Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Alliance Looking for Broker/Agent Responses to Low Cost Auto Survey
Apr 27 2004 // With the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance program developing into a major issue this year, both in the Legislature and at the Department of Insurance, the American Agents Alliance is interested in finding out what...
N.C. Residents Urged to Exercise Caution in Aftermath of Hurricanes; Atlantic Basin Forecast Released
Apr 27 2004 // Hurricane Isabel was directly or indirectly responsible for 50 deaths nationwide and caused an estimated $170 million of property damage in North Carolina last September. Experts predict 14 named storms and eight...
Use of Arbitration Increased in 2003
Apr 23 2004 // The use of arbitration by property/casualty insurance companies and self-insureds to resolve inter-company claims disputes increased by nearly 8 percent in 2003, with the number of arbitration filings increasing to more...
Houston Casualty Co. Affirmed, Outlook Stable
Apr 23 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced the affirmation of its “AA” counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Houston Casualty Co., Avemco Insurance Co. (Avemco), U.S. Specialty...
S&P Revises AMP Outlook to ‘Stable’
Apr 21 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has revised the rating outlook on Australian insurer AMP Ltd.’s key operating subsidiaries and holding company to stable from negative. S&P also...
Mass. Proposal Sees New Auto Plan by 2008
Apr 21 2004 // The campaign to change the way Massachusetts handles high risk private passenger auto policies moved forward last week with the emergence of a draft outline agreed upon by two major players in the effort, the Massachusetts...
CIAB Survey Shows Q1 Commercial P/C Easing
Apr 20 2004 // The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers has issued a report indicating that the commercial property and casualty market “continued to ease across most lines during the first quarter of 2004, with the average...
High Houston Crash Rate Drives Up Insurance Costs
Apr 20 2004 // The Houston area far exceeds the national average in the number of serious traffic collisions, contributing to skyrocketing medical costs and giving Harris County the most expensive auto insurance rates in Texas, according...
Maine Agents Told Markets, InsurBanc, IIABA Enjoying Spring Growth
Apr 19 2004 // Speakers at this year’s annual meeting of the Maine Insurance Agents Association didn’t let a sneaky spring snowfall get them down as they issued positive reports on markets, products, association business and...
Bringing Steady Leadership to Mississippi for Several Decades
Apr 19 2004 // With continued service to the state of Mississippi since the mid-70’s, Insurance Commissioner George Dale has been a steadying influence for the industry in the Magnolia State. When Dale was elected commissioner in...
Court Decision Threatens Stability in California’s Insurance Market
Apr 19 2004 // If after 16 years of off-and-on court cases, attempting to interpret the ambiguous and contradictory language of Proposition 103 isn’t enough, this month, another interpretation came down from the Second District...
S&P Report Says Despite 2003 Profitability Global Reinsurance Market’s Poor Outlook Remains Unchanged
Apr 15 2004 // The ratings outlook for the global reinsurance market remains negative, despite an expectation that the market’s 2003 reported financial year-end results will return it to overall underwriting profitability for the...
RIMS Survey Says Workers’ Comp Affecting Calif. Businesses
Apr 14 2004 // The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) received 261 responses from corporate risk managers regarding the workers’ compensation system in California supporting a conclusion that California may be losing jobs...
Checks on Workers’ Comp Claims Rise to 10 Percent in Annual ADP Hiring Index
Apr 13 2004 // ADP Employer Services, a provider of integrated outsourced payroll and human resources services, has released its seventh annual Hiring Index, a yearly evaluation of hiring trends and issues. Compared to last year’s...
S&P: Alfa Mutual Insurance Co., Affiliates Ratings Lowered, Outlook Stable
Apr 13 2004 // Standard & Poor’s has lowered its counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on the members of Alabama-based Alfa Insurance Group (Alfa) to ‘AA-‘ from ‘AA’. Standard &...
State Farm Condo Insurance Rates to Increase in Nev.
Apr 13 2004 // Nevada Insurance Commissioner Alice A. Molasky-Arman has approved the request of State Farm Fire and Casualty Company for an overall statewide average increase of 28.8 percent for rental condominium unitowners insurance,...
Report Estimates Potential Costs to U.S. Insurance Industry from a Repeat of 1974 Tornado Super Outbreak
Apr 6 2004 // Risk Management Solutions Inc. (RMS), a provider of products and services for catastrophe risk management, announced the release of an in-depth study of potential costs to the U.S. insurance industry from a recurrence of...
Up for Sale: Success in Today’s Homeowners Market
Apr 5 2004 // States show signs of stability, but problem areas remain Despite continuing availability issues and sky-high loss ratios, the U.S. homeowners market is stabilizing as a whole. Of course, most industry observers who make...
Buckeye State Bucks National Trend on Medical Malpractice
Apr 5 2004 // The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2000 census estimated Iowa’s population at nearly 3 million. About 86 percent of the adult residents had graduated from high school and about 21 percent had earned a bachelor’s...
Swiss Re Finds Increasing Demand for Broker Services
Apr 5 2004 // A recently released Swiss Re Sigma study has concluded that as the complexity of risk increases brokers face a greater demand for their services. The report entitled ‘Commercial insurance and reinsurance brokerage...
