Latest New York Headlines

All the headlines from our New York Topic Page, ordered by recency.

The Hartford Latest Insurance Company to Hire Top Prosecutor to Deal with Blizzard of Subpoenas

Dec 22 2004 // The Hartford Financial Services Group has hired a top federal corruption prosecutor in Connecticut amid a wave of state investigations into the insurance industry. The Hartford, which has been subpoenaed by attorneys...

Marsh to Refund Overcharges to Seven Oregon Schools

Dec 20 2004 // The scandal engulfing the world’s largest insurance brokerage firm has reached Oregon. The Portland office of insurance broker Marsh USA–the firm at the center of a corruption investigation in New...

New York Agents See Hard P/C Insurance Market Lingering

Dec 20 2004 // Independent agents and brokers in New York see premium rates continuing to increase and coverage choices failing to improve for most lines of property casualty insurance in the state despite industry and press reports to...

‘Girly Men’ and the Real World: The Public Role in Extreme Risk-Sharing

Dec 20 2004 // The Wharton School professor argued that insurance companies are not “girly men” when it comes to providing coverage for extreme risks such as hurricanes and terror attacks. It’s the federal...

Delaware Regulators Asking Insurance Agents If They’re Honest

Dec 20 2004 // State regulators are asking Delaware insurance agents to fess up if they’ve been engaging in illegal conduct. In the wake of alleged industry abuses in New York, the Delaware Department of Insurance is asking more...

People & Places

Dec 20 2004 // John Tympanick The Liquor Liability Joint Underwriting Association of Massachusetts (LLJUA) has named John W. Tympanick as president. LLJUA, based in Westboro, Mass., is a last-resort liquor liability insurance provider...

From Maine to Virginia … What Happened in 2004

Dec 20 2004 // Leaving aside the insurance brokerage compensation investigations, the World Trade Center trial, the St. Paul-Travelers merger and the UnumProvident settlement, all of which have their roots in this region but grew to...

‘Girly Men’ and the Real World: The Public Role in Extreme Risk-Sharing

Dec 17 2004 // The Wharton School professor argued that insurance companies are not “girly men” when it comes to providing coverage for extreme risks such as hurricanes and terror attacks. It’s the federal...

N.Y. Insurance Department to Approve 6% Auto Rate Drop for GEICO Customers

Dec 16 2004 // New York Superintendent of Insurance Gregory Serio announced on Thursday that GEICO auto insurance customers in New York State will see an across-the-board rate reduction in 2005 resulting in a savings of 6 percent for a...

St. Paul Travelers Subpoenaed Again in N.Y.

Dec 13 2004 // New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has issued a fourth subpoena to St. Paul Travelers Companies Inc., and officials at the insurance firm said his office is investigating whether they improperly dropped liability...

PCI Names Baldwin N.Y. Regional Manager

Dec 13 2004 // The Property Casualty Insurers of America (PCI) recently named Kristina Baldwin as its new regional manager and counsel for New York. Baldwin, who started at PCI on Dec. 6, will operate from offices in Albany, where she...

N.Y. Agents’ Survey Sees Lingering Hard Market

Dec 9 2004 // Independent agents and brokers in New York see premium rates continuing to increase and coverage choices failing to improve for most lines of property casualty insurance in the state despite industry and press reports to...

N.Y. Moves Against Balboa Insurance Co.’s Handling of Homes Served by Volunteer Firefighters

Dec 9 2004 // New York Superintendent of Insurance Gregory V. Serio announced that the Balboa Insurance Company has agreed to initiate immediately training for all of their company’s underwriters in the wake of an on-going New...

Spitzer Leads N.Y. Gov. Pataki, Trails Secretary of State Powell in Quinnipiac Poll

Dec 9 2004 // Eliot Spitzer George Pataki Colin Powell The race is still some time off, but New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D), who has been on a crusade this year to fight reported bid-rigging in the insurance industry, holds...

U.S. Personal Lines Sector Remains Strong With a Stable Outlook, Report Says

Dec 7 2004 // Fundamentals remain strong for U.S. personal lines insurance carriers, according to a report published by Standard & Poor’s. This is reflected in S&P’s decision to retain a stable outlook on the...

Surprise! Spitzer is Running for N.Y. Governor

Dec 7 2004 // Crusading New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is running for the state’s governorship in 2006, according to an announcement posted at his Web site today. Spitzer, a Democrat who has upended the insurance industry...

Arch Subpoena from N.Y. AG Concerns Lawyers Malpractice Insurance Program

Dec 6 2004 // Arch Capital Group Ltd. (Nasdaq:ACGL) announced that, on December 2, 2004, Arch Insurance Group received a subpoena from the New York State Attorney General. The subpoena requested certain information concerning its...

SPITZER TAKES COMPENSATION PROBE TO WASHINGTON

Dec 6 2004 // Senate Panel Wants In, Agents Want Out of Brokerage Scandal At recent Senate hearings in Washington called to follow-up on allegations of bid rigging and hidden compensation by Marsh and other large insurance brokers,...

Keeping Up with Insurance Brokerage Investigations

Dec 6 2004 // Recent Key Developments in Ongoing Probes of Marsh, Other Brokers and Insurers Marsh ‘Hopeful’ of Quick Settlement Marsh & McLennan has been in constant contact and cooperation with New York Attorney Eliot...

N.Y. TO REVIEW AUTO RATES:

Dec 6 2004 // New York Superintendent of Insurance Gregory Serio, citing steep declines in insurer losses as a result of successful fraud fighting, has launched a review of auto insurance rates for private passenger vehicles in the...