Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Best Revises XL’s Issuer P&C Credit Rating Outlook to Positive; Affirms Ratings
Oct 30 2013 // A.M. Best Co. has revised the outlook for the issuer credit rating (ICR) to positive from stable as well as affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and ICRs of “a” of the...
Munich Re Stresses Need for Nat Cat Coverage in Emerging Markets
Oct 30 2013 // According to a scientific study conducted by the University of Würzburg on the basis of loss data from Munich Re’s NatCatSERVICE database, “emerging countries are excessively affected by losses from natural...
Rusbuldt on McKinsey 3: Don’t Ignore Trends Favoring Independent Agents
Oct 30 2013 // Bob Rusbuldt, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America – the Big “I”- takes issue with a McKinsey report that claims local independent agents will soon be extinct. In this...
Texas Holds Oct. 30 Hearing on Windstorm Liability Limit Increases
Oct 29 2013 // The Texas Department of Insurance will hold a hearing on Oct. 30 to consider a petition by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association to raise the maximum limits of liability for windstorm and hail insurance policies...
Study Tracks Latest Changes in N.Y. Workers’ Comp System After 2007 Reforms
Oct 28 2013 // The ongoing effects of workers’ compensation reforms enacted in New York in 2007 are monitored by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) in a new study that focuses on objectives that are being achieved,...
Illinois Workers’ Compensation Medical Care Costs Declining: WCRI
Oct 28 2013 // The costs of medical care to treat injured workers in Illinois are declining, the result of regulatory change enacted in 2011, according to a new study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). The report,...
N.Y. Announces Protocol for Insurers to Follow During Future Severe Storms
Oct 28 2013 // New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that his administration has established a new emergency disaster protocol that insurers should expect to follow in the event of future severe storms and other natural...
Rising Cost of Flood Insurance Will Create Challenges for NYC: RAND
Oct 28 2013 // Some New York City residents may soon face sharp increases in their flood insurance premiums as a result of major changes occurring in the National Flood Insurance Program and the redrawing of flood maps that expand the...
Why McKinsey’s Prediction of Demise of Independent Agents Is ‘Dead Wrong’
Oct 28 2013 // A recent report from McKinsey & Co. had some bad news for local property/casualty insurance agents— many of them will be out of business within the next five to 10 years. McKinsey contends that “the economics...
Flood Insurance Price Increases Affecting Home Sales
Oct 24 2013 // Rangel Dockery and her husband bought a waterfront house in Florida four months ago, assuming their $2,000-a-year flood-insurance premium would remain about the same. After reading recently about a change in the federal...
After JPMorgan $13B Deal, Banks Seek Protections in Future Bailouts
Oct 24 2013 // As the U.S. government closes in on a $13 billion settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co. over its mortgage practices, lawyers specializing in bank mergers are looking for ways to protect their clients from big losses in...
Survey: Many Sandy-Impacted Small Biz in N.Y. Unprepared for Another Storm
Oct 24 2013 // A year after Superstorm Sandy, a new survey of small business owners and managers in the metropolitan New York City area found that nearly 30 percent of respondents affected by the storm would be forced to make staffing...
Florida Regulators Disapprove NCCI’s 1% WC Rate Increase Proposal
Oct 23 2013 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty today issued an order notifying the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) that its 1-percent proposed annual rate filing increase in Florida’s workers’...
P/C Insurers’ CFOs Point to Hardening Markets: Towers Watson Survey
Oct 22 2013 // Chief financial officers with leading North American property/casualty insurers believe both property and casualty insurance markets are in the midst of hardening, according to a new North American Property & Casualty...
Europe a Reinsurance Buyer’s Market Says Willis Re; Rates Down 5-10%
Oct 22 2013 // In a report from Baden-Baden, Willis Re, the reinsurance arm of Willis Group Holdings plc, notes that “increased capacity, competition and changing market dynamics have created a buyer’s market for European...
Supreme Court Declines Privacy Claim Against Resale of Driving Records
Oct 22 2013 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider whether a unit of Thomson Reuters Corp. can obtain and sell information on drivers provided by state agencies without violating a federal privacy law. The decision not...
W.R. Berkley Q3 Profit Rises 36% to $137M; Rates on Renewed Policies Up 6.4%
Oct 22 2013 // W.R. Berkley Corp. reported $136.97 million net income for its 2013 third quarter, up 36 percent from $100.95 million income posted during the same period in 2012. For the first nine months of this year, net income came in...
Wyoming Traffic Fatalities Decrease In 2013
Oct 21 2013 // The Wyoming Highway Patrol says traffic fatalities in the state have decreased this year. Sgt. Steve Townsend tells KGWN-TV that 120 people died in traffic accidents in Wyoming last year. There have been only 67 traffic...
Europe 9 Month Nat Cat Losses $23 Billion+; Trending Upwards: Munich Re
Oct 21 2013 // A report from Munich Re estimates that losses due to natural catastrophes totaled €17 billion [$23.24 billion] in Europe in the first nine months of 2013, “dominated by flood losses, which accounted for a share of...
The Future is Now for Usage-Based Auto Insurance
Oct 21 2013 // Technology is spurring innovation and altering risk scenarios throughout the economy including in auto insurance. While advanced auto safety features, the shared economy and driverless cars promise to reshape auto...
