Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
S&P Raises SCOR’s Outlook to Positive
Sep 4 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on French reinsurer SCOR SE and its guaranteed subsidiaries (collectively SCOR or the group), to positive from stable. SCOR regained an ‘A-‘...
Fitch: Global Reinsurance Ratings Outlook Remains Stable
Sep 3 2008 // An analysis of the global reinsurance sector from Fitch Ratings London office concludes that the outlook “”remains stable.” Fitch said it “believes that individual companies’ operating...
Report: Claims Associated with Violence in the Workplace on Decline
Sep 3 2008 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance released its fourth analysis in a series of reports on workplace violence. The report provides updated data based on the latest available information from the U.S. Bureau of...
Gustav Impact Limited But Losses from Moderate Catastrophes Add Up
Sep 2 2008 // Gustav may not wallop the property/casualty insurance industry the way Katrina did but there is still concern in insurance and reinsurance circles over the continued pile-up of catastrophe losses. Standard &...
Arizona Insurers Seek 7.9% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase
Sep 2 2008 // Arizona workers compensation carriers have filed for a 7.9 percent rate increase to take effect Oct. 1, 2008, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance. By industry group, the rate increase would include...
Gas Prices Drive N.Y. Rate Decreases
Sep 1 2008 // One of New York state’s largest auto insurers, GEICO, agreed to drop two requests for rate hikes after a plea by the state’s top regulator to consider the effect of high gas prices on customers’ driving...
Auto Rates Rising for State Farm, Allstate Customers
Sep 1 2008 // Allstate and State Farm are raising their auto rates in Texas. State Farm filed with the Texas Department of Insurance increases of 2.4 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively, for its two auto insurance subsidiaries, State...
California Proposes 16% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase
Sep 1 2008 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California indicated it plans to submit a filing to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) recommending a 16 percent increase in pure premium rates effective...
U.S. Commercial Lines Outlook Revised To Negative From Stable
Sep 1 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook on the U.S. commercial lines property/casualty insurance sector to negative from stable. Standard & Poor’s credit analyst John Iten explained...
Premium Growth: Top 25 Workers’ Compensation Companies
Sep 1 2008 // Workers’ compensation direct premiums written (DPW) for calendar year 2007 exceeded $46 billion. This represented a slight decline from year-end 2006’s $47.2 billion. However, using 2003 as a reference point,...
AAA Chicago Forecasts Slight Decrease in Labor Day Holiday Travel
Aug 29 2008 // AAA Chicago projects a slight decrease in the number of Americans traveling during the Labor Day holiday weekend. Nearly 34.38 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this Labor Day holiday weekend, down...
Fitch: P/C Profits Decline Sharply in First-Half 2008
Aug 28 2008 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry reported mixed results in the first six months of 2008, according to a new Fitch report. Profitability declined due to poor investment performance and deteriorating...
S&P Report Says Oman Insurance Market Still Strong After 2007 Losses
Aug 27 2008 // In its latest report on the insurance market in the Sultanate of Oman, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services says that despite the heavy losses from Cyclone Gonu in 2007, the sector has much to commend...
Illinois Mayor Charged with Insurance Fraud Steps Down
Aug 26 2008 // Niles, Illinois’ long-time mayor, Nicholas Blase, is stepping down after 47 years. In a statement on the village Web site, Blase, 80, said his retirement would be effective Monday, Sept. 1. The Village Board will...
Texas Wind Pool Claims Add Up as New Tropical Storm Develops,
Aug 26 2008 // With hurricane season halfway over for 2008, Louisiana has so far dodged the bullet but Texas has taken on two warning shots with Hurricane Dolly and Tropical Storm Edouard. As hurricanes and tropical storms go, neither...
Survey Shows Child Seat Belt Use Improving in Kansas
Aug 22 2008 // A survey shows that new safety restraint mandates in Kansas have helped boost compliance among children. A study by the Kansas Department of Transportation found that 75 percent of passengers younger than 14 were protected...
Watchdog Survey Targets Insurers
Aug 21 2008 // Declarations “While Allstate publicly touts its ‘good hands’ approach, it has instead privately instructed its agents to employ a ‘boxing gloves’ strategy against its...
Liability Coverage Demand Seen Rising with Florida Elderly Services Crunch
Aug 21 2008 // Dramatic growth in assisted living and home care may increase professional and general liability risks.. Florida faces a crisis in meeting the demand for aging services over the next 22 years as the population aged 85 and...
Mid-Year 2008: Securities Lawsuit Filings Remain Up
Aug 21 2008 // The continued steady subprime and credit crisis-related lawsuit filing level suggests that the litigation wave will continue during the second half of 2008. Is litigation stemming from the subprime- and credit...
Survey: Despite Need, Only 17% of Americans Have Flood Insurance
Aug 21 2008 // Record widespread flooding across the Midwest has once again highlighted the catastrophic dam- ages that flooding can cause. Yet a survey conducted for the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) revealed that only 17...
