Latest Trends Headlines

All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Willis Marine Protection & Indemnity Review Finds Increased Claims

Jan 24 2008 // Willis Group Holdings has released its Marine Protection & Indemnity (P&I) Market Review for 2007/2008. Willis said the “annual report provides a succinct overview of the P&I marketplace and explores...

Willis Marine Protection & Indemnity Review Finds Increased Claims

Jan 24 2008 // Willis Group Holdings has released its Marine Protection & Indemnity (P&I) Market Review for 2007/2008. Willis noted that the “annual report provides a succinct overview of the P&I marketplace and...

Dinallo: Bond Insurance Market Fix Needs Time

Jan 24 2008 // Days after announcing a three-part strategy to fix the ailing New York bond insurance market, the state’s top regulator said any plan to deal with the issues facing insurers would take time. “These are...

California Agents Brace for Rising WC Rates, Sluggish Economy

Jan 18 2008 // In the largest survey of its kind, fewer than half of California’s 10,000 business insurance agents see California’s business economy improving – either for themselves or for their clients – in...

Willis Energy Review Warns High Commodity Prices Increase Insurance Exposures

Jan 18 2008 // In its latest energy review, Willis warns that “sharp increases in the price of oil, steel, building materials and contractor day rates have resulted in significantly increased exposures to energy...

Commercial Lines Pricing Shows Modest Decrease from 2006 to 2007

Jan 17 2008 // Average prices for all lines of commercial insurance decreased 4 percent to 5 percent between 2006 and 2007, according to Towers Perrin’s commercial insurance pricing study. More specifically, the survey data for the...

New York Says Insurance Fraud Arrests Are Up

Jan 16 2008 // Investigations by New York’s insurance frauds bureau led to over 700 arrests last year, a 17 percent increase from 2006, according to an annual report released today by the state insurance department. The bureau,...

Tort Trends Likely to Remain Stable in 2008, Finds I.I.I. Survey

Jan 16 2008 // Tort trends will likely remain stable in the year ahead, according to a survey conducted by the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) at its 12th annual Property/Casualty Insurance Joint Industry Forum. Sixty-six...

Executives See Moderate P/C Insurance Growth in 2008

Jan 14 2008 // Property casualty insurance insiders predicted 2008 will be a year of marginal growth as continued pricing competition will keep premiums low and profits lower, although that could quickly worsen if a natural catastrophe...

Survey: Prices Continue to Drop for Commercial Lines Market

Jan 14 2008 // Commercial lines insurance premiums continued to tumble during the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the RIMS Benchmark Survey, an industry survey of policy renewal prices as reported by corporate risk managers. Despite...

FBI Study: Violent, Property Crime Rates Decline

Jan 13 2008 // Crime rates dropped for the first time in two years, according to a newly released report of the most recent data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Nationwide, violent crime fell 1.8 percent and property...

Well-financed Buyers Lead Today’s Agency Value Trends

Jan 13 2008 // Fair market value can be defined as the price that a willing buyer and a willing seller agree on for the price of a business. Naturally, there is a lot of room for negotiation based on the circumstances. However, fair...

Dramatic Changes in State Building Trends Could Prompt Rise in Losses

Jan 13 2008 // As the financial and housing markets continue to work their way through the fallout of the mortgage lending meltdown, the construction sector faces its share of woes. But as is typically the case, specific conditions —...

Future of Bond Insurance at Risk

Jan 13 2008 // The biggest casualty of the crisis surrounding bond insurers may well be the insurers themselves. Issuers and bond buyers alike may find it easier now to dispense with insurance, experts say, given that the finances of...

Momentum Strong for Broker M&As in October, November

Jan 13 2008 // Stock Prices: Aon Corp. (NYSE:AOC) continued to outperform the sector, up a remarkable 43.1 percent year-to-date. The company reported third quarter 2007 results at the end of October. Net income increased 92 percent to...

Lloyd’s GCube Promotes Growth in Renewable Energy Sector

Jan 11 2008 // “GCube, the insurance entity spun out of Lloyd’s managing general agency WindPro, has opened its doors to business on both sides of the Atlantic,” notes a bulletin on the Lloyd’s web site...

Kan. Report: Traffic Deaths Hit 15-year Low

Jan 11 2008 // State officials say the traffic death count in Kansas has hit a 15-year low. The Kansas Department of Transportation says 404 people died in Kansas crashes in 2007, down 13 percent from 468 fatalities in 2006. KDOT traffic...

Best Revises Stoneheath, FLAC Outlooks to Negative on SCA/XL Concerns

Jan 10 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has revised the rating outlook to negative from stable for the debt rating of “bbb” on $350 million non-cumulative perpetual preferred securities (issuer preferred securities) issued by Stoneheath...

FDNY: Average Response Time Decrease in 2007

Jan 8 2008 // The New York fire department’s average response time decreased last year for the second consecutive year even as the number calls increased slightly, the fire commissioner announced Sunday. The citywide average...

Fla. Report: Workers’ Comp Rates Reduced 5 Times in 5 Years

Jan 8 2008 // On New Year’s Eve, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation released its annual report on the state of the market for workers’ compensation insurance to the Florida Legislature. The report analyzes the...