Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New York Barn Burns Decades after Blaze Hit Same Spot
May 26 2009 // A fire has decimated an upstate New York barn more than 30 years after a blaze destroyed another barn on the same spot and killed two children. Edward Tyler remembers the first time his family’s barn in northern Rome...
ASI Enters South Carolina Homeowners Insurance Market
May 22 2009 // Florida-based American Strategic Insurance Corp. (ASI) has entered the South Carolina marketplace and is offering homeowners’ insurance coverage for coastal property owners through independent agents. “As the...
Coastal Insurance Rates Could Rise if Federal Tax Law is Enacted
May 21 2009 // As it girds for hurricane season, Texas has plenty to worry about. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) – which provides coverage for high risk coastal properties – has ended up at the brink of...
CII Skills Survey Underlines Industry Commitment to Staff Training
May 21 2009 // The UK’s Chartered Insurance Institute’s third annual skills survey, confirmed that “two thirds of people in insurance and financial services believe that the sector should remain committed to maintaining...
Fitch Advises Florida Insurance Market Remains ‘Fragile’
May 20 2009 // Fitch Ratings agency is advising that the Florida property insurance market is “fragile” and remains a “peak risk zone.” The Florida assessment is included in a Fitch report for investors right...
Auto Thefts Down Dramatically in Texas But Car Burglaries Rise
May 20 2009 // Praise the work of auto theft task forces or new car manufacturers or both for the dramatic drop in auto thefts in Texas. Criminals are stealing older vehicles simply because they’re finding it harder to bypass...
Cunningham Lindsey U.S. CEO: Market Conditions Not Slowing Growth
May 20 2009 // With its acquisition in early 2009 of the international business of GAB Robins (excluding its UK operations) and the U.S. forensic engineering firm, EFI Global, Cunningham Lindsey became the second largest property...
Best Affirms Travelers Ratings; Changes Outlook to Positive
May 19 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of Travelers Group, its P/C members and affiliate, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America (TCSA) and TCSA’s...
Better Predictions of Storm Intensity Could Take Decade
May 19 2009 // People living in hurricane danger zones could have a long wait — as much as 10 years — for improved forecasts of rapid intensity changes in a hurricane, the top U.S. hurricane forecaster said recently. In the...
Recession Increasing Insurance Fraud
May 18 2009 // Areas Where Agents Might See an Increase in Fraud Does a bad economy increase crime? Analysts have debated that question for years, according to Mike McKee, senior special agent for the National Insurance Crime Bureau....
2009 Fire Season Outlook Identifies Few Areas of Concern
May 18 2009 // Forecasts Normal to Below Normal Potential Across Most of the West Northern California, where nearly a million acres burned last summer, is poised to possibly be another hotspot for wildfire activity in 2009, according to...
Catlin Sponsored Survey Team Returns Safely after 2½ Month Arctic Trek
May 15 2009 // The Bermuda-based Catlin Group announced from its London offices that the “three explorers conducting the Catlin Arctic Survey returned from the Arctic sea ice late on Wednesday (13 May), marking the end of a...
Spring Storms Tear Up Midwest, Claim 3 Lives in Missouri
May 15 2009 // Citizens in four Midwestern states are cleaning up after violent storms killed three people in northern Missouri, damaged hundreds of homes and left thousands without power. Authorities reported at least two tornadoes...
CSU’s Gray May Reduce Atlantic Storm Outlook
May 14 2009 // Colorado State University hurricane forecaster Bill Gray said Wednesday he may reduce his next Atlantic season forecast because sea temperatures are cooling and a weak El Nino may appear by late summer. “Things are...
Florida Agents, Consumer Advocate Agree: Insurance Rates Must Go Up
May 14 2009 // With the start of the hurricane season just a few weeks away, a leading Florida consumer advocate joined independent agents at a press conference today to warn that property insurance rates need to be raised if insurers...
Specialty Underwriters’ Alliance Reports 20% Premium Growth for Q1
May 11 2009 // Chicago-based Specialty Underwriters’ Alliance Inc. reported that although net income was down in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period a year ago, gross written premiums rose to $29 million compared...
Aon Survey Finds Slowdown in Q2 UK Premium Increases
May 8 2009 // UK companies renewing insurance in the second quarter “could be paying equal or even less premium with just 50 percent of underwriters predicting an increase in property rates,” according to Aon’s Market...
Munich Re Posts $560 Million Q1 Profit; Down 46% from Q1 2008
May 6 2009 // Munich Re announced first quarter 2009 profits of €420 million ($560 million), compared to €777 million ($1.035 billion) in the same period of 2008. However, the Group’s bulletin forecast premium...
Survey: Americans Keeping Cars Longer in Struggling Economy
May 6 2009 // The current economy has many Americans shying away from buying new cars and hanging on to their cars longer than in years past, a new trend that could affect insurance and vehicle safety considerations. A new poll from R....
Crime Warp: Recession Driving a Rise in Vehicle Give-Ups
May 4 2009 // As America’s economy slogs through this once-in-a-generation recession, stressed-out consumers are literally being driven to desperation. Growing numbers of drivers are illegally dumping their vehicles for insurance...
