Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
El Niño Expected to Become One of Strongest on Record: UN’s Weather Agency
Nov 17 2015 // The El Niño weather pattern, a phenomenon associated with extreme droughts, storms and floods, is expected to strengthen before the end of the year and become one of the strongest on record, the U.N. weather agency said...
P/C Direct Premium Written Up Nearly 4.7 Percent
Nov 16 2015 // Direct premium written (DPW) for property/casualty insurance companies continues to increase, albeit gradually. At year-end 2014, more than $570 billion of DPW was reported, a record high for the industry. For 2014, total...
The Rebound Continues as Contractors & Builders Expect to Grow Again in 2016
Nov 16 2015 // The Rebound Continues as Contractors & Builders Expect to Grow Again in 2016 Builders and contractors can expect another year of steady growth in 2016 and so can the insurance specialists that serve this rebounding...
Michigan’s Consumers Mutual to Exit Health Insurance Market
Nov 16 2015 // Consumers Mutual Co-Op, in consultation with the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS), has decided to enter into a run off of its health insurance business, the DIFS announced. Consumers Mutual...
Survey: Insurers Spent $1.52B with Diverse California Suppliers Last Year
Nov 16 2015 // Diverse California businesses supplied $1.52 billion in goods and services to insurance companies last year, according to a survey by the California Department of Insurance. The 2014 tally was a $587 million increase since...
Florida Issues Final Order for NCCI to Decrease Workers’ Comp Rates by 4.7%
Nov 13 2015 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved an overall decrease of 4.7 percent in workers’ compensation insurance rates in Florida. Following the disapproval of its original rate filing request, the...
U.S. Health Care Cost Increases at Lowest Rate in Nearly 20 years: Aon
Nov 12 2015 // After plan design changes and vendor negotiations, the average health care rate increase for mid-size and large companies was 3.2 percent in 2015, marking the lowest rate increase since 1996, according to a new analysis by...
New Storm Forecast Center Pairs UConn, Electric Utility Company
Nov 10 2015 // Two days before Superstorm Sandy struck Connecticut in 2012, UConn scientists fed measurements from the storm and historical data from others into a computer model they developed and forecast where the most damage and...
RMS: Cat Bond Analysis Reveals Market Predictions of Price Bottom Are Optimistic
Nov 10 2015 // Return relative to risk values for catastrophe bonds at current prices are actually higher in 2015 than they were last year, even though recent market commentary suggests that market prices have stabilized, according to...
Global Temperature Rise on Track to Hit Half-Way Point of ‘Tolerable Threshold’
Nov 10 2015 // The world is on track to reach 1 degree Celsius of global warming this year since the industrial revolution, the half-way point toward the maximum tolerable threshold identified by scientists. That’s the conclusion...
A Conversation on Innovation and the Industry’s Future with ACORD’s Hartnett
Nov 9 2015 // There are not many insurance executives who will quote inventor Thomas Edison, Microsoft’s Steve Baumer, futurist Alvin Toffler, Moore’s Law and philosophers Aristotle and Plato. There are also not many people...
N.H. Insurance Department Hearing Examines Health Care Costs Trends
Nov 9 2015 // Health insurance premiums in New Hampshire increased relatively little for small and large businesses in 2014, while rates in the individual market went up significantly more, according to state-hired consultants. New...
Gender Gap in Risk Manager Compensation Closing: Survey
Nov 9 2015 // Male risk managers in higher education are paid more on average than their female counterparts but the gap is closing as women gain experience in the field, according to a survey on risk manager compensation. Male risk...
Surge in Auto Break-Ins Bumping up Crime Rate in Mississippi City
Nov 6 2015 // Hundreds of vehicle break-ins are a big part of the reason that major crimes are up in Hattiesburg. There were 376 vehicle break-ins during the first nine months of this year, compared to 114 a year ago, The Hattiesburg...
Michigan’s Consumers Mutual to Exit Health Insurance Market
Nov 6 2015 // Consumers Mutual Co-Op, in consultation with the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS), has decided to enter into a run off of its health insurance business, the DIFS announced. Consumers Mutual...
Connecticut Approves Workers’ Comp Loss Cost Decrease of 3.9%
Nov 6 2015 // Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade said Connecticut employers can expect to pay less next year for their workers’ compensation insurance as a result of the Insurance Department’s approval this...
Credit Markets Oppose Splitting Up AIG
Nov 6 2015 // American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock has a bit of ammo as he meets Thursday with activist shareholder Carl Icahn: The credit market has been on the insurer’s side. The cost to...
Survey: Insurers Spent $1.52B with Diverse California Suppliers Last Year
Nov 4 2015 // Diverse California businesses supplied $1.52 billion in goods and services to insurance companies last year, according to a survey by the California Department of Insurance. The 2014 tally was a $587 million increase since...
Allstate Profit Down in Q3 as Auto Claims Rise
Nov 4 2015 // Allstate Corp., the largest publicly traded U.S. car and home insurer, said third-quarter profit slipped 17 percent as claims rose and policy growth slowed in the automobile insurance business. Net income decreased to $650...
National General Insurance Announces Launch of NatGen Premier – A Comprehensive Personal Lines Solution for Mass and Emerging Affluent Customers
Nov 4 2015 // New York, NY, November 4, 2015 – National General Insurance today announced the launch of NatGen Premier, a new package program designed for affluent customers. The NatGen Premier homeowners and umbrella products are now...
