Latest Trends Headlines

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

Poor stepchild HO market about to smarten up

Oct 23 2006 // It’s worth $53 billion a year but the homeowners insurance market is largely unsophisticated and unloved, according to Brian Sullivan, editor of Risk Information Inc., which publishes the Property Insurance Report....

Pricing plays catch-up with evolving homeowners market

Oct 23 2006 // Many single-family homes today look more and more like grand estates than the simple boxy houses with attached garages that were abundant not so long ago. Homes are much larger and more customized compared to 20 or 30...

Survey: Commercial Market Softens, Insurer Appetite Increases

Oct 19 2006 // The commercial property/casualty market continued to soften during the third quarter, with indications that some insurers are finding an appetite for business in which they previously were not interested, according to the...

Fed Survey Finds Easing of Credit Underwriting Standards

Oct 18 2006 // The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s annual Survey of Credit Underwriting Practices reports that competitive pressures have led to a third consecutive year of eased commercial and retail credit...

Mo. Insurance Dept. Releases 2005 Medical Malpractice Report

Oct 16 2006 // In 2005, medical malpractice insurers in Missouri recorded a positive underwriting result for the second consecutive year and the highest recorded number of new claims filed, according to the 2005 Medical Malpractice...

What Does the Future Hold for Insurance Agents’ E&O?

Oct 13 2006 // David Duncan of David C. Duncan Insurance Services in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., is worried about whether and how much the cost of his agency errors and omissions insurance might go up next year. Duncan started his...

S.C. Workers’ Comp Said to be in Crisis as Rates Rise Again

Oct 13 2006 // Workers compensation loss costs may increase by 18.4 percent for businesses in South Carolina effective Dec. 1, 2006. Robert Herlong, vice president and regional manager for Property Casualty Insurers of America, said...

Litigation Trends Continue to Mount Worldwide; Insurers Face Five Times the Average Number of Lawsuits

Oct 11 2006 // Insurance companies are the litigation champions confronting an average of 1,696 lawsuits, spanning from product liability and environmental class actions to directors and officers claims, and even coverage fights over...

PRICING PREDICTIONS

Oct 9 2006 // Pricing for D&O coverage is soft, according to panelists Lance Dalzell-Piper of Marsh FINPRO, David Bradford of Advisen Ltd., and Patrick Kelly of Wilson Elser, who summed up the Plus D&O West Symposium...

Workers’ comp claim frequency and size continue downward trend

Oct 9 2006 // A recent study based on data collected through 2004 shows that workers’ compensation claims frequency is down — yet costs continue to rise. The lowered frequency of claims includes large claims and small claims...

The Future for Agents’ E & O

Oct 9 2006 // David Duncan of David C. Duncan Insurance Services in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., is worried about whether and how much the cost of his agency errors and omissions insurance might go up next year. Duncan started his...

Terrorism insurance market hits federal radar

Oct 9 2006 // Two new federal reports have found that the long-term development of the private terrorism insurance market remains at best uncertain due to the unpredictable nature of terrorist attacks. Both reports acknowledged that a...

Workers’ comp claim frequency and size continue downward trend

Oct 9 2006 // A recent study based on data collected through 2004 shows that workers’ compensation claims frequency is down — yet costs continue to rise. The lowered frequency of claims includes large claims and small claims...

Terrorism insurance market hits federal radar

Oct 9 2006 // Two new federal reports have found that the long-term development of the private terrorism insurance market remains at best uncertain due to the unpredictable nature of terrorist attacks. Both reports acknowledged that a...

The Future for Agents’ E&O

Oct 9 2006 // David Duncan of David C. Duncan Insurance Services in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., is worried about whether and how much the cost of his agency errors and omissions insurance might go up next year. Duncan started his...

Best Affirms Turkey’s Milli Re ‘B+’ Rating; Revises Outlook to Positive

Oct 5 2006 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of “B+” (Very Good) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb-” for Turkish reinsurer Milli Reasurans Turk Anonim Sirketi (Milli Re). Best...

Updated Atlantic Hurricane Forecast Indicates Below-Average Activity

Oct 5 2006 // Colorado State University hurricane expert William Gray downgraded his forecast for the 2006 Atlantic storm season again this week, predicting one more hurricane, two more named storms but no intense hurricanes. The new...

Citizens’ Rates for Fla. Keys Homes Going Down, Mobile Homes Up

Oct 2 2006 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty and Citizens Property Insurance Corp. have agreed on property insurance rate changes – including an average 35 percent decrease for homes and a 15.2 percent increase for...

Benfield Report Sees Major Changes, Rapid Growth in Chinese Market

Sep 30 2006 // A new report by international reinsurance broker and risk intermediary Benfield, entitled “China Insurance Market Review: Major changes, rapid growth,” examines the changes that have taken place in in the...

ATV Thefts on Rise in Ark. as Hunting Season Nears

Sep 27 2006 // Arkansas law enforcement officials are warning hunters to keep an eye on their all-terrain vehicles when they get out in the woods this fall. Although thieves nab four-wheelers all year, deer season is an especially big...