Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Rhode Island Senator Reed Reaps Campaign Cash from Insurance Sector
Oct 14 2008 // Nearly a quarter of all contributions to Sen. Jack Reed’s re-election campaign have been coming from donors in the banking, securities, real estate and insurance sectors. According to independent watchdog groups, the...
Colorado Orders 16% Decrease in Workers Comp Loss Costs
Oct 13 2008 // Colorado employers may be paying lower premiums for workers compensation insurance in 2009, due to the announcement that a significant component of workers’ compensation premiums, known as loss costs, will drop 16...
Florida Heeds Survey: Rising Energy Costs Could Increase Home Fires
Oct 10 2008 // Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Alex Sink is joining the American Red Cross and the National Fire Protection Association in warning Floridians about the risks of using alternative and unconventional...
Insurers See Lower 3Q Income, S&P Revises Life Insurer Outlook
Oct 10 2008 // U.S. life insurers Lincoln National Corp. and ACE Ltd reassured investors that they have enough capital, but credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook for the industry on Friday. The Progressive...
Aegon, Aviva Bolster Risk Hedges, EU Insurers’ Shares Rise
Oct 9 2008 // European insurance shares rose sharply on Thursday, as Dutch insurer Aegon announced steps to boost capital and reduce risk, while British peer Aviva Plc bolstered its hedges against slumping stock markets. Aegon, which...
Washington Proposes 3% Increase in Workers’ Comp Rates
Oct 6 2008 // Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has proposed a 3 percent increase in 2009 workers’ compensation rates. Average premiums would go up by under 2 cents per hour worked. “We are...
HDR Insurance Offers Insurance Market for Plumbing Contractors
Oct 2 2008 // HDR Insurance Services has a new market for commercial, residential and commercial service and repair plumbers in Arizona, California and Nevada. The admitted policy includes coverage for commercial auto, general liablity,...
Blues’ Study: Health Insurance Purchasing Groups Drive Up Costs
Oct 2 2008 // A new actuarial analysis finds health insurance purchasing arrangements – also called connectors, exchanges, and health insurance purchasing cooperatives – lead to higher health insurance premiums and fail to...
Greenberg Seeks Chance to Bid on AIG Assets Put Up for Sale
Oct 1 2008 // Maurice Greenberg, former chief executive of American International Group, has asked the company’s current chief executive, Edward Liddy, for the chance to bid on AIG assets as the company seeks to repay an emergency...
Real Estate Lawyers Face Rising Malpractice Claims
Oct 1 2008 // Legal malpractice claims related to real estate are up approximately four percentage points according to the just-released American Bar Association study of legal malpractice claims for 2004-2007 compared to the previous...
Okla. Traffic Fatalities Down From 2007
Sep 29 2008 // The number of people killed in traffic accidents in Oklahoma continues to fall below the numbers in 2007. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says 500 people have died on the state’s roadways in 2008 compared to 544 at this...
Study Shows Increase in Treatments per Workers’ Comp Claims
Sep 26 2008 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance, headquartered in Florida, posted a new research study regarding a continuing increase in treatments per workers compensation claims. NCCI says in recent years, workers’...
Aon Study Concludes Airline Insurance Market ‘Hardening’
Sep 25 2008 // A bulletin from Aon’s London office concludes that the airline insurance market “is hardening for the first time in five years, with a five percent increase in lead hull and liability premium between January...
Too Early to Tell if Kentucky Windstorm will Increase Insurance Rates
Sep 24 2008 // The Kentucky Office of Insurance says it’s too early to tell if the severe winds caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike will result in insurance rate hikes. The Courier-Journal reported insurers have received tens...
Marsh Notes Increase in UK Class Actions Spurs Coverage Demands
Sep 23 2008 // A combination of “class action contagion from the US and growing economic uncertainly have spurred an unprecedented surge in the demand for management liability insurance among the UK’s top firms,”...
Kentucky’s ‘Worst Storm on Record’ Prompts Disaster Declaration Request
Sep 23 2008 // Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear requested a presidential disaster declaration to help recover costs for public damages suffered in some 70 counties and cities across the commonwealth. As of Sept. 19, Beshear said 29 counties...
Conning: D&O Market Finds Way to Grow Even In Overall Soft Market
Sep 22 2008 // Over the past decade, the directors and officers liability market has grown faster than the broader property/casualty market, at nearly double the rate of the commercial lines average. Premium growth has come from pricing,...
Fitch: P/C Profits Decline Sharply in First-Half 2008
Sep 22 2008 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry reported mixed results in the first six months of 2008. Profitability declined due to poor investment performance and deteriorating accident-year underwriting results, which...
Illinois Mayor Charged with Insurance Fraud Steps Down
Sep 22 2008 // Niles, Ill.’s long-time mayor, Nicholas Blase, is stepping down after 47 years. In a statement on the village Web site, Blase, 80, said his retirement was effective Sept. 1. The Village Board is expected to appoint...
Washington Proposes 3% Increase in Workers’ Comp Rates
Sep 19 2008 // Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has proposed a 3 percent increase in 2009 workers’ compensation rates. Average premiums would go up by just under 2 cents per hour worked. “We...
