Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Wisconsin Workers’ Comp Medical Costs Per Claim Increasing
Jan 31 2011 // The increased cost and more frequent use of medical care provided to injured workers in Wisconsin drove up the average medical payments per workers’ compensation claim in recent years, according to a new study by the...
Marsh Sees Soft Commercial Insurance Market Continuing
Jan 31 2011 // Another report indicates that soft commercial insurance market conditions that persisted throughout the U.S. in 2010 will continue into 2011. Key commercial insurance market drivers from 2009—including intense...
Investors Face Rising Risks However Egypt Plays Out
Jan 31 2011 // If President Hosni Mubarak clings to power, investors will re-price Egyptian and regional assets to brace for weeks, months or possibly years of heightened political risk. If he goes, global markets could still react with...
Oklahoma Senator Seeking Transparency in Health Insurance Rate Increases
Jan 28 2011 // Oklahoma State Sen. Earl Garrison wants insurance companies to be accountable to citizens and justify any rate increases. He has introduced Senate Bill 354, which would ensure that premium rate information relating to the...
Catlin Readies Launch of 3rd Arctic Survey; Focused on World’s Ocean Currents
Jan 26 2011 // Bermuda-based, London headquartered insurer Catlin announced the launch of its third Arctic Survey, which it said “will focus on evolving conditions in the Arctic Ocean that could cause changes in ocean currents that...
Best Revises Outlook on Italy’s Cattolica; Affirms Ratings
Jan 26 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has revised the outlook to stable from negative and affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a” of...
Zurich Study Focuses on Insurance, Technology for Emerging Consumers
Jan 25 2011 // “The technology landscape in developing countries is changing rapidly – sometimes outpacing industrialized markets,” according to a new study from Zurich Financial Services. “These changes are driving...
Medical Costs Drive Up Calif. Municipalities’ Workers’ Comp
Jan 20 2011 // Despite a decline in the number of job injury claims reported by California public self-insured employers last year, rising claim severity drove up total workers’ compensation costs for cities, counties and other...
RSA Posts 2010 Weather Impact Update; 2011 Outlook
Jan 20 2011 // The UK’s RSA announced that the “impact of the adverse weather in November and December 2010 to be around £142 million [$229 million] more than normal levels and for the full year to be around £255 million...
Workplace Deaths Rise in North Carolina; Overall Injury Rate Drops
Jan 19 2011 // There were 48 fatal workplace accidents in North Carolina in 2010, a tally that is up from 34 in the previous year but below the five-year average of 53.2. At the same time, the state’s overall injury and illness...
Aon’s New Political Risk Map Shows Rising Levels, Despite Financial Recovery
Jan 19 2011 // According to Aon’s 18th annual Political Risk Map , while the “world economy is broadly on the road to recovery, the level of political risk has risen in more countries than it has declined.” Aon’s...
Study Says Climate Change Link in Hurricane Losses Decades Away
Jan 13 2011 // Tropical cyclones are expected to cause more damage in the United States and Asia but it could be more than a century before insurers can point to climate change as a factor in losses from storms, scientists say. In a...
Study: U.S. Tort Costs Decline in 2009
Jan 12 2011 // A decline in both real and nominal GDP, a rising unemployment rate and decreasing tort activity as a result of a lower level of economic activity helped drive tort costs down by 2.7 percent, or $6.8 billion, in the United...
Producer Training and Future Success
Jan 10 2011 // Focused producer development and training are absolutely essential to long-term selling success. “Smiling, dialing and quoting” doesn’t build long-term client relationships. Long-term relationships are...
Insurance Industry Outlook Improving Slightly
Jan 10 2011 // The insurance industry is recovering from the economic crisis, but profits are nowhere near where they were prior to the crisis, and it will take California longer than other states to rebound, according to an industry...
Florida Home Insurance Rates Rising
Jan 10 2011 // Florida regulators have approved $718 million in rate increases that will affect 4 million policyholders — even though there have been no hurricanes for five years. The insurance industry says the increases are needed...
Firms At Risk As Fight Against Corrupt Practices Heats Up
Jan 10 2011 // The U.S. and U.K. Crack Down on Bribes While in Russia and China Giving Gifts Remains Common Practice Authorities have been escalating their campaign against corruption in the last few years, resulting in a sharp spike in...
Canadian Climate Study Forecasts ‘Global Warming for Centuries’
Jan 10 2011 // Carbon dioxide already emitted into the atmosphere will keep contributing to global warming for centuries, eventually causing a huge Antarctic ice sheet to collapse and lift sea levels, Canadian scientists said...
Calif. Commissioner Asks Blue Shield to Delay Rate Increases
Jan 7 2011 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has called on Blue Shield of California to delay its implementation of a new round of substantial individual health insurance premium increases that would impact tens of...
Iowa to Allow Broad Public Access to Wellmark Rate Increase Hearing
Jan 4 2011 // Iowa’s Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss announced that she has made arrangements for unprecedented access to a Jan. 6, 2011, hearing that will be held at the Iowa Insurance Division, 330 Maple Street, Des Moines,...
