Latest Trends Headlines

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

Zurich Insurance ‘On Track’ to Cut $1.5B in Costs by 2019: News Report

Oct 9 2017 // Zurich Insurance will have cut costs by $700 million by the end of the year, nearly halfway to its goal to save $1.5 billion by 2019, Chief Executive Mario Greco said in an interview published on...

A.M. Best Revises Outlook to Positive for Insurance Company of the West

Oct 6 2017 // A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a-” of Insurance Company of the West and its...

Head of Texas’ Harvey Recovery Effort Says Agents Need to ‘Step Up’ on Damage Claims

Oct 6 2017 // The insurance industry in Texas is not happy with the state’s so-called Hurricane Harvey recovery czar. Texas A&M University Chancellor John Sharp, who was named by Gov. Greg Abbott to lead the Commission to...

Q3 2017 Likely to Be One of Costliest for Natural Disasters: Aon Report

Oct 6 2017 // The third quarter of 2017 is likely to break a new record as one of the costliest quarters for natural catastrophes, according to Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team. “The...

Future Reports to Include Both Private, Public Flood Insurance Loss Estimates

Oct 6 2017 // Beginning with Hurricane Harvey, the private sector Property Claim Services will publish aggregate flood loss information supplied by the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Historically,...

Workers’ Comp Costs and Benefits Decline as a Share of Payroll: Study

Oct 4 2017 // Workers’ compensation employer costs as a share of payroll declined in 2015, reversing a four-year trend, and benefits as a share of payroll fell for the fourth straight year, according to a new report from the...

More Economic Growth Ahead for Midwest: Survey

Oct 4 2017 // A monthly survey of business leaders released on Oct. 2 suggests that economic conditions are still improving for nine states in the Midwest or Plains. The Mid-America Business Conditions Index rose to 58.2 in September,...

Florida’s Tower Hill Prime Gets Revised Outlooks to Negative From A.M. Best

Oct 4 2017 // A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and Long Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” of Tower Hill Prime Insurance Co.,...

Driver Concerns Over the Future of Autonomous Vehicles: AIG Study

Oct 3 2017 // Safety of the vehicles, including the risk of hacking, are key concerns when it comes to autonomous vehicles, according to a study by American International Group, Inc. on the whether or not Americans accept or reject...

Idaho Workers’ Comp Rates to Decrease for 2018

Oct 2 2017 // The Idaho Department of Insurance has received a proposal from the National Council on Compensation Insurance for an overall rate drop of 5.8 percent percent to workers’ compensation insurance. The decrease is to...

Supreme Court to Decide Future of Workers’ Class Action Suits Against Employers

Oct 2 2017 // The U.S. Supreme Court kicks off its new nine-month term on Monday with a major employment case that could deprive workers of the ability to join together to file lawsuits when taking on companies over a wide range of...

U.S. Regulator Lifts Systemic Risk Tag on Slimmed-Down AIG

Oct 2 2017 // American International Group Inc. is no longer too big to fail. That was the ruling Friday from the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which said AIG, whose collapse in 2008 reverberated throughout the U.S. economy,...

Florida Hurricane Irma Losses Keep Rising

Oct 2 2017 // With two Florida landfalls in the same day, Hurricane Irma’s destructive wind and flood damage could cost up to $65 billion for both insured and uninsured losses, according to a recent estimate by...

A.M. Best Revises Outlook to Negative for Pennsylvania’s Eastern Atlantic Insurance

Oct 2 2017 // A.M. Best has revised its outlook to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” for Harrisburg, Pa.-based Eastern Atlantic...

New Hampshire Workers’ Comp Rates May Decrease for Sixth Year in a Row

Oct 2 2017 // New Hampshire employers could pay less for their workers’ comp insurance next year because of a filing that lowers rates and loss cost factors insurers use to develop prices. This move would mark the sixth year in a...

Rising Cost of Employee Benefits

Oct 2 2017 // It’s no secret that health insurance costs more and employers are planning for that trend to continue. Employers expect that their average cost per-employee for health benefits will rise by 4.3 percent in 2018, which...

Workers’ Comp Premiums Up 1.0% in First Half of 2017

Oct 2 2017 // Workers’ compensation insurers reported a modest increase in direct written premiums — a 1.0 percent increase — during the first six months of 2017 versus the same period in 2016. Workers’...

Despite Rise in Catastrophe Losses, Home Insurance Loss Costs Declined in Recent Years

Sep 28 2017 // In 2016, Colorado and Texas homeowners suffered the greatest percentage of catastrophic losses due to extreme weather and other perils, according to a study of home insurance trends. The six-year LexisNexis Risk Solutions...

Fire in Utah City Isn’t Expected to Drive up Insurance Rates

Sep 26 2017 // Insurance rates aren’t expected to go up in Ogden neighborhood where a wildfire destroyed three homes and caused the evacuations of hundreds. But authorities are warning the residents to be on high alert for...

S&P Assigns Odyssey Re Europe with ‘A-‘ Rating, Stable Outlook

Sep 25 2017 // S&P Global Ratings has assigned its ‘A-‘ long-term financial strength rating to Odyssey Re Europe S.A. (ORESA), with a stable outlook. The rating on ORESA is based on an explicit guarantee provided by...