Draft Collective Bargaining Legislation
Dec 20 2000 // The board of directors of the Minnesota Independent Insurance Agents has drafted legislation for possible introduction in the state legislature this January that would permit agents to collectively bargain the terms and...
