Latest Trends Headlines

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

California State Fund Reports Increase in Net Income in 2018

Apr 15 2019 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund reported an increase of net income and written premium in its just-released annual report for 2018. Financial highlights of the 2018 annual report include: Net income of...

Commercial Auto Forecast Improves, But Not Much: A.M. Best

Apr 15 2019 // A.M. Best maintains its negative outlook for the U.S. commercial auto insurance market even though its analysts believe it should improve somewhat in 2019. That forecast stems from commercial auto insurers having taken...

P/C Direct Premium Written Up 4% in 2018

Apr 15 2019 // Direct premium written (DPW) for property/casualty insurance companies continues to increase, albeit gradually. At year-end 2018, nearly $670 billion of DPW was reported, a record high for the industry. For 2018, total DPW...

Young Agents Survey: What Young Agents Want

Apr 15 2019 // Young agents don’t always feel supported by their elder peers. They say training is sometimes lacking for newbies in the agency world. They don’t see enough diversity in leadership. And they continue to say...

Insurance Industry Must Wake Up to Costs of ‘Secondary’ Catastrophe Perils: Swiss Re

Apr 12 2019 // The insurance industry must wake up to the growing cost of “secondary” catastrophe perils, which amounted to more than 60 percent of the $76 billion price tag for insured natural catastrophe losses during 2018,...

California Written Workers’ Comp Premium Down, Quarterly Report for Last Year Shows

Apr 11 2019 // California written premium for 2018 was 4 percent below 2017 and 6 percent below 2016 as recent declining premium rates have more than offset payroll growth, according to a report from the Workers’ Compensation...

North Carolina Survey: Many Coastal Homeowners Have No Plan to Mitigate Storm Damage

Apr 11 2019 // A majority of coastal homeowners have little to no intention of reducing their homes’ structural vulnerabilities, even though they live in areas frequently affected by damaging hurricanes and flooding and their homes...

161 Died in Work Zone Crashes in Texas in 2018 Despite Decrease in Incidents

Apr 10 2019 // In spite of a decrease in work zone crashes in Texas last year, 161 people still lost their lives and another 684 were seriously injured, with the vast majority of those killed — 84 percent — being motorists and/or...

Lloyd’s Cracks Down on Drinking Culture in Market

Apr 10 2019 // Lloyd’s continues to tighten up its workplace rules by restricting people from entering Lloyd’s premises who are drunk or under the influence of drugs. The new rule, which was included in a market bulletin...

Bedbugs Join Dogs, Deer, Birds, Cats in Keeping Insurance Claims Folks Up at Night

Apr 9 2019 // Dogs remain the undisputed champions at generating insurance claims, while deer, birds and cats are contributing their share of mayhem as well. But according to a review of 470,000 insurance claims over five years by...

Florida Legislature Considers Reforms to Non-Admitted Insurance Market

Apr 9 2019 // Two bills seeking to change the way Florida surplus lines business is handled are currently working their way through the Florida State Legislature and advocates say the potential laws could bring much needed efficiency to...

North Carolina Insurance Fraud Round-Up: March

Apr 9 2019 // The North Carolina Department of Insurance announced multiple fraud enforcement actions during the month of March 2019. Insurance fraud costs American consumers approximately $80 billion dollars a year. According to North...

Here’s the ‘Unlucky 13’ Forecast for the 2019 Hurricane Season

Apr 5 2019 // There’s a lot of reasons people think 13 is an unlucky number. This year may add another. At least 13 storm systems should reach tropical strength and get a name in 2019, with five becoming hurricanes and two...

Why Insurance Claims in Renewable Energy Industry Are Rising

Apr 4 2019 // The frequency and severity of insurance claims in the U.S. renewable energy market have significantly increased over the last five years, meaning insurers and asset owners must reset their benchmark for renewable energy...

Momentum Grows for Electronic Placement of Risks Among London Brokers: LIIBA

Apr 3 2019 // Momentum is building in the London market for wider adoption of electronic placement of risks, said the London and International Insurance Brokers’ Association (LIIBA), which announced that more than 100 of its...

Last Chance: Take the 2019 Young Agents Opinion Survey Today

Apr 1 2019 // Are you a young insurance agent, 40 years old or younger? Do you know a young insurance agent? Insurance Journal is searching for young insurance agents to participate in this year’s Young Insurance Agents Opinion...

North Carolina Personal Auto Rates to Increase by 1.6%

Apr 1 2019 // The North Carolina Rate Bureau has reached a settlement with the North Carolina Department of Insurance to raise personal auto insurance rates by 1.6 percent, according to a statement by NCDOI. The NCRB, which is not a...

Insurers Cautious About Marijuana Insurance Market

Apr 1 2019 // The marijuana industry is an opportunity for insurers as more states have legalized the drug. But there are still risks in play that could limit wider carrier participation, A.M. Best said in a new report, “Cannabis:...

Some Data Indicates Increasing Accident Rates in Marijuana States

Apr 1 2019 // Preliminary research indicates that the legalization of recreational marijuana in 10 states has increased accident rates, the Insurance Information Institute said. The group cited an October 2018 study by the Highway Loss...

Africa Re Joins World Bank’s IFC to Build Crop Insurance Market for Nigeria’s Farmers

Mar 29 2019 // The International Finance Corp. (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, announced it has signed an agreement with Africa Re, the pan-African reinsurance company, to help small holder Nigerian farmers more easily access...