Latest Property Casualty Headlines

Best Affirms Hartford’s ‘A+’ Ratings

May 27 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of the Hartford Insurance Pool and its P/C members. Best also affirmed the...

May 19 2008 // People Ohio-based Westfield Insurance appointed Diane Weidrick as executive, commercial lines services. Her responsibilities will include managing the lifecycle of Westfield’s commercial and specialty lines insurance...

Best Affirms Selective’s ‘A+’ Ratings

May 19 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of Selective Insurance Group and its seven P/C pooling members. Best also...

People

May 19 2008 // Charlotte, N.C.-based national wholesale insurance broker AmWINS Group Inc. named James Drinkwater president of its AmWINS Brokerage division. He will be responsible for the management of the division, which is focused on...

Nine Catastrophes to Cost P/C Insurers $3 Billion in First Quarter

May 19 2008 // U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $3.35 billion for first-quarter property losses resulting from nine catastrophes. The nine events identified as catastrophes by the...

May 19 2008 // People Ohio-based Westfield Insurance appointed Diane Weidrick as executive, commercial lines services. Her responsibilities will include managing the lifecycle of Westfield’s commercial and specialty lines insurance...

Integrity Mutual Names Kath as President; Schinler Retires

May 16 2008 // Appleton, Wis.-based Integrity Mutual Insurance Company recently named Darin L. Kath as president-designate, effective June 2. Richard J. Schinler, current president and chief executive officer, will retire after 25 years...

AXA Q1 Group Sales Fall by 2.7% to $43.5 Billion

May 8 2008 // France’s AXA Group, Europe’s second-biggest insurer, said first-quarter group sales fell 2.7 percent to €28.066 billion ($43.46 billion) with turnover hurt by adverse foreign exchange rates and the credit...

People

May 5 2008 // Patrick G. Ryan, founder and executive chairman Aon Corp., said he intends to retire Aug. 1, 2008. Ryan said the firm’s transition to a new management team under CEO Greg Case is complete. Ryan founded Aon, which has...

Analysts See Increase in P/C Mergers Ahead; Rate Climate Top Challenge

May 5 2008 // Insurance equity analysts expect a significant increase in property/casualty mergers and acquisitions this year, according to findings of a global survey by Accenture. More than two-thirds (71 percent) of all P/C analysts...

Liberty Mutual to Acquire Safeco Insurance in $6.2 Billion Deal

May 5 2008 // Liberty Mutual Group has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Safeco Corp. for $68.25 per share in cash in a deal that will make Liberty Mutual the fifth largest U.S. property/casualty insurer and...

S&P Reports on the ‘Evolving World of Property/Casualty Securitizations’

May 2 2008 // A report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services analyzes the catastrophe bond and reinsurance sidecar markets, which, S&P concludes, have “experienced sharp surges of activity after 2005.”...

Hanover Insurance Grows Commercial Lines, Shrinks Personal Lines in 1Q

May 1 2008 // The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. in Worcester, Mass., reported a drop in net income, an increase in commercial lines business and higher losses on personal lines for the first quarter of 2008. The company’s net...

9 Catastrophes to Cost P/C Insurers $3 Billion in 1st Quarter

Apr 29 2008 // U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $3.35 billion for first-quarter property losses resulting from nine catastrophes. The nine events identified as catastrophes by the...

Texas March Enforcement Actions Result in $130K in Fines, Restitution

Apr 29 2008 // Enforcement actions taken by Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin that became final during March include five license revocations, four license denials, and fines and restitution totaling $130,400. Copies of...

HRH Net Income Down 38.5% in 1Q; Total Revenues Up 4.4%

Apr 24 2008 // Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Company (NYSE:HRH) reported total revenues were up 4.4 percent for first quarter 2008 over the same period in 2007, but net income for the first quarter decreased 38.5 percent HRH reported that...

Zurich Acquires 50% of Spain’s Caixa Sabadell Life & P/C Insurance Units

Apr 24 2008 // Zurich Financial Services Group announced that it has signed agreements to acquire a 50 percent stake in Spain’s Caixa d’Estalvis de Sabadell’s life and general insurance companies, CaixaSabadell Vida,...

Liberty Mutual to Acquire Safeco Insurance in $6.2B Deal

Apr 23 2008 // Liberty Mutual Group has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Safeco Corp. for $68.25 per share in cash in a deal that will make Liberty Mutual the fifth largest U.S. property/casualty insurer and...

Agents and the Recession: Agents Tend to Fare Better Than Their Customers

Apr 22 2008 // Main Street independent insurance agents could take a bigger hit than their larger counterparts as an economic recession lands on top of the soft market. The soft market coinciding with a bad economy is a real challenge...

NIP Founder Has a Passion for Director Protection

Apr 22 2008 // Bill Pollock is passionate about protecting directors of companies. The Dartmouth College and University of Virginia law school graduate has been a director and a CEO, and understands from both sides the position company...