Latest Property Casualty Headlines

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

2005 P/C industry in a word: Resilience

Jan 1 2006 // The property/casualty insurance industry reported a statutory rate of return on average surplus of 9.5 percent through the first nine months of 2005, marginally below the 10.5 percent average return recorded during...

Insurers’ Income, Surplus Rise Despite Record Catastrophe Losses

Dec 28 2005 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry’s net income after taxes rose 4.4 percent, or $1.2 billion, to $28.8 billion in nine-months 2005 from $27.6 billion in nine-months 2004. Reflecting the industry’s...

Bowman Named COO of Crawford’s Global Property and Casualty Services

Dec 21 2005 // Jeffrey T. Bowman, president of Crawford & Co’s International Operations, has been named chief operating officer of the firm’s Global Property and Casualty Services, effective Jan. 1. This newly created...

Alternative Products Changing P/C Landscape

Dec 19 2005 // “Convergence products,” or alternative insurance products such as catastrophe bonds and finite reinsurance products, will play a critical part in the competitive landscape of the P/C industry in coming years,...

People

Dec 18 2005 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley announced that Clarissa A. Preston has been named deputy commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Insurance Office of Property and Casualty, and Scott Kipper is now deputy...

The Industry Goes to School: Universities that Offer Insurance Degrees

Dec 18 2005 // Twenty years ago, it was nearly impossible to find colleges and universities offering degrees in insurance. Now there are many programs across the nation that offer bachelor’s degrees, concentrations, certifications,...

SCOR Acquires Alea’s Renewal Rights to European P/C Treaties

Dec 16 2005 // French reinsurer SCOR Group announced that it has reached agreement with the Alea Group to acquire the renewal rights to its European reinsurance treaties for 2006. The move follows Alea’s sale of its renewal rights...

Katrina & Rita Opened a “Pandora’s Box” for P/C Industry, Says S&P

Dec 15 2005 // A new report from Standard & Poor’s notes that “Hurricane Katrina, followed closely on its heels by Hurricane Rita, wound up revealing the flaws in many insurance-industry assumptions.” The article,...

Swiss Re Reviews 2005, Takes Look Ahead at Upcoming Industry Year

Dec 14 2005 // Andreas Beerli, CEO of Swiss Re’s Property & Casualty business in the Americas, recently hosted the company’s annual year-end economic and insurance industry review and outlook and led the discussion about...

Crump Makes Additions to P/C Teams in Dallas, Houston

Dec 12 2005 // Crump Insurance Services of Texas Inc. appointed three new members to the Dallas property/casualty brokerage team: Brent Jenkins, Stephanie Murillo and Matt Sheehan. Additionally, Crump Insurance Services of Houston Inc....

West Coast Insurance Wholesaler ECM Appoints Misty Reistad as VP in SF HQ

Dec 12 2005 // San Francisco, California – ECM Insurance Services, Inc., a San Francisco-based management liability and property & casualty insurance wholesaler, today announced the appointment of Misty Reistad as Vice...

Lawson-Hawks Acquires Healthcare Property/Casualty Group

Dec 7 2005 // Lawson-Hawks Insurance Associates Inc., a regional independent insurance broker based in Mountain View, Calif., has announced the acquisition of the El Dorado Hills, Calif.-based Healthcare Property/Casualty Group...

S&P Assigns ‘BBB+’ Rating to ING’s Hong Kong P/C Operation

Dec 5 2005 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has assigned its “BBB+” insurer financial strength and long-term counterparty credit ratings to ING General Insurance Co. Ltd. (ING GIHK) with a...

Willis Acquires Swedish P/C Broker

Dec 5 2005 // Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings announced that it has agreed to purchase 100 percent of the share capital of Nicon Forsakringsmaklarna AB (Nicon), a property and casualty broker in Southern Sweden which...

Ease of Doing Business Survey Sets Benchmark for Carriers to Follow

Dec 5 2005 // Insurer Performance Ranks Well on Average, But Many Could Improve on Key Factors Ease of Doing Business (EDB) has been a bit like the weather–everybody talks about it, but doing something about it is another matter....

Ease of Doing Business Survey Sets Benchmark for Carriers to Follow

Dec 4 2005 // Ease of Doing Business (EDB) has been a bit like the weather-everybody talks about it, but doing something about it is another matter. While you can’t change the weather, you can equip yourself and your organization...

Agency Consolidation Dynamics are Ripe for the Picking

Dec 4 2005 // The consolidation of insurance agencies has played a prominent role within the industry over the last 30 years. Now more than ever, however, such activity increasingly influences the average size of distributors, the scope...

Preston, Kipper Named Deputy Commissioners at LDI

Dec 2 2005 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley announced that Clarissa A. Preston has been named deputy commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Insurance Office of Property and Casualty, and Scott Kipper is now deputy...

Conning Research: Convergence Products Redefine P/C Insurance/Reinsurance

Nov 29 2005 // “Convergence products” will play a critical part in the competitive landscape of the property-casualty industry in coming years despite being a relatively small segment, according to a new study by Conning...

Despite Market Progress, P/C Rating Downgrades Top Upgrades

Nov 23 2005 // The financial strength of the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry remained strong over the past year, maintaining the operating momentum achieved from the prior 12 months, according to a recent A.M. Best report....