Latest Trends Headlines

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

Swiss Re Panel Sees Modest Economic Growth, Continuing Hard Market

Dec 11 2002 // Swiss Re’s third annual “Economic and Insurance Industry Review and Outlook” was held yesterday in New York City. The meeting featured a panel discussion between Swiss Re economists, investment...

Insurers Show Increasing Use of Enterprise Risk Management to Address Pressing Business Issues

Dec 10 2002 // A Tillinghast – Towers Perrin (Tillinghast) survey on Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), shows insurers around the world are increasingly adopting ERM, a relatively new approach to the strategic management and...

IIAANY Survey Shows Shrinking Commercial, Personal Capacity

Dec 9 2002 // Results of a recent survey conducted by the Independent Insurance Agent Association of New York Inc. (IIAANY) indicate a continuing decrease in availability of both personal and commercial insurance coverages in the state,...

Nebraska Insurance Dept. Approves Excess Med Mal Rate Increases

Dec 9 2002 // Tim Wagner, Director of the Nebraska Department of Insurance, announced that rates charged by the Nebraska Excess Liability Fund for excess medical professional liability insurance for doctors, hospitals and other health...

A.M. Best Affirms Swiss Re A++ (Superior) Financial Ratings, Downgrades Debt Ratings with Negative Outlook

Dec 6 2002 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings of A++ (Superior) of Swiss Reinsurance Company (Swiss Re) and its core subsidiaries with a negative outlook. At the same time, however, the rating agency announced...

Fitch Affirms Generali ‘AA’ Rating, Revises Outlook to Negative

Dec 6 2002 // Fitch Ratings announced that it has affirmed the Insurer Financial Strength rating of ‘AA’ and the Long-term rating of ‘AA-‘ for Assicurazioni Generali SpA, the major operating insurer and holding...

Top 5 Reasons Calif. Homeowners Insurance Rates are Rising

Dec 6 2002 // Representatives from the Personal Insurance Federation of California (PIFC), the Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) and the American Insurance Association (AIA) recently announced the top five reasons...

S&P’s Maintains Negative Outlook on Commercial Insurers

Dec 5 2002 // U.S. commercial-lines insurers are still plagued by inadequate reserves, according to Standard & Poor’s just-published outlook for 2003, and bullish pricing cannot simply sweep the problem away. Standard &...

New Swiss Re Study Finds Lowest Growth in Premiums Since 1980’s

Dec 5 2002 // A new Swiss Re Sigma report released yesterday concluded that overall global premium income reached $2.408 trillion in 2001; while that’s a lot, it’s only a “modest 1 percent growth over 2000,”...

Nev. OBGYN Insurance Reimbursement Rates Increase

Dec 3 2002 // In an effort to stem the tide of departing obstetrics and gynecological physicians leaving Clark County, Physician’s IPA announced it is increasing the rate of insurance reimbursement to its OBGYN doctors. The...

Progressive Survey Finds Advertising Helps Agents Grow

Dec 3 2002 // A survey conducted by Ohio-based Progressive Insurance found that independent insurance agents use a variety of advertising methods to help them attract consumers to their agency, and “the overwhelming majority of...

PIACT, PIANY Unveil Company Performance Surveys

Dec 3 2002 // The Professional Insurance Agents of Connecticut Inc. and the Professional Insurance Agents of New York State Inc. announced plans to conduct member surveys to determine agents’ views of companies in Connecticut and...

S&P’s Affirms BCBS of La. ‘A’ Ratings; Outlook Negative

Nov 29 2002 // Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its ‘A’ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Louisiana Health Service & Indemnity Co., which does business as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of...

S&P’s Revises Travelers PC Outlook

Nov 28 2002 // Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its ‘A-‘ counterparty credit and senior debt ratings on Travelers Property Casualty Corp. and its ‘AA-‘ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings...

Allstate Gets Auto Rate Increase in Louisiana

Nov 26 2002 // The Louisiana Insurance Rating Commission granted Allstate Insurance Co. a $21.9 million auto policy rate increase. The rate hike is the second the company has received in the past nine months. According to the New Orleans...

CIAT Views Backstop to Increase Availability, Reduce Cost of Terrorism Risk Coverage

Nov 26 2002 // The Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism (CIAT) announced its support with Tuesday’s signing by President George W. Bush of the Terrorism Risk Protection Act of 2002. Spokesperson Martin DePoy, vice president for...

Calif. Commissioner Reflects on the Past, Looks to the Future

Nov 25 2002 // Insurance Journal staff writer Cynthia Beisiegel recently caught up with California Insurance Commissioner Harry Low at the NAII Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. Commissioner Low shared his thoughts on the improvements he...

State Farm Seeks Auto Rate Increase in Ala.

Nov 22 2002 // At a Dec. 4 public hearing, the Alabama Department of Insurance will consider requests by State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co. and State Farm Fire & Casualty raise auto insurance rates in that states. According to the...

S&P Revises Assicurazioni Generali Outlook to Negative

Nov 19 2002 // Standard & Poor’s Rating Services announced that, although it was affirming the ‘AA’ insurer financial strength and counterparty credit ratings on Assicurazioni Generali SpA, the parent and main...

Ind. Agents and Brokers Continue to Increase Market Share in Personal, Commercial Lines

Nov 15 2002 // Independent agents and brokers are capturing an increasing share of both the personal lines and commercial lines markets, the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s (IIABA) annual market share study...