Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Best Affirms HCC’s ‘A+ Ratings; Outlook Returned to ‘Stable’
Jul 31 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of HCC Insurance Holdings (HCC) and its members. Best also affirmed the...
Survey: Private Firms More Exposed to Liability Risks, But Less Protected
Jul 30 2008 // More than one-third of U.S. businesses do not purchase any type of management or professional liability insurance. Yet, two out of three U.S. private companies have experienced some type of event related to management or...
Premiums, Net Income Decline for Safeco in Q2
Jul 29 2008 // Seattle, Wash.-based Safeco’s net income dropped nearly $37 million in the second-quarter 2008 over the same time period in 2007, the company reported today. For the second-quarter 2008, Safeco posted net income of...
A.M. Best: Med-Mal Leads Captives’ Premium Decline
Jul 28 2008 // Falling medical malpractice premiums led to a 15 percent drop in net premiums written between 2006 and 2007 for a composite of captive insurance companies, but captives overall benefited from favorable underwriting...
Report: U.S. Cedes More Than $58B Offshore in 2007
Jul 22 2008 // The United States ceded $58.4 billion in premium to offshore reinsurers in 2007 — compared to $54.7 billion in 2006 — an increase of 6.8 percent. Net recoverables totaled $113.0 billion, a decrease of 1.1...
Watchdog Survey Targets Insurers
Jul 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...
Maine’s July Traffic Deaths on Record Pace
Jul 21 2008 // Traffic fatalities in Maine this July are on pace to be among the highest on record. Seventeen people lost their lives on the state’s roads as of Friday, July 18, an average of about one death a day. Spokesman...
Forecast: Tropical Storm Dolly to Become Hurricane, Hit Southern Texas
Jul 21 2008 // Tropical Storm Dolly churned toward southern Texas Monday, and forecasters said they expected it to grow into a hurricane before hitting land near the Mexican border later this week. The storm, with sustained winds of...
Washington Residents Savvy About Identity Theft, Survey Says
Jul 18 2008 // While Washington state has one of the highest per-capita rates of identity theft in the nation, Washingtonians are aware of the risks and are taking the precautions necessary to prevent identity fraud, according to a...
GAO: Flood Program Lacks Funds to Face Future
Jul 18 2008 // The National Flood Insurance Program owes the federal Treasury more than $17 billion from hurricane-related losses and has been unable to set aside enough money to meet catastrophic losses that could arise in the future,...
Illinois Traffic Fatalities Lowest Since 1924, Seat Belt Usage Up to 90 %
Jul 17 2008 // Governor Rod R. Blagojevich announced on July 15 that Illinois’ number of motorists and front seat passengers who buckle up in the state edged upwards and exceeded 90 percent for the second straight year. In...
Insurance Legislators to Regulators: Slow Down Market Conduct Plan
Jul 16 2008 // Naming critical concerns regarding confidentiality and authority, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) advised a slowdown of a market conduct annual statement (MCAS) proposal being considered by the...
S&P Sees Continued Growth of Islamic Takaful in Risk Transfer Market
Jul 14 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said that it expects the global takaful sector to continue its rapid growth and to become a significant contributor to the global “risk transfer” market place. The...
AIG, Vermont Mutual to Enter Mass. Personal Auto Insurance Market
Jul 14 2008 // Giant insurer American International Group has decided to enter the Massachusetts private passenger auto insurance market, according to The Boston Globe. But AIG is not alone. In addition, Vermont Mutual will begin selling...
Wausau Survey: Employers Stay Level Headed Despite Recession Worries
Jul 11 2008 // Although a U.S. economic recession would not be good news overall for employers, most don’t believe a recession would drive up workers’ compensation claims, according to a new survey of financial executives by...
Munich Re of Africa Reports Premium, Profit Growth
Jul 8 2008 // Munich Reinsurance Co. of Africa – the largest reinsurer in Sub-Saharan Africa – posted positive underwriting results for 2007. MRoA announced a 25.4 percent increase in gross premium income to R3, 2billion,...
Interview: N.Y.’s Dinallo Sees Insurance Exchange Open by 2009
Jul 8 2008 // New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo said Monday a revival of the defunct New York Insurance Exchange could happen as early as next year. Dinallo, in a telephone interview from New York, said the next 18 months...
Survey: Despite Need Only 17% of Americans Have Flood Insurance
Jul 7 2008 // Record widespread flooding across the Midwest has once again highlighted the catastrophic damages that flooding can cause. Yet a survey conducted for the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) reveals that only 17...
Exclusive Survey, Part 2: Strengths and Weaknesses – What Agents Think of Regional and National P/C Insurers
Jul 7 2008 // Regional P/C Insurers Beat Out Nationals on Compensation, Claims; Nationals Outperform on Technology Regional carriers come out on top in agency compensation and claims services, while nationals outscore regionals on loss...
PricewaterhouseCoopers Survey Raises Questions on Enterprise Risk Management
Jul 2 2008 // A new survey, released by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) London office, notes that although significant progress has been made by the insurance industry in adopting enterprise risk management (ERM) techniques, questions...
