Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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,...
Best Affirms Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance ‘A+ Ratings; Outlook Stable
Dec 31 2010 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “aa” of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited (MSI), as well as the FSR...
Willis Re: Overcapacity Keeps Renewal Rates in Reinsurance Down
Dec 31 2010 // “Overcapitalization in the reinsurance market continues to gradually push rates downwards with price reductions at the January 1, 2011 reinsurance renewals averaging between 5 percent and 10 percent, according to the...
Obesity Increases the Risk of Disabling Workplace Injuries
Dec 31 2010 // Recent research confirms anecdotal data that work-related injuries are far more costly if an injured worker is obese. In fact, a claim with an obese diagnosis can be 30 times to 60 times more expensive than a comparable...
Idaho Workers’ Comp Insurance Rates To Increase 3.7%
Dec 31 2010 // Idaho workers’ compensation insurance rates will be increasing an average of 3.7 percent in 2011, according to the state Department of Insurance. The average rate increase is based on National Council on Compensation...
2011 Outlook: Too Much Capacity + Stagnant Demand = a Soft Market
Dec 31 2010 // A quick, and as yet incomplete, survey of re/insurance industry leaders indicates that the main concern they will have to deal with in the coming year isn’t climate change, or Solvency II, but the insurance...
Reinsurance Renewal Rates On the Decline, Reports Claim
Dec 30 2010 // Reinsurance rates for 2011 are falling at the same or greater pace than traditional insurers and further softening of the market is to come, according to two industry reports. For the second year in a row, global...
Report: Questionable Insurance Claims Increased 12%
Dec 30 2010 // The economic crisis might have had a hand in pushing people to commit insurance fraud. However, it isn’t entirely to blame, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Nationwide, there has been a 12 percent...
Fitch Affirms Brazil’s Sul America’s Ratings; Outlook Stable
Dec 29 2010 // Fitch Ratings Has affirmed today the following International and National ratings assigned to Sul America S.A. (Sasa), the holding company of Sul America Seguros (SAS): –Foreign and Local Currency Long-Term Issuer...
Best Affirms USAA and Subs ‘A++’ Ratings; Outlook Stable
Dec 29 2010 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) of ‘A++’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aaa” of Texas-based United Services Automobile Association (USAA) and its...
