Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
AM Best: Credit Rating Outlook Negative for Atain Insurance Cos.
Jan 15 2019 // AM Best has revised the outlook to negative from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICRs of “a+” of Atain...
2019 Cyber Insurance Predictions: Strong Drivers for Growth Ahead
Jan 15 2019 // Cyber insurance is trending upward, the industry is growing, and the technology around it is evolving at a very quick pace. While predictions are always hard to make, here are five trends that are likely to catapult the...
Uncertainty over Brexit Takes Toll on UK Financial Services Sector: Survey
Jan 14 2019 // Uncertainty over Brexit and the economy have led demand for Britain’s financial services to shrink for the first time in five years, with no immediate sign of an improvement, a survey by business group CBI and PwC...
Traffic Deaths Declined in North Dakota in 2018, DOT Says
Jan 11 2019 // Officials say traffic deaths in North Dakota declined in 2018 to their lowest number in a decade. Preliminary figures released Jan. 9 show that 104 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes in North Dakota in 2018, a...
AXA XL Uses AI to Speed Up Property Engineering Risk Analysis, Underwriting
Jan 10 2019 // AXA XL Risk Consulting announced it is using artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its property risk engineering capabilities. AXA XL Risk Consulting is working with Expert System, an Italian developer of cognitive...
Mississippi Reports 36% Increase in Fire Deaths in 2018
Jan 8 2019 // Mississippi saw a big jump in fire deaths in 2018. The state Fire Marshal’s Office says 79 people died in blazes last year, up from 56 statewide in 2017. State Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Ricky Davis says he’s...
SLTX: Texas’ Excess, Surplus Insurance Premium Grew 11.4% Last Year
Jan 7 2019 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) reported that the state recorded $6.08 billion in excess and surplus insurance premium for 2018, representing an 11.4 percent growth over 2017. Certain coverages have...
Southeast Officials Focus on Curbing Fraud, Rising Auto Rates, Flood Insurance, and Distracted Driving
Jan 7 2019 // For the seventh year in a row, the Florida insurance industry, regulators, and consumer advocates will push for reforms to the state’s assignment of benefits issue that has now become an insurance crisis, according...
First States to Legalize Marijuana See Rise in Car Insurance Claims, Research Shows
Jan 7 2019 // Crashes are up by as much as six percent in Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, compared with neighboring states that haven’t legalized marijuana for recreational use, according to research from the Insurance...
California’s 376 Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2017 Equals Previous Year, Report Shows
Jan 7 2019 // The California Department of Industrial Relations issued a report last month showing that 376 Californians died on the job in 2017, the same as in 2016. California’s workplace fatality rate remains stable with slight...
Future of Agent Distribution
Jan 7 2019 // A funny thing is happening on the way to the future. As consumers’ and carriers’ behaviors, attitudes and expectations have been changing, independent agents are evolving to better serve both customers and...
Missouri Insurance Department Backs 3.5% Workers’ Comp Rate Decrease
Jan 4 2019 // The Missouri Department of Insurance in December recommended a 3.5 percent decrease in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs for 2019. This marks the fifth year in a row that average workers’ compensation...
Deaths on Passenger Jet Aircraft Rise Across Globe in 2018
Jan 2 2019 // The fatality rate on passenger jet aircraft worldwide jumped in 2018 after airlines recorded zero accident deaths on passenger jets in the prior year, according to a Dutch consulting firm and an aviation safety...
California Regulators May Break up PG&E Over Safety Concerns
Dec 27 2018 // California regulators said they are considering splitting up Pacific Gas & Electric Co. or making other drastic changes amid concerns over the utility’s role in recent gas explosions and wildfires. Among the...
Signs Point to Better New Year for Nonstandard Auto Insurance Market
Dec 21 2018 // There are initial signs that the private passenger nonstandard automobile segment is beginning to improve after years of unfavorable results, including continued premium growth in 2017 and through mid-year 2018, according...
Outlooks Revised to Positive for Ohio’s Wayne Mutual Insurance
Dec 19 2018 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” of Wooster, Ohio-based property/casualty...
German Firms Warned About Rising Threat from Chinese Hackers: Report
Dec 19 2018 // Germany’s Office for Information Security (BSI) has issued warnings to several German firms named by the United States as possible victims of hacking attacks, a newspaper reported, adding that Chinese activity...
California’s 376 Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2017 Equals Previous Year, Report Shows
Dec 18 2018 // The California Department of Industrial Relations issued a report on Tuesday showing that 376 Californians died on the job in 2017, the same as in 2016. California’s workplace fatality rate remains stable with slight...
Global Anger Finally Seems to Be Getting China to Open Up Markets: Viewpoint
Dec 18 2018 // Forty years after China began opening itself up to the outside world, the country increasingly seems to be closed for business. A large and growing contingent of the global business community is convinced that China will...
Reuters Special Report: J&J Knew About Asbestos in Baby Powder for Decades
Dec 17 2018 // Darlene Coker knew she was dying. She just wanted to know why. She knew that her cancer, mesothelioma, arose in the delicate membrane surrounding her lungs and other organs. She knew it was as rare as it was deadly, a...
