Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
AIG to Close Down Savings Bank Unit Due to Dodd-Frank Limits
Jul 30 2013 // American International Group Inc. will return funds to customers of its banking unit and shut their accounts as the Dodd-Frank Act places limits on insurers with deposit-taking units. AIG Federal Savings Bank “will...
Survey: Healthcare Reform Driving Demand for Provider Excess Insurance
Jul 30 2013 // Evolving reimbursement models for healthcare providers are fueling a surge in demand for provider excess insurance with industry experts forecasting a jump in premiums of 15-30 percent in 2013, according to a ReSource...
Allied World Reports $1.9 Million Q2 Net Loss; Operating Income Increases
Jul 29 2013 // Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG reported a net loss of $1.9 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2013 compared to net income of $96.4 million, or $2.59 per diluted share, for the...
Chubb Q2 Profit Jumps 43% to $579M; Renewal Rates Up in All Business Units
Jul 26 2013 // The Chubb Corp. reported its 2013 second quarter net income of $579 million, a 43.3 percent increase from $404 million net income posted a year ago. The company said it benefited from higher rates and stronger underlying...
Best Affirms Everest Re Group and Affiliates Ratings; Outlook Stable
Jul 26 2013 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of Bermuda-based Everest Reinsurance and its reinsurance and insurance...
Best Affirms Catlin Group and Subs Ratings; Outlook Stable
Jul 26 2013 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of Catlin Insurance Company Limited (CICL),...
New Capital Pushing Cat Reinsurance Prices Down 5-15%: Ace’s Greenberg
Jul 25 2013 // Ace Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Evan Greenberg said the influx of Wall Street capital into the reinsurance industry is pressuring rates and that he is prepared to cut sales of backstop coverage. Prices for catastrophe...
Prices Up Again in Q2 But Market Hardening May Be Moderating: The Council
Jul 24 2013 // Commercial property/casualty pricing continued to gently creep upwards in the second quarter, however signs of some moderating of increases also surfaced. The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ quarterly...
Insurance Journal Co-Sponsors MarshBerry Market & Financial Survey
Jul 24 2013 // How are agencies targeting new business today? What do agencies want most from carriers? And just how much are agencies growing in current market conditions? These are some of the questions that a new industry survey plans...
IA&B Survey: Agencies Report Slight Decrease in Commercial Carrier Satisfaction
Jul 23 2013 // Insurance Agents & Brokers (IA&B) — a partnership of three agents’ associations serving Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware — said its latest survey shows its members’ overall satisfaction...
W.R. Berkley Q2 Profit Up 6%; Rates Up 6.5%; CEO Comments on Berkshire
Jul 23 2013 // W.R. Berkley Corp. reported $116 million net income for its 2013 second quarter, up more than 6 percent from $109 million net income posted one year ago. The net income for the first six months of 2013 came in at $233...
Overcoming the Fear of Insuring Emerging Risks
Jul 22 2013 // For an industry that depends on lots of data to develop products and price them according to risk, the insurance industry finds covering new and emerging risks to be no easy task. Carriers try to address new risks,...
Agencies of the Future
Jul 22 2013 // A report from McKinsey & Co., titled “Agents of the Future: The Evolution of Property and Casualty Insurance Distribution,” warns that the division of labor between carrier and agent is blurring....
Florida’s Citizens Seeks Rate Hike, Sinkhole Increase Cap
Jul 22 2013 // Florida’s state-backed property insurer requested a statewide average 6.6 percent increase in homeowners’ rates along with a cap on sinkhole rate increases in three high-risk counties at between 20 percent and...
West Virginia Property Insurance Market Stable
Jul 22 2013 // West Virginia property owners in general didn’t see a huge uptick in insurance premiums after making claims from last summer’s massive windstorm, state data shows. Figures compiled by the state insurance...
Minnesota Participating in Insurance Climate Change Survey
Jul 18 2013 // Minnesota has joined California, New York, Connecticut and Washington state in requiring insurers to respond to the Climate Risk Survey adopted in 2009 by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners...
Devastated Texas Town Ponders Schools’ Future
Jul 18 2013 // After a massive fertilizer plant explosion devastated the rural town of West in April, local teachers and administrators did what they could to help the community cope with a disaster that killed 15 people and wrecked...
Number of Hail Damage Insurance Claims Up 84% Since 2010
Jul 18 2013 // Insurance claims resulting from hail storm damage increased 84 percent in 2012 from their 2010 level, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. In 2010, there were 467,602 hail damage claims filed. That number...
Administration Says Obamacare to Lower Insurance Premiums More Than Forecast
Jul 18 2013 // Hoping to gain the high ground in an escalating war of words over Obamacare, the U.S. administration on Thursday forecast sharply lower than expected insurance costs for consumers and small businesses in new online state...
Conn.-Based Insurers Now Required to Participate in NAIC Climate Risk Surveys
Jul 17 2013 // Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas Leonardi today announced that Connecticut-based insurance companies will now be required to complete the annual Climate Risk Survey that was initially adopted in 2009 as a...
