Latest Trends Headlines

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

A.M. Best: Ratings Outlooks Negative for Texas-Based Standard Casualty

Jan 18 2018 // A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” of Standard Casualty Co. (Standard...

Business, Political Leaders List Cyber Attacks, Geopolitical Tensions as Top Concerns: WEF Survey

Jan 18 2018 // The threat of large-scale cyber attacks and a “deteriorating geopolitical landscape” since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump have jumped to the top of the global elite’s list of concerns, the...

BP Still Paying Gulf Oil Spill Claims as Court Battles Wind Down

Jan 16 2018 // BP Plc raised the amount it will pay this year for the Deepwater Horizon accident as thousands of lawsuits related to the biggest oil spill in U.S. history start to wind down. The 2010 explosion at a well in the Gulf of...

India’s Tata Consultancy Expects Growth in Insurance Sector

Jan 12 2018 // Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Ltd, India’s top IT services firm, said its insurance services business would soon post faster growth thanks to higher client spending but remained cautious on a turnaround in its key...

Verisk’s ISO Personal Lines Program Targets $40 Billion Private Flood Insurance Market

Jan 11 2018 // Things just got a bit easier for private personal lines insurance carriers wanting to enter the flood insurance market. Through its ISO subsidiary, data analytics firm Verisk has launched a new personal lines flood...

Most Commercial Insurance Rates Were Up Slightly in Q4: IVANS Index

Jan 11 2018 // The IVANS Index of premium rate renewals for the fourth quarter showed a slight rise in the average rate change across commercial auto, business owners, general liability, and commercial property compared to Q3, but a drop...

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...