Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
A.M. Best Revises Credit Rating Outlook of Builders Mutual Companies of North Carolina
May 14 2018 // A.M. Best has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and Long-Term ICR of “a” of...
How Insurer Execs, Workers View Artificial Intelligence and Future Work
May 11 2018 // Insurers can seize major growth opportunities by redesigning work, bringing in new talent, and pivoting their existing workforces to work with artificial intelligence (AI), according to a new repot by Accenture. The...
White House Hosts Meeting on Future of Artificial Intelligence
May 10 2018 // The White House plans to convene a meeting on Thursday on the future of artificial intelligence in U.S. industry with major companies including Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Oracle Corp....
Paid Workers’ Comp Claims in Minnesota Drop by Half Over 2 Decades
May 9 2018 // A recent report shows the number of paid workers’ compensation claims in Minnesota fell 54 percent relative to the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) employees from 1996 to 2016. The 2016 Minnesota Workers’...
Drugs in Workforce at Highest in Decade But Opiates Decline: Quest Diagnostics
May 9 2018 // Drug use by the American workforce remains at its highest rate in more than a decade, driven by increases in cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana. However, prescription opiate positivity rates have declined. Nationally,...
CoreLogic® Offers Unique Perspective to HayWired Earthquake Scenario in Conjunction with the United States Geological Survey (USGS)
May 7 2018 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Situated along the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire,” California is in the middle of earthquake country, and planning for the next...
P/C Direct Premium Written Up 4.7 Percent in 2017
May 7 2018 // Direct premium written (DPW) for property/casualty insurance companies continues to increase, albeit gradually. At year-end 2016, more than $607 billion of DPW was reported. For 2017, total DPW for all P/C insurers...
How Agencies Grow Today: Channel Harvest Survey
May 7 2018 // When it comes to business growth, agents have their eyes on the same prize but different ideas about how to secure it. That’s one of the key findings of “Agent Voices 2018,” a soon-to-be-released report...
North Carolina Homeowners Insurers Agree to 4.8% Rate Increase
May 7 2018 // The North Carolina Department of Insurance has reached a settlement with the North Carolina Rate Bureau to increase homeowners insurance rates statewide by an average of 4.8 percent. The agreement between the two parties...
With Flood Risk Rising, Coastal Real Estate Looks a Lot Like a Junk Bond: Viewpoint
May 4 2018 // A friend of mine who is a bit of a climate-change skeptic once challenged me with this question: If climate change is such a pressing danger, why haven’t coastal real estate prices crashed? It’s a fair...
Insurer Sees Growth in Insurance Market for Telemedicine Providers
May 4 2018 // As the U.S. market for telemedicine continues to expand, so does demand for insurance coverage for these providers, according to Beazley, which launched its product last summer. The U.S. is the largest and most mature...
A.M. Best Affirms Excellent Rating, Revises Outlook to Negative for CMIC Group
May 3 2018 // A.M. Best has affirmed its financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and its long-term issuer credit ratings of “a-” while revising its outlook to negative from stable for Glastonbury, Conn.-based Connecticut...
California Bills Inspired by 2017 Mudslides and Fires Clear Committee
May 2 2018 // Two bills inspired by the 2017 mudslides and fires in California that are designed to help prevent homeowners from being underinsured when disaster strikes passed the Assembly Insurance Committee on Wednesday. The bills,...
Federal Tax Cuts Spur 1.8% Decrease in Florida Workers’ Comp Rates
May 2 2018 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved a 1.8 percent rate decrease for workers’ compensation insurance in Florida. The decrease was filed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance...
Iowa Medical Marijuana Industry Unsure About Future
Apr 30 2018 // Serious questions linger about the fate of medical marijuana in Iowa as Republican lawmakers find themselves considering an eleventh-hour deal that would expand the program to more patients. The state’s sole...
Using Insurance Records to Anticipate Future Medical Needs and Reduce Costs
Apr 27 2018 // Scientists at UCLA have determined that medical insurance company records can be used to make accurate predictions about future health conditions in their members. These predictions lead to better outcomes by enabling...
Fitch Affirms Negative Outlook for London Market
Apr 27 2018 // Fitch Ratings said in a recent report that the sector outlook for London market insurance remains negative in 2018, reflecting its analysts’ expectation that underwriting results will continue to be pressured by the...
The Lowdown: For Agents – The Latest on Cyber Predictions & Myths
Apr 25 2018 // This week’s Lowdown features two informative reports, the current State of Cybercrime, by RSA and Top Myths of Cyber Risk for Small & Medium-Sized Businesses, by Relation. Combined, these two reports offer you...
Insurers Broadening Architects, Engineers Liability Coverage: Survey
Apr 24 2018 // While the market for architects and engineers professional liability insurance remains intensely competitive, many insurers providing this coverage are weighing new policy enhancements that offer expanded protection. A new...
Ratings Outlooks Revised to Positive for Michigan’s AmeriTrust Insurance Group
Apr 20 2018 // Ratings agency A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “bbb+” for the...
