Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
SLTX: Surplus Lines Flood Insurance Premium Up in Texas over 5 Years
Jan 24 2020 // Surplus lines flood insurance premium filed with the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) has increased annually over the past five years, according to SLTX. Additionally, while NFIP premium dipped in 2017, it...
2020 Agency Salary Survey: Tell Us What You Think
Jan 24 2020 // Total compensation and salary adjustments on average fell slightly in agencies responding to the 2019 Agency Salary Survey – but that trend didn’t impact employee satisfaction. On average, employee satisfaction...
Natural Catastrophe Losses in 2019 Down 18% from Annual Average: Willis Re Report
Jan 23 2020 // Insured losses from major natural catastrophes in 2019 totaled roughly $53.0 billion, about 18% lower than the annual average since 2011, according to a report from Willis Re. This figure compares with Aon’s recently...
State of Insurance Agency E&O Insurance Market: Managing Rates and Risks
Jan 23 2020 // Agency errors and omissions (E&O) coverage is likely the most important insurance policy an agency purchases. As customer demands rise to an all-time high, having the right E&O coverage and ensuring best practices...
UK Markets Watchdog Cracks Down on Conduct of Financial Advisers
Jan 22 2020 // Britain’s markets watchdog told financial advisers on Tuesday they face a two-year crackdown to stop unsuitable advice, investment scams and excessive fees. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in a “Dear...
North Carolina Captive Insurance Program Continued Growth in 2019
Jan 22 2020 // The North Carolina Department of Insurance Captive Insurance Program continued its steady growth in 2019, according to a statement from NCDOI. As of Dec. 31, 2019, NCDOI had licensed (including provisional) 318 captive...
Ransomware Exposure Driving Up Cyber Insurance Costs
Jan 22 2020 // U.S. insurers are ramping up cyber-insurance rates by as much as 25% and trying to curb exposure to vulnerable customers after a surge of costly claims, industry sources said. The changes follow a challenging year of...
Natural Disasters in Past Decade Broke Records for Economic, Insured Losses: Aon
Jan 22 2020 // The past decade broke new records in terms of economic damages and insured losses, according to Aon’s latest catastrophe report. The costs to global economies reached US$2.98 trillion between 2010 and 2019, which was...
Australia Begins Clean Up From Bushfires with Insurance Claims Continuing to Rise
Jan 21 2020 // The New South Wales and Victorian state governments will coordinate the clean-up of insured and uninsured residential and commercial properties destroyed in the deadly wildfires. Under the plan, the states will appoint...
Report: Nebraska, Iowa Sustained Billions in Weather Losses Last Year
Jan 16 2020 // Nebraska suffered more than $3.4 billion in losses from disastrous weather last year while the toll was $1.9 billion in neighboring Iowa, according to a federal report. The bomb cyclone in March caused most of the damage,...
Chinese Regulator Gears Up for Opening of Financial Sector – and Foreign Competition
Jan 16 2020 // Chinese financial institutions are completely capable of coping with foreign competition as the $40 trillion financial sector is freed up, the central bank said on Thursday, after China and the United States signed a...
Gemini, Seeing Insurance As Key to Future of Virtual Currency, Starts Own Captive
Jan 16 2020 // U.S. virtual currency firm Gemini Trust Company announced on Thursday that it has launched its own insurance unit to boost coverage against theft of crypto assets. Gemini’s new in-house insurer, Bermuda-based...
Finance, Insurance Sector ‘Wins’ in U.S.-China Trade Deal Seem Familiar
Jan 15 2020 // The long-awaited U.S.-China trade deal touted wins for U.S. companies looking to access China’s $40 trillion financial sector, but many of the changes were already in the works, with Beijing having stepped up the...
Cyber Ranks as Top Peril for Companies Globally for 1st Time: Allianz Survey
Jan 15 2020 // Cyber incidents rank for the first time as the most important business risk globally, pushing the perennial top peril, business interruption (BI), into second place, according to the ninth Allianz Risk Barometer...
Outlooks to Revised to Stable for Missouri Valley Mutual Insurance
Jan 14 2020 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to stable from positive and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb-” of Missouri Valley Mutual Insurance Co....
Lloyd’s Performance Management Director Hancock to Step Down in 2020
Jan 14 2020 // Lloyd’s announced that Jon Hancock has decided to step down as performance management director in 2020. At the same time, Lloyd’s also announced that Julia Tyson has been named chief human resources officer,...
Tennessee Touts Insurance Market Growth; Cites $31M Recovered for Consumers
Jan 13 2020 // More than $31.4 million was located and returned to Tennesseans in combined life insurance benefits/annuities and monies returned through the department’s mediation efforts in 2019, according to the Tennessee...
Potential Wage-and-Hour Claims Could Rise Under New Overtime Rule
Jan 13 2020 // New federal rules on overtime pay, which began January 1, change for the first time since 2004 the threshold for who is entitled to overtime pay — and who is not. The new rule raises the income threshold that...
Industry Trends to Exploit for 2020
Jan 13 2020 // The insurance industry is so intertwined into the economy and society, that just about any noticeable change in either will have some impact for the insurance industry. That is why it is imperative for agency owners to...
What’s Happening in Agency Compensation? Take This Year’s Salary Survey
Jan 10 2020 // Insurance Journal would like to invite ALL retail agency owners, principals, producers, CSRs — the entire agency — to participate in Insurance Journal’s annual independent insurance agency salary survey for...
