Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
ECB Rate Rise Fails To Lift Euro
Sep 1 2000 // In a widely anticipated move the European Central Bank (ECB) raised its basic interest rate a quarter point from 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent. The ECB indicated that fears of inflation, which has been running around 2.4...
Survey Reveals Most Consumers Fail to Shop Auto Insurance
Aug 30 2000 // While most Americans believe it’s smart to shop around when purchasing high-ticket items, few actually do so when it comes to auto insurance, one of the leading annual expenses in most household budgets. Most...
Agents See a Future Filled with Technology
Aug 29 2000 // According to preliminary findings of a series of focus groups conducted by the Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA) and sponsored by nekema.com, independent agents know that they will need new technology to...
IDC Forecasts Online Insurance Shopping Will Be Next Area of Internet Expansion
Aug 28 2000 // IDC released its market forecast for online sales of personal property and casualty insurance today, predicting the Internet will influence 37% of all premiums purchased in 2004. These findings indicate that despite the...
Skandia Tops Brand Value Survey
Aug 25 2000 // The Swedish based financial services and life insurer, Skandia, whose most important international market is the U.S., where it is the number one writer of variable annuity products, has received another number one...
Big Increases Expected in U.K. Auto Rates
Aug 24 2000 // Drivers in the U.K. face automobile insurance premium increases of 25 percent or more within the next 12 months warns Mintel, a marketing research firm. The average premium in 1999 was £226 ($336); it’s expected to...
A.M. Best Revises Outlook on PXRE
Aug 23 2000 // While it affirmed the PXRE Group’s overall A (Excellent) rating, A.M. Best nevertheless revised the outlook for PXRE Reinsurance Co. and Transnational Insurance Co. to negative due to a number of recent adverse...
Quake Claims Bill Continues to Shake Up Industry Groups
Aug 23 2000 // On Monday, the California Assembly passed SB 1899, a bill that lifts for one year the expired statute of limitations on damage claims from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. Both the National Association of Independent...
Moody’s Increases Estimates of Lloyd’s Losses
Aug 22 2000 // Moody’s Investors Service issued a new statement on Monday which forecast increased losses at Lloyd’s of as much as £3 billion ($4.5 billion) for the last three years. Moody’s previous loss estimates,...
SCPIE 2Q, Six-Months Results Reflect Increase in Premiums
Aug 18 2000 // SCPIE Holdings Inc. reported results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2000. For the second quarter, operating income per share was 47 cents compared to operating income per share of 66 cents in the same...
Allstate First to Apply As India Opens Insurance Market
Aug 17 2000 // U.S. insurer Allstate and the U.K.’s Prudential Plc became the first foreign companies to submit applications, in conjunction with their Indian partners, to establish private insurance companies to sell life products...
State Farm Responds to Report It Alerted Firestone to Tire Problems in 1997
Aug 17 2000 // State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. took exception to an Aug. 16 Los Angeles Times article which reported a State Farm spokesman as saying that the insurer had noticed an unusually high...
Aegon Upgrades 2000 Profit Forecasts
Aug 10 2000 // Dutch insurer Aegon has lifted its 2000 earnings forecast to 25-30 percent on the year, and forecasting earnings per share growth of 17 to 22 percent. Last month, Aegon said it might up its outlook because it was keeping...
Survey Says Insurance Industry Hiring to Increase in 2nd Half of 2000
Aug 8 2000 // Results of a new survey, conducted by management Recruiters International Inc. (MRI), indicate that 50.4 percent of executives with responsibility for hiring in the insurance industry plan to increase staff hiring in the...
Tragic Concorde Crash Could Wrack Up Losses for European Insurers
Aug 7 2000 // Insurers could pay out more than $320 million as a result of the July 25 Air France Concorde crash that killed 113 people, according to the Guardian, a U.K. newspaper. The supersonic jet went down just after taking off...
WCIRB Proposes Pure Premium Rate Increase
Aug 1 2000 // Following the July 31 submission of its annual pure premium rate filing to the California Insurance Commissioner, the nonprofit Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau proposed an average increase in pure...
New Jersey Homeowners’ Price Comparison Survey Available
Jul 31 2000 // The New Jersey Banking and Insurance Department has introduced a 2000 Homeowner’s Insurance Premium Comparison Survey designed to help consumers compare rates for homeowner, renter and condominium insurance. The...
Survey Reveals Business Not Prepared for E-Risks
Jul 31 2000 // A new survey reveals many of the nation’s largest employers are not prepared to handle e-commerce and e-communication risks. From dot.com companies to brick-and-mortar businesses using the Internet to dispense...
Halifax Shares Dip After Outlook Postings
Jul 31 2000 // Halifax shares fell 20 points Friday after posting second quarter results, which fell below industry expectations. Chief executive James Crosby delivered the news Friday, saying pre-tax profits for the first half ending...
FRONTIER WRAPS UP REGENCY SALE
Jul 24 2000 // Frontier Insurance Group has completed the sale of Regency Insurance Company to Tomoka Re Holdings, an affiliate of Tower Hill Insurance Group, for $7.1 million. The sale is part of the company’s Corrective Action...
