Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
Moody’s Comments on Italian P/C Insurers Outlook and Ratings
Jan 9 2004 // A report from Moody’s Investors Service notes a stable rating outlook for Italy’s rated P/C insurers and a steady improvement in results since 2001. “The continued upturn for most of the seven rated...
Maine Insurance Department Publishes Survey
Jan 8 2004 // Maine’s Superintendent of Insurance, Alessandro Iuppa, announced the publication of the Bureau of Insurance report to the Maine State Legislature. The detailed report indicates that the state’s residents are...
Mass. AG Appeals Auto Rate Increase Decision
Jan 6 2004 // Massachusetts’ Attorney General Tom Reilly is appealing the Division of Insurance’s December 15 ruling, arguing that a 2.5 percent increase in the cost of auto insurance is unwarranted and will result in close...
Munich Re 2003 Catastrophe Study – Fatalities up 450 Percent; $15 Billion Insured Losses
Dec 30 2003 // Munich Re has released its analysis of natural catastrophes in 2003 and concluded that economic and insured losses continue to increase at a high level. Preliminary portions of the study had been presented at the recent...
Calif. Agent Fees Up 10% in 2004
Dec 30 2003 // The California Department of Insurance sent out a reminder 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...
W.R. Berkley Corp., Operating Companies Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Negative
Dec 29 2003 // Standard & Poor’s affirmed its ‘BBB+’ counterparty credit rating on W. R. Berkley Corp. At the same time, Standard & Poor’s affirmed its ‘A+’ counterparty credit and financial...
California Housing Market Sets Record, But Rising Prices Pose Challenges for First-time Buyers
Dec 23 2003 // The California housing market is poised to finish 2003 by setting new records across the board for the second consecutive year, according to a report, “State of the Housing Market 2003,” from the California...
P/C Industry’s Net Income Surges, But Slowing Premium Growth May Hamper Further Progress, Report Says
Dec 23 2003 // According to a report released by the Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO) and the National Association of Independent Insurers, the U.S. property/casualty industry’s net income after taxes increased to $21.1 billion...
Coalition Against Insurance Fraud Reports Convictions Rise Nearly a Third
Dec 19 2003 // Alice Ross, an engaging 71-year-old grandmother, died when her Buick was rammed by a car packed with gang members allegedly staging a crash in Brooklyn to make fake injury claims against insurance companies. Increasingly,...
Insurance Information Institute Unveils Earlybird Forecast for 2004
Dec 18 2003 // 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...
AIA Says 2002 Rise in U.S. Tort Costs Reinforces Need for Civil Justice Reform
Dec 18 2003 // The recent release of Tillinghast – Towers Perrin’s study of 2002 U.S. tort costs finds total system costs totaling $233 billion, up 13.3 percent from 2001, further reinforcing the need for additional,...
