Latest Property Casualty Headlines

All the headlines from our Property Casualty Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Biggest U.S. property cat losses in 2006 were away from coasts

Jan 29 2007 // Property casualty insurers increasingly steered clear of the water out of fear of catastrophe losses during the past year. But while they were keeping a wary eye on the coasts in 2006, and escaped relatively unscathed in...

Pricing discipline key to P/C insurers’ repeat performance in 2007

Jan 28 2007 // News Currents Property casualty insurance industry earnings may have peaked in 2006 but that doesn’t mean 2007 will see a reversion to reckless price cutting and relaxed underwriting, according to experts observing...

A look behind the very good P/C results for 2006

Jan 28 2007 // This is the most remarkable statistic of all. The combined ratio we estimate to be about 94 for the year. That would be the best result since 1955. News Currents The numbers, or estimates, for the property casualty...

In 2006, largest P/C losses occurred inland

Jan 28 2007 // Coastal states got a relative reprieve in 2006, while inland states racked up most of the nation’s property/casualty losses for the year. According to the Insurance Services Office’s Property Claim Services...

S&P Cuts Italy’s Cattolica Ratings to ‘A-‘; Off CreditWatch

Jan 26 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has lowered its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Italy’s composite insurer Società Cattolica di Assicurazione to...

Higginbotham & Assoc. Adds Reedy as P/C Broker in Austin Office

Jan 26 2007 // Texas-based Higginbotham & Associates announced it hired commercial property and casualty broker Ben Reedy, an Indiana transfer, as account executive in its Austin office. Reedy was most recently a top three producer...

Survey: Commercial Prices Continue Declining in Non-Catastrophe Areas

Jan 24 2007 // Commercial insurance premiums continued their decline in all but catastrophe-exposed areas during the fourth quarter of 2006, with insurers willing to lower prices and place fewer restrictions on coverage to get new...

Feb. 12 is ‘Super’ Monday: Super Regional P/C Insurers™ to be Unveiled

Jan 23 2007 // As excitement over the Super Bowl builds, property casualty insurance professionals are anticipating their own “super” day: Monday, February 12. That’s the date when Insurance Journal magazine, in...

After Record 2006, P/C Insurers See Promising 2007 Ahead

Jan 15 2007 // Property/casualty insurers should be able to build on the momentum of 2006 to deliver another profitable year in 2007 if they maintain discipline on price, a group of industry observers told insurance executives attending...

P/C Execs Expect Terrorism Insurance Renewal, Win in Katrina Suits

Jan 11 2007 // Leaders of the property/casualty insurance industry expect Congress to extend the Terrorism Risk and Insurance Act in 2007, according to a survey conducted by the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) at its 11th annual...

AXA, India’s Bharti to Form P/C Group

Jan 10 2007 // Following the successful launch of their joint venture life insurance operations, France’s AXA Group and India’s Bharti Enterprises have signed a preliminary agreement to establish a joint Indian P/C...

Consumer Federation: Insurers Increase Profit Levels by Overpricing Policies

Jan 8 2007 // National consumer organizations joined the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) today in Washington D.C. to release a new study concluding that the property/casualty insurance industry (which includes the nation’s...

Absence of hurricane losses proves beneficial to insurers’ bottomline

Jan 8 2007 // P/C industry posts $24.4 billion net gain on underwriting in first three quarters of 2006 Driven by a sharp decline in catastrophe losses from hurricanes and other natural disasters in 2006, the U.S. property/casualty...

Absence of hurricane losses proves beneficial to insurers’ bottomline

Jan 7 2007 // News Currents Driven by a sharp decline in catastrophe losses from hurricanes and other natural disasters in 2006, the U.S. property/casualty industry posted a $24.4 billion net gain on underwriting through nine months....

QBE to Acquire Winterthur US from AXA for $1.16 Billion

Jan 5 2007 // In separate announcements, Australia’s QBE Group and France’s AXA SA said they have reached an agreement for QBE to acquire Winterthur’s US operations, principally General Casualty and Unigard, for...

S&P Comments on, QBE-AXA-Winterthur US Deal

Jan 5 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services indicated that its ratings on France’s AXA Group, including Winterthur Swiss, and Australia’s QBE won’t be affected by the sale of Winterthur’s US-based...

Consumer Group to Unleash Attack on P/C Insurers for ‘Overcharging’

Jan 4 2007 // On Monday, January 8, the Consumer Federation of America says it will release new data demonstrating that “auto and home insurers dramatically increased profits and surplus in recent years, in part by systematically...

Absence of Hurricane Losses Proves Beneficial to Insurers’ Bottomline

Dec 27 2006 // Driven by a sharp decline in catastrophe losses from hurricanes and other natural disasters in 2006, the U.S. property/casualty industry posted a $24.4 billion net gain on underwriting through nine months. The net gain on...

Best Affirms Allianz SE & Subsidiaries ‘A+’ Ratings

Dec 26 2006 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of “A+” (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings of “aa-” of German-based Allianz Societas Europaea (Allianz SE) and its subsidiaries. Best...

2006: Agents fight to keep their pay and insurers wise up to the future

Dec 25 2006 // The fight to save contingent commissions topped the minds of agents across the nation as a few select states drove public policy efforts to end their use by insurers. The industry grabbed hold of predictive modeling and...