Latest Trends Headlines

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

Earlybird Forecast for 2004: Street Sees Premium Growth in Store

Jan 26 2004 // Each year the Insurance Information Institute invites a panel of Wall Street stock analysts and industry professionals to review the prospects for the industry in the current and coming year. The survey reveals that the...

CALIF. AGENT FEES UP 10% IN 2004:

Jan 26 2004 // The California Department of Insurance sent out a notice a few weeks ago reminding all insurance licensees that they will be ringing in the New Year with a 10 percent fee increase, the American Agents Alliance said in its...

I.I.I. Survey Reports Industry Leaders Expect Improved Profits in 2004

Jan 26 2004 // Leaders of the property/casualty insurance industry expect an improvement in profitability for 2004 compared with last year, according to a survey conducted by the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) at its eighth...

Texas FAIR Plan Wants Rate Increase

Jan 23 2004 // The Texas Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan Association requested that the Texas Department of Insurance allow the Plan to increase homeowners insurance rates by an average of 12 percent statewide in order...

Allenbrook, Whitehill Technologies Strike Partnership for the Future

Jan 22 2004 // Allenbrook Inc., a provider of processing software and consulting services for the property/casualty industry, announced a partnership with Whitehill Technologies, Inc. Whitehill provides companies the ability to extract...

S&P Affirms ING Group’s Ratings; Insurance Outlook Negative

Jan 22 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that, following a review, it has affirmed its ratings on Holland’s ING GROEP N.V. and related entities, “including its ‘A+/A-1’ counterparty...

Chubb Survey Reports Nearly Two in Five Private Companies Forecast Lawsuits in 2004

Jan 21 2004 // Nearly two in five privately held companies report that it is likely their directors and officers will be sued by shareholders, customers or vendors in 2004, according to a survey sponsored by the Chubb Group of Insurance...

WCRI Study Reports Pa. Workers’ Comp Costs Per Claim Continue Upward Trend

Jan 21 2004 // Workers’ compensation costs per claim in Pennsylvania continue to grow, according to a new study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). The study by the Cambridge, Mass-based WCRI found that costs per...

Calif. Workers’ Comp Costs Per Claim Continue Rapid Growth

Jan 21 2004 // California workers’ compensation costs per claim in California continue to grow rapidly, increasing 15 percent from 2000 through 2001 (as of 2002) and are accelerating, according to a new study from the Cambridge,...

NAMIC Announces New Members, Market Share Increase

Jan 19 2004 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) announced its combined member company direct written premium (DWP) increased to $170 billion (41 percent of the property/casualty insurance market) during...

Robert Goodman Joins Rothschild As a Managing Director-Insurance Sector

Jan 19 2004 // Robert Goodman, a veteran investment banker who specializes in the insurance sector, has joined Rothschild as a Managing Director in its Financial Institutions Group based in New York. Gerald Rosenfeld, CEO of Rothschild...

Survey: New Car Owners Know Little About Insurance Coverage

Jan 14 2004 // A recent national survey by the Mayfield Village, Ohio-based vehicle insurer Progressive found that new car owners know much more about the features of their vehicle than they do about the insurance that protects it,...

Willis Group Report Forecasts 2004 Marketplace

Jan 14 2004 // London-based global brokerage Willis Group Holdings has issued the 2004 edition of Marketplace Realities and Risk Management Solutions (PDF), its annual compilation of articles on all lines of insurance. The report...

PIACT, PIANY Prepare Annual Company Surveys

Jan 12 2004 // The Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut Inc. and of New York State Inc. will each conduct a member survey to gauge insurance producers’ views of their companies in the two states. The month-long surveys,...

CALIF. FUND SEEKS RATE DECREASE

Jan 12 2004 // State Compensation Insurance Fund—California’s largest workers’ compensation insurance carrier—has filed for an average 2.9 percent rate decrease effective Jan. 1, 2004. The decrease is within the range...

Slow Ill. Job Market May Mean Less P/C Growth

Jan 12 2004 // The 2000 census estimated Illinois’ population at 12.4 million. More than 81 percent of the adult residents had graduated from high school and over 26 percent had earned a bachelor’s degree. Chicago’s 2.9...

The Illinois Marketplace: Is the Future in Peril’

Jan 12 2004 // Illinois’ insurance regulatory environment has long been viewed by the industry and business community as the model for other states to emulate, and rightfully so. While every state or region has unique problems in...

MUNICH RE U.N. REPORT ESTIMATES WEATHER COST $60 BILLION IN 2003:

Jan 12 2004 // Delegates attending a recent meeting of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Milan heard a report, prepared by Munich Re, estimating the cost of natural disasters, most of which were weather-related, was more...

Earlybird Forecast for 2004

Jan 12 2004 // Each year the Insurance Information Institute invites a panel of Wall Street stock analysts and industry professionals to review the prospects for the industry in the current and coming year. The survey reveals that the...

Wash. L&I Adopts 9.8 Percent Rate Increase for 2004

Jan 12 2004 // The Washington Department of Labor and Industries announced a 9.8 percent general rate increase in workers’ compensation premiums, effective Jan. 1, 2004. Even with this rate increase, next year’s average rates...