Latest Trends Headlines

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

Number of Indiana Deer-Vehicle Collisions Down in 2016

Apr 20 2017 // The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says the number of deer struck by motor vehicles in the state fell last year. The number of deer harvested in 2016 fell as well. The agency says deer-vehicle collisions across...

Slow Computers & Internet, Outdated Systems Demoralize EU Workers: Survey

Apr 20 2017 // It was the third hour of doing nothing that broke James Scott. The 25-year-old researcher was sitting at his desk at an insurance firm in northern England when the internet went down. And with it went access to all of his...

Future Tech to Create Lower Claims Frequency, New Threats: Allianz Report

Apr 20 2017 // Technology is expected to be a major driver of liability claims in the years ahead – cutting frequency and increasing new threats such as cyber, product liability and recall risk, according a report published by Allianz...

Insurers Increasingly Embrace Robots over Humans for Customer Service

Apr 19 2017 // Frustrated with automated answering machines before you finally get to speak with a customer service representative? When it comes to insurance, you’ll just as likely end up dealing with a robot as a human within...

Swiss Re Gears Up to Launch Subsidiary in Singapore in 2018

Apr 18 2017 // Swiss Re plans to launch in 2018 a subsidiary in Singapore, which will become the company’s regional headquarters for its reinsurance operations in Asia. The company, Swiss Re Asia, will be wholly owned by its...

Report Shows California Workers’ Comp Written Premium up in 2016

Apr 17 2017 // California’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has completed its report on statewide workers’ comp insurer loss and premium experience through Dec. 31, 2016. The major findings of the WCIRB...

Insurance Rates for Architects, Engineers Stabilize or Decline in 2016: Survey

Apr 17 2017 // Although a slim majority of insurance companies providing architects and engineers professional liability insurance saw their rates stabilize in 2016, nearly one in three experienced modest rate decreases, according to a...

Top 25: P/C Direct Premium Written Up 4 Percent in 2016

Apr 17 2017 // Direct premium written (DPW) for property/casualty insurance companies continues to increase, albeit gradually. At year-end 2015, more than $582 billion of DPW was reported. For 2016, total DPW for all P/C insurers...

Downward Trend in Workers’ Comp Claims Continues in Minnesota

Apr 17 2017 // The number of paid workers’ compensation claims fell 53 percent relative to the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) employees from 1997 to 2015, according to the Department of Labor and Industry’s 2015...

West Virginia Overdose Deaths Up 15% in 2016

Apr 17 2017 // The number of reported overdose deaths that occurred last year in West Virginia has continued to rise. Citing data released March 22, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that at least 844 people died in the state of drug...

California State Fund 2016 Report Shows 128K Policies Written

Apr 17 2017 // The California State Compensation Insurance Fund’s 2016 annual report shows a net income of $192 million in 2016. Other important highlights from the newly released report include: 128,000 policies written in...

Report: Traffic Deaths in L.A. Jumped Sharply in 2016

Apr 17 2017 // A report finds traffic deaths in Los Angeles jumped sharply despite a high-profile campaign by city leaders to eliminate fatal crashes. The Los Angeles Times reported that 260 people were killed in traffic crashes on city...

Smart Choice Has Record Start in 2017, Forecasts Continued Growth

Apr 13 2017 // Smart Choice added more than 100 new agency partners and more than 20 percent growth in gross commission in the first month of the year, its fastest start to a year ever, the company said in a statement. Smart Choice is...

California Farmers Get First Full Water Supply in More than a Decade

Apr 12 2017 // Farmers in a vast region of California will receive their fully contracted amount of irrigation water this year for the first time in more than a decade. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced the allocation this week...

Insurance Costs for Windstorm Egon Rise to €234M ($243M): PERILS

Apr 12 2017 // The revised estimate of property insurance losses for Windstorm Egon, which hit France and Germany on Jan. 12-13, 2017, is €234 million ($243 million), according to PERILS AG, the independent Zurich-based company that...

UK Car Premiums Rise by 16% to $949 with More Pain Ahead: Willis Towers Watson, Confused.com

Apr 11 2017 // U.K. car insurance premiums rose 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2017, with motorists now paying an average of £781 ($949), which is £110 ($134), or 16 percent, higher than average premiums paid in the same period...

River in Idaho Rising Along With Flood Insurance Policy Sales

Apr 10 2017 // Federal officials say the Boise River in Idaho that’s already past flood stage will be raised again as flood insurance sales spike in the region. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...

Insurance Rates for Architects, Engineers Stabilize or Decline in 2016: Survey

Apr 7 2017 // Although a slim majority of insurance companies providing architects and engineers professional liability insurance saw their rates stabilize in 2016, nearly one in three experienced modest decreases in rates. That’s...

Report: Workers’ Comp Claims, Costs Continue Downward Trend in Minnesota

Apr 6 2017 // The number of paid workers’ compensation claims fell 53 percent relative to the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) employees from 1997 to 2015, according to the Department of Labor and Industry’s 2015...

IVANS Index: Commercial Rates Up in Q1 Except Workers’ Compensation

Apr 6 2017 // Insurance premium renewal rate change for the majority of standard commercial lines products including auto, business owners, general liability, property and umbrella remained in positive territory for the first quarter....