Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Best Europe Affirms SCOR and Main Subs Ratings; Outlook Stable
Oct 11 2013 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a+” of French reinsurer SCOR SE and its main...
Best Affirms China Re and Subs Ratings; Outlook Stable
Oct 11 2013 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings of “a” of China Reinsurance (Group) Corporation and its subsidiaries, China Property &...
Allstate Sees Increasing Demand in Mass., Plans to Add 130 New Agents
Oct 10 2013 // Allstate Insurance Company announced this week it is planning to appoint more than 130 new insurance agents in Massachusetts by the end of next year. The expansion is in response to what the company described as an...
Progressive: Investment Income Slips; Premiums and Auto Policies Up
Oct 10 2013 // Progressive Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. auto insurer, said profit dropped 16 percent as investment income declined for a 12th straight quarter. Third-quarter net income decreased to $232.4 million, or 39 cents a share,...
N.J. Group Urges Gov’t to Establish Extreme Weather Superfund for Future Disasters
Oct 9 2013 // A New Jersey-based nonprofit group is calling on the federal government to establish a permanent funding source to prepare for future natural catastrophes. The group, called US Strong, says in its new report that an...
Forecast for 2014 Commercial P/C Pricing: Willis
Oct 9 2013 // Commercial property insurance buyers could see prices fall from 10 to 20 percent on non-catastrophe risks in 2014 thanks to the influx of alternative capital to the insurance industry, insurance and reinsurance broker...
Georgia Auto Parts Plant Cited 18 Times by OSHA Since 2009: Report
Oct 9 2013 // Representatives of a car parts manufacturing company say they’ve remedied several issues and have increased training after receiving the most federal safety violations in Georgia. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution...
Commercial Rates Up 5% in September: MarketScout
Oct 7 2013 // U.S. businesses buying property/casualty insurance in September saw a five percent rate increase on average, according to the latest index from MarketScout. MarketScout said the composite rate for was up from plus 4...
Keeping Up With New Restaurant Trends
Oct 7 2013 // As the economy rebounds from the Great Recession, the restaurant industry also is enjoying a gradual recovery, according to industry observers. Many restaurants – especially smaller, single-unit operations – continue...
Rising Flood Insurance Rates Frustrate Homeowners
Oct 7 2013 // As homeowners in the Northeast continue to rebuild nearly one year after Superstorm Sandy, they are now bracing for another obstacle: higher National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) premiums. In accordance with the...
Oklahoma Expects Double Digit Decrease in Workers’ Comp Loss Costs
Oct 7 2013 // Oklahoma businesses can expect an overall workers’ compensation loss cost decrease of 14.6 percent, effective Jan. 1. The National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. (NCCI) has credited most of the decrease to...
Workers’ Comp Costs Could Rise for Missouri Businesses
Oct 7 2013 // Missouri businesses could face significantly higher costs for workers’ compensation insurance next year, due partly to a new law that seeks to shore up a financially troubled state fund for disabled...
Flood Insurance Premiums Rising Along New Jersey Coast
Sep 30 2013 // Hundreds of New Jersey flood insurance policyholders will soon be facing higher premiums spurred by sweeping changes to the federal law that will take effect Tuesday. The increases stem from legislation passed in June 2012...
Workers’ Comp Costs Could Rise for Missouri Businesses
Sep 27 2013 // Missouri businesses could face significantly higher costs for workers’ compensation insurance next year, due partly to a new law that seeks to shore up a financially troubled state fund for disabled...
Xchanging Launches New wifi service for London Insurance Market
Sep 26 2013 // Xchanging, the business process, procurement and technology services provider, has launched a free wifi service for the London Underwriting Center (LUC), home to many insurance businesses. The service will support the...
Work-Related Fatalities Decline in Louisiana in 2012
Sep 24 2013 // The number of work-related fatalities in 2012 in Louisiana declined to 106, according to a preliminary count by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. This is down slightly from the...
N.J. Group to Rally Against Rising National Flood Insurance Premiums
Sep 23 2013 // Toms River, N..J., homeowner George Kasimos wants to make sure that lawmakers in Washington, D.C., hear the growing concerns of his shore community and other communities across the country. Kasimos started a grassroots...
Crowdsourcing and the New Risks of Emerging Technology
Sep 23 2013 // At its peak in 1996 Kodak – then the world’s largest camera maker and photo film supplier – had revenues in excess of $16 billion and employed more than 145,000 people. But after 130 years in business, the...
Insurance Prices Continued Up in Q2: Towers Watson
Sep 23 2013 // Commercial insurance prices rose by 6 percent in aggregate during the second quarter of 2013, marking the 10th consecutive quarter of price increases, according to the latest Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey...
A Forecast-Busting Atlantic Hurricane Season
Sep 23 2013 // The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, which forecasters had predicted would be more active than normal, has turned out to be something of a dud so far as an unusual calm has been hanging over the tropics. As the season...
