Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Study: Number of Customers Shopping for New Insurance Providers Declines
Jun 24 2009 // Good news for insurers and their agents. Fewer insurance customers are shopping for another insurance provider — 28 percent, compared with 36 percent in 2008. Across the industry, 90 percent of auto insurance...
A.M. Best Lower Outlook for Boston’s Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp.
Jun 19 2009 // A.M. Best has revised the outlook to negative for Boston-based insurer Plymouth Rock Assurance Group. Despite the outlook downgrade, A.M. Best Co. affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit...
House Divided Over Future of Insurance Regulation
Jun 18 2009 // House lawmakers are divided about how to supervise the insurance industry as Congress reviews the Obama administration’s blueprint for a broad overhaul of the nation’s financial rule book. Rep. Paul Kanjorski,...
A.M. Best Downgrades State Farm Florida; Outlook Negative
Jun 18 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to B (Fair) from B+ (Good) and issuer credit rating to “bb” from “bbb-” of State Farm Florida Insurance Co. The rating agency’s...
S&P Affirms Max Cap’s Ratings – Off CreditWatch; Outlook Positive
Jun 17 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘BBB-‘ counterparty credit rating on Max Capital Group Ltd. and removed it from CreditWatch, where it was placed on March 2, 2009.The outlook on...
Red Cross Report Confirms 2008 Rise in Weather-Related Disasters
Jun 17 2009 // A global trend towards increasing weather-related disasters was confirmed in 2008, the second deadliest year in the past decade for natural catastrophes, an annual Red Cross report said Tuesday. The number of people...
Minnesota Workers’ Comp Claims Fall, But Cost Per Claim Rising
Jun 17 2009 // Minnesota’s Department of Labor and Industry has released its annual “Annual Minnesota Workers’ Compensation System Report,” that indicates the number of paid workers’ compensation claims fell...
Obama Administration White Paper Outlines Views on Insurance Sector
Jun 17 2009 // The U.S. Treasury department today issued a white paper entitled, Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation. The following is an excerpt from the report on insurance: Enhance Oversight of the Insurance Sector Our...
Some Alabama Pool Rates to Rise July 1
Jun 15 2009 // Rates for some coastal property owners insured through the residual market insurance organization known as the Alabama Beach Pool are going up July 1. The overall average hike will be 5.5 percent, according to the Alabama...
Marsh Survey Finds Financial European Risk Management Budgets Stagnant
Jun 11 2009 // A survey, conducted by Marsh and the independent research group Ipsos, has concluded that almost all European financial institutions have reviewed their approach to risk since the onset of the global financial crisis,...
Details of Democrats’ Health Care Reform Plan Emerging
Jun 10 2009 // Leading Senate Democrats unveiled Tuesday a plan to reshape U.S. healthcare that calls for sweeping insurance market reforms and prohibits insurers from denying coverage or charging more due to medical history. The measure...
Best Affirms Everest Re’s ‘A+’ Ratings; Stable Outlook
Jun 10 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of the Bermuda-based Everest Re Group, Ltd.’s reinsurance and...
Marsh Warns of ‘Perfect Storm’ in UK Construction PI Insurance Market
Jun 9 2009 // According to Marsh’s London Office, “the UK architectural, engineering and construction sector is facing a ‘perfect storm’ which could leave many firms facing increasing risks at a time when the...
Oregon Tracks Workers’ Comp Payment Trends
Jun 5 2009 // Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services has published a report examining trends in medical costs during 2000-2007. According to the report, for the period studied, total workers’ compensation...
Aon’s 2009 Marine Insurance Outlook
Jun 4 2009 // According to Aon’s 2009 Marine Insurance Outlook, “ship owners are facing challenging negotiations at 2009/10 renewals as marine insurers seek rates increases on all classes of business.” However...
S&P Affirms Hannover Re’s Ratings, But Revises Outlook to Negative
Jun 3 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on German reinsurer Hannover Rueckversicherung AG and its subsidiaries (collectively Hannover Re) to negative from stable. S&P also affirmed the...
Report: Bank Insurance Brokerage Income Falls Slightly in 2008
Jun 3 2009 // Bank holding companies’ (BHC) insurance brokerage income overall experienced a 3.6 percent drop in 2008, the first decline in total BHC brokerage income since 2001, according to a new industry report. “BHCs...
Ohio Workers’ Comp Board OKs Safety Rules, Rate Decrease
Jun 2 2009 // The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors has approved rule changes associated with the safety standards in the Ohio Administrative Code for several industries. Ohio law allows BWC to adopt...
Quality and Protectionism in the Insurance Market
Jun 1 2009 // Why Market Blocking Is Not Best for the Consumer or the Industry The insurance business needs to lose a vestige of the insurance marketplace of the last century. Let’s become more friendly to competition and the free...
Premium Growth: Top 25 Premium Gainers in 2008 Versus 2007
Jun 1 2009 // What is the impetus for growth? Why do some insurers emphasize growth and others do not? In his Sept. 25, 1961, address to the United Nations, President John F. Kennedy described conformity as “the enemy of...
