Latest Trends Headlines

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

U.S. Reinsurance Outlook Remains Negative for 2018, Says A.M. Best

Jan 10 2018 // Ratings firm A.M. Best said it is maintaining its 2018 outlook for the U.S. property/casualty reinsurance sector at negative, citing the “pronounced pressure on U.S. property catastrophe rates as the alternative...

California Wholesaler Conference Questions: Rising Premiums, Disruption, Disasters?

Jan 9 2018 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv Surplus lines in California had a great year with more premium and more items, such as policies and endorsements sold. However, surplus lines brokers had to work harder for all that...

Commercial Lines Insurance Outlook Improves for 2018, Says A.M. Best

Jan 8 2018 // Analysts at A.M. Best have been sufficiently impressed by commercial lines insurers’ pricing, underwriting and resilience in recent years to boost their outlook on this segment of the U.S. property/casualty industry...

North Carolina Insurance Regulator Denies 18.7% Homeowners Rate Increase

Jan 8 2018 // The Commissioner of Insurance for North Carolina says a recent rate increase of 18.7 percent proposed by North Carolina insurers is unwarranted and has set a hearing date for later this year to resolve the...

The Competitive Advantage: A Scary Trend

Jan 8 2018 // Maybe “trend” is inaccurate because the data is scant, or maybe “trend” is a presage. The “trend” does not yet exist, but it will. The “trend” is companies taking drastic...

Top Insurtech Predictions for 2018

Jan 8 2018 // Insurtech is often framed as a force of disruption in the insurance industry. But technology doesn’t disrupt the industry – it enhances the way carriers and customers interact. In 2018, I predict we will...

Florida’s Citizens Moves on From 2017, Expects Policy Count Growth in 2018

Jan 8 2018 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the Florida state-run insurer of last resort, is anticipating its policyholder count will increase in 2018 for the first time since its efforts to shed policies through depopulation began...

California Reports 2016 Fatal Occupational Injuries Down

Jan 8 2018 // The California Department of Industrial Relations is reporting that 376 Californians died on the job in 2016, down slightly from the 388 deaths in 2015. A review of the past 12 years indicates that workplace fatalities in...

Number of Licensed Insurance Agencies in Arkansas Grew 4% in 2017

Jan 5 2018 // Arkansas in 2017 had a 4 percent rise in the number of licensed insurance agencies compared with the previous year, the Arkansas Insurance Department (AID) reported. In an announcement released by the AID, Arkansas...

Catastrophe Bond Issuance Tops New Record of $10.5B in 2017: Verisk Report

Jan 5 2018 // Catastrophe bond issuance surpassed $10.5 billion in 2017 – a new record, according to the latest report from the Property Claims Services Unit of Verisk Insurance Solutions. Results from 2017 are significantly higher...

Insured Losses for Germany’s Cyclone Xavier Rise to US$391.5M: PERILS

Jan 5 2018 // The insured property market loss for Extratropical Cyclone Xavier, which affected Germany on Oct. 5, 2017, has risen to €325 million (US$391.5 million)., according to data released by PERILS, the independent Zurich-based...

Telematics CEO: 5 Trends to Watch in 2018 in Auto Insurance

Jan 5 2018 // Auto insurance is experiencing its most seismic shift since it began over 100 years ago. If 2017 shook up the industry with an increasing number of carriers adopting mobile telematics programs for UBI, 2018 will break the...

North Carolina Vehicle Thefts On the Rise After 10-year Decline

Jan 5 2018 // Vehicle thefts are on the rise again in North Carolina after a decade-long decline. The State Bureau of Investigation says 15,007 vehicles were stolen in North Carolina in 2016. That was nearly 4,000 more stolen vehicles...

2017 Texas Surplus Lines Premium Up 6.5% over Previous Year

Jan 3 2018 // Surplus lines premium in Texas increased to $5.46 billion in 2017, up from $5.12 billion in 2016, according to data collected by the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX). These numbers represent a 6.5 percent...

Police Identify Seven More Victims of NYC’s Deadliest Fire in Decades

Jan 3 2018 // Police have released the identities of an additional seven victims of New York City’s deadliest fire in decades, including a 7-month-old baby girl who was among the dozen people who lost their lives. Authorities also...

Property Reinsurance Rates Rise Less Than Expected in Jan. 1 Renewals

Jan 2 2018 // Global property reinsurance prices have risen less than expected in the key Jan. 1 renewal season, with strong competition limiting increases to single digit percentages following a record year of losses, brokers said on...

Entering 2018, Americans More Focused on Financial Health Than Physical Wellness: Allianz Survey

Dec 29 2017 // Looking ahead to the new year, more than a third of Americans (36 percent) believe another major recession may be in the cards for 2018, according to the 9th annual New Year’s Resolution Survey from Allianz Life...

California Reports 2016 Fatal Occupational Injuries Down

Dec 27 2017 // The California Department of Industrial Relations is reporting that 376 Californians died on the job in 2016, down slightly from the 388 deaths in 2015. A review of the past 12 years indicates that workplace fatalities in...

Outlooks Revised to Positive for Missouri Valley Mutual Insurance

Dec 21 2017 // 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 Rating (Long-Term ICR) of “bbb-” of Missouri Valley...

Employers, Workers’ Compensation Carriers Eye Trend in Telehealth: Telerehab

Dec 21 2017 // Though employers and workers’ compensation insurers have been utilizing telemedicine for quite some time, there’s been a recent uptick in interest surrounding virtual physical therapy, also known as...