Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Kansas Increases Scrutiny of Some Health Insurance Rates
Aug 1 2012 // Kansas insurance regulators are complying with part of the federal health insurance reform law that requires more scrutiny of health insurance rate increases above 10 percent at a time when Gov. Sam Brownback’s...
Rate Reform Must Be Key to Shrinking Citizens
Jul 31 2012 // Albert Einstein once said “a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels.” Or, as it often paraphrased, we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used...
Mercury Reports Net Loss From Increased Severity
Jul 30 2012 // Mercury General Corp. on Monday reported a net loss for the second quarter driven partly by an increase in severity trends, sending the Los Angeles, Calif.-based insurer’s shares down nearly 6 percent. The...
A Decade Later: Is Sarbanes-Oxley Working? – Analysis
Jul 30 2012 // When Peregrine Financial collapsed earlier this month, a nagging question resurfaced. As in the implosion of Lehman Brothers, the fall of Bernard Madoff and other cases in recent years, many asked: Where were the...
Chubb Profit Slightly Down; U.S. Commercial Renewal Rate Hike 9% in Q2
Jul 27 2012 // The Chubb Corp. reported $404 million profit for its second quarter, declining 3.6 percent from $419 million reported a year earlier. The results were hampered by weaker investment results and significant catastrophe...
Futures Industry Head Seeks Study of Insurance Fund
Jul 27 2012 // The chairman of a futures industry trade group said on Thursday that serious consideration should be given to the creation of an insurance fund to protect futures customers, after two major scandals shook confidence in the...
Best Affirms Lloyd’s UK, China ‘A’ Ratings; Outlook Stable
Jul 26 2012 // 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 Lloyd’s and Lloyd’s Insurance...
Report: Calif. Head and Spine Injuries Cost $500M in 10 years
Jul 25 2012 // Head and spinal injuries cost California’s workers’ compensation insurers more than $500 million over 10 years, according to the California Workers’ Compensation Institute’s “Injury Score...
Mining Deaths Down in First Half of 2012
Jul 23 2012 // Nineteen mining deaths occurred during the first six months of the year, the second-lowest midyear toll ever recorded, federal regulators said. Fourteen miners died during the same period last year. The Mine Safety and...
First Quarter Premium Up 4% for P/C Companies
Jul 23 2012 // Homeowners, Private Passenger Auto and Workers’ Compensation Lines Impact Premium Growth Through the first quarter 2012, total direct premium written (DPW) for all property/casualty insurers is up 4 percent compared...
Some Reinsurance Increases But No Hard Market
Jul 23 2012 // Rate increases in the North American and international reinsurance markets are due to modest losses and poor results – not a hardening market, according to a report from Willis Re. The mid-year renewals report,...
Health Survey Gives Oregon Workers Weight Option
Jul 20 2012 // A weight-related question will remain on a wellness questionnaire for Oregon state workers, but employees next year will be given an alternative to sharing their waist size. This year’s version of the Health...
Taranto to Step Down as Everest Re CEO in 2013; Addesso Is Successor
Jul 20 2012 // The Bermuda-based Everest Re Group, Ltd. announced that Joseph V. Taranto has agreed to continue in his role as CEO of the Company through 2013, at which point he will retire from the position. Effective January 1, 2014,...
Best Affirms Polish Re’s Ratings; Outlook Stable
Jul 20 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” of Polskie Towarzystwo Reaskuracji S.A. (Polish Re) ,...
Long Term Care Liability Loss Rate Expected to Grow: Aon
Jul 18 2012 // Long term care liability loss rates and claim severity have reached an eight-year high and are expected to grow steadily in 2013 against a backdrop of health care provider budget constraints and uncertainty about health...
RSA Updates Earnings Forecast after UK Weather, Italian Quake Losses
Jul 18 2012 // UK-based RSA has issued a bulletin following “the wettest June on record in the UK.” RSA said it expects a “net loss across the Group’s UK Household, Motor and Commercial Property portfolios from...
Geneva Association Survey Targets ‘Inappropriate Regulation,’ Economic Crisis
Jul 18 2012 // A bulletin from the insurance think tank The Geneva Association notes that “leaders of the insurance industry have significant concerns about the effects of inappropriate regulation and the effects of the current...
Finaccord Survey Finds Growth in EU Commercial Non-life Brokerage Receipts
Jul 17 2012 // Newly released data from Finaccord, a London-based market research consultancy specializing in financial services, reveals that the market for commercial non-life insurance broking reached a value of €9.89 billion...
IMF Cuts Global Growth Forecast as Emerging Economies Slow
Jul 17 2012 // The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast for global economic growth and warned that the outlook could dim further if policymakers in the euro zone do not act with enough force and speed to quell their...
A Year Later: Growth and Outlook of LexisNexis Insurance Exchange
Jul 16 2012 // The LexisNexis Insurance Exchange — an online single-entry submission system that streamlines the flow of application data among agents, brokers and carriers — celebrated its first anniversary last month. The Exchange,...
