Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
TX Workers’ Comp Costs Per Claim Keep Rising
Jan 27 2003 // A new study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute shows that workers’ compensation costs per claim in Texas continued to increase at double digit rates during recent years. According to WCRI, workers’...
CIAB Market Survey Reports Premiums Still Gaining
Jan 23 2003 // According to a survey by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB), more than two-thirds of the small and medium-sized commercial property/casualty accounts and 59 percent of the large accounts experienced...
Penn-America Posts 2002 Income Gains; Q4 Operating Income up 41.7%
Jan 23 2003 // Penn-America Group, Inc. reported that its fourth quarter operating income increased 41.7 percent to $2.9 million or $0.24 per share (basic and diluted), compared with operating income of $2.1 million or $0.18 per share...
S&P Revises Austrian Insurance Market Outlook to “Stable”
Jan 22 2003 // Standard & Poor’s announced that it has revised its outlook for rated Austrian insurers to stable from negative, indicating that insurer financial strength ratings are more likely to remain the same than to be...
Zenith Announces 4th Q Increase in Loss Reserves
Jan 21 2003 // Zenith National Insurance Corp. reported that its actuaries have completed a review of the loss and loss adjustment expense reserves of our insurance companies at Dec. 31, 2002 and have determined that it is necessary to...
New BCBS Survey Points to Impact of Med-Mal Crisis
Jan 16 2003 // The nation’s medical malpractice insurance crisis is threatening healthcare costs and access to care, according to a new survey of the 42 Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies. Blue Plans believe that because...
Lloyd’s Chairman Notes U.S. Premium Income Rises to New High of $8.2B
Jan 16 2003 // In his inaugural speech as Chairman of Lloyd’s of London, Lord Levene confirmed that the U.S. continues to be Lloyd’s largest single market accounting for approximately 40 percent of its business. He announced...
P/C Insurers Feel $6.6B Decline in Investment Gains in First Half of 2002
Jan 13 2003 // Property and casualty insurers suffered a staggering $6.6 billion decline in investment gains during the first six months of 2002, to $18.1 billion from $24.7 billion during the same period in 2001, according to Weiss...
ERC Faces an Uncertain Future
Jan 13 2003 // Employers Reinsurance Corp. (ERC), the chief operating unit of General Electric’s sprawling reinsurance empire, is facing an uncertain future. It’s been hit by the same problems as Munich Re, Swiss Re, SCOR,...
ERC Faces an Uncertain Future
Jan 13 2003 // Employers Reinsurance Corp., the chief operating unit of General Electric’s sprawling reinsurance empire, is facing an uncertain future. It’s been hit by the same problems as Munich Re, Swiss Re, SCOR, Gerling...
Willis NA’s Outlook Raised
Jan 13 2003 // Moody’s Investors Service revised its outlook on the debt ratings of Willis NorthAmerica Inc., a subsidiary of Willis Group Holdings. to positive from stable. The rating agency commented that improved earnings,...
Oxley Forecasts Insurance Issues Awaiting the 108th Congress
Jan 13 2003 // For more than a year, the issue of federal backstop legislation for terrorism risk has dominated Congress’ attention when it comes to insurance industry issues. Now that the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act has been...
WCIRB’s Q3 Report Reveals Price Increases and Adverse Loss Development
Jan 9 2003 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s (WCIRB) summary of statewide third quarter 2002 experience shows sharp increases in rates charged to policyholders, declines in claim frequency, and continued...
S&P’s Outlook on Italian Insurance Market is “Negative,” but “Improving”
Jan 9 2003 // Standard & Poor’s has just completed a review of the Italian insurance market, and announced that “the ratings outlook for the market is negative, reflecting an expected downward trend in insurer financial...
Weiss Ratings Report Says Company Failures Decline in 2002
Jan 9 2003 // Insurance company failures declined 48.9 percent to 23 in 2002, from 45(1) in 2001, according to Weiss Ratings, Inc. Three life and health insurers and 20 property and casualty insurers failed in 2002, compared to six and...
SLA Reports 104.5 Percent Increase for Processed Surplus Line Premium
Jan 9 2003 // Ted Pierce, executive director of the Surplus Line Association of California, released the association’s 2002 totals for processed surplus line premium showing a 104.5 percent increase over the 2001 premium...
SPIR Meets Increasing Demand for Terrorist Cover
Dec 27 2002 // Special Risk Insurance and Reinsurance Luxembourg S.A. (SRIR), established last March by Germany’s Allianz AG, several other European insurers and Bermuda’s XL Capital, offers property and business interruption...
Erie Reports Storm Losses, Loss Reserve Increases
Dec 25 2002 // Erie Insurance Group announced that its property and casualty companies would increase loss and loss adjustment expense reserves by approximately $184 million in the fourth quarter of 2002. The company also reported its...
W. Va. State Agencies See Rise in Med-Mal Claims
Dec 19 2002 // A medical malpractice law passed in West Virginia last year is apparently to blame for an increase in medical malpractice lawsuits against state agencies this year. According to the Charleston Daily Mail, a legislative...
Preliminary Swiss Re sigma Report Confirms 2002 “Below Average” Year for Catastrophe Losses
Dec 19 2002 // Swiss Re has issued some preliminary findings from its forthcoming sigma report on the world’s catastrophes in 2002. Initial estimates show that it was a relatively benign year. Although “19,000 people world...
