Latest Trends Headlines

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

S&P Affirms Cincinnati Insurance and Subsidiaries, But Retains Negative Outlook

Sep 16 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services affirmed its “AA-” counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Cincinnati Insurance Co., Cincinnati Casualty Co. and Cincinnati Indemnity Co. (CIC). At...

Best Affirms Evergreen ‘A-‘ Rating; Outlook Positive

Sep 16 2004 // A.M. Best Co. announced that it has affirmed the “A-” (Excellent) financial strength rating of Bermuda-based Evergreen Reinsurance Company, Ltd. (ERCL), and has revised its outlook on the company to positive...

S&P Upgrades Nisshin Fire to ‘BBB’; Outlook Positive

Sep 16 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has raised its financial strength and long-term counterparty ratings on Japan’s Nisshin Fire & Marine Insurance Co. Ltd. to “BBB” from...

Oxley Supplies ‘Much-Needed Momentum’ for Terror Insurance Extension in Promising Bill by Sept. 29

Sep 16 2004 // In what the insurance industry reads as good news, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee is preparing to send to the full committee a bill to extend the life of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for...

Washington L&I Sees Dramatic Increase in Recovery of Unpaid Work Comp Premiums

Sep 14 2004 // Three years after it launched an initiative to level the playing field among employers in the construction industry, the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of unpaid...

Survey Finds European Insurers Increasingly Concerned By Growing Tort Claims

Sep 14 2004 // According to the findings of a survey commissioned by The Insurance Leadership Institute of GE Insurance Solutions, independently conducted by Tillinghast, European insurers are becoming increasingly concerned by the...

S&P Revises Outlook on Italy’s Generali to Stable; Affirms ‘AA’ Ratings

Sep 14 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has revised to stable from negative its outlook on Assicurazioni Generali SpA, the parent and main property-casualty company of the pan-European insurance...

Guy Carpenter Releases Study of 2004 World Catastrophe Reinsurance Market

Sep 14 2004 // Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc., MMC’s reinsurance brokerage division, announced the release of its annual, comprehensive study of the property catastrophe reinsurance market, “The World Catastrophe...

Best Affirms Mutuelle Centrale de Reassurance ‘A-‘ Rating; Upgrades Outlook to “Stable”

Sep 13 2004 // A.M. Best Co. announced that it has affirmed the “A-” (Excellent) financial strength rating of France’s Mutuelle Centrale de Reassurance (MCR). It has also changed the outlook on the company from negative...

Fitch Affirms Imagine Insurance ‘A’ Ratings: Outlook Raised to Positive

Sep 13 2004 // Fitch Ratings announced that it has affirmed the “A” insurer financial strength rating of the Barbados/Bermuda-based Imagine Insurance Company Limited. The rating outlook has also been raised from stable to...

S&P Lowers Outlook on Swiss Re; Affirms ‘AA’ Rating

Sep 9 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has revised its outlook on global reinsurer Swiss Reinsurance Co. and related entities of the Swiss Re group to negative from stable. At the same time,...

Wash. L&I Proposes Small Increase in Workers’ Comp Rates in 2005

Sep 9 2004 // Workers’ compensation premiums would increase an average of only 3.7 percent next year under a proposal issued by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). The increase is the lowest in three...

Advocate, MD Insurance of the Southwest Enters Texas Malpractice Insurance Market

Sep 8 2004 // Announcing its entrance into the Texas malpractice insurance market, Advocate, MD Insurance of the Southwest said its improved coverage options and excellent rates are proof that tort reform efforts ushered in last year...

ILL. HOMEOWNERS COMPLAINTS UP 16%:

Sep 6 2004 // While Illinois consumers filed fewer complaints overall about their insurance companies and HMOs in 2003, complaints regarding homeowners insurers were up for the second consecutive year, according to statistics released...

NEW MEXICO’S MED-MAL RATES UP 9.8 PERCENT:

Sep 6 2004 // The Associated Press reported New Mexico medical malpractice insurance premiums have increased an average 9.8 percent this year, according to R. Kevin Clinton, president of American Physicians Capital Inc. Last year, rates...

YUMA HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE RATES COULD GO UP:

Sep 6 2004 // Insurance Services Office has lowered its rating on Yuma, Ariz.’s family home building codes, a move that could result in higher homeowners rates, according to the Associated Press. Yuma received a grade six grades...

S&P Raises Outlook, Affirms ratings on Tokio Marine’s Dublin Reinsurer TMGRe

Sep 3 2004 // Accompanying its announcement on TMRe, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services also noted that it has revised its outlook on Dublin-based reinsurer Tokio Marine Global Re Ltd. (TMGRe) to stable from negative, and...

S&P Affirms Tokio Millennium Re ‘AA-‘ Rating, Upgrades Outlook on Guarantee by Parent

Sep 3 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has revised its outlook on Tokio Millennium Re Ltd. (TMRe) to stable from negative, and affirmed its “AA-” financial strength rating, based on a...

Survey Finds Personal Finance Concerns Outweigh Fears of Terrorism; Mistrust of Insurers

Sep 2 2004 // Euro RSCG Worldwide, a leading integrated marketing communications agency, has released the results of an online survey of more than 13,000 respondents in six countries, which found that more people consistently fret about...

Double-Digit Health Cost Increases Continue in N.Y.

Sep 1 2004 // For the fourth year in a row, a significant majority of employers in New York State were hit with double-digit increases in health-insurance premiums this year, and employers continue the struggle to minimize the damage...