Latest Trends Headlines

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

Commercial Insurance Prices Continued Up in Q2: Towers Watson

Sep 10 2013 // Commercial insurance prices rose by six percent in aggregate during the second quarter of 2013, marking the 10th consecutive quarter of price increases, according to the latest Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey...

Workers’ Compensation Loss Costs Going Down Again in Kentucky

Sep 9 2013 // Workers’ compensation loss costs used by insurers in figuring rates to charge employers are going down for the eighth straight year. The loss cost figures show an average reduction of 7.9 percent for the 590...

Oklahoma Sees Double Digit Decrease in Workers’ Comp Loss Costs

Sep 9 2013 // An annual filing most insurance carriers will use to develop rates for workers’ compensation insurance shows a dramatic decrease in loss costs, Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak announced. The overall loss...

Premium Increases Under Obamacare Not as High as Expected: Study

Sep 9 2013 // The federal Affordable Care Act will not lead to widespread premium increases in the individual health insurance market. That’s according to a new analysis of 10 states and the United States overall by RAND Corp.,...

Workers’ Compensation Benefits, Employer Costs Rise: Study

Sep 9 2013 // Both workers’ compensation benefits paid to insureds and costs for employers increased in 2011, a new study revealed. Total workers’ comp costs to employers rose by 7.1 percent to $77.1 billion, while...

28th Annual Market & Financial Outlook Survey Reveals an Optimistic Marketplace: MarshBerry

Sep 9 2013 // In June of this year, MarshBerry launched its 28th Annual Market & Financial Outlook Survey in conjunction with Insurance Journal. The survey compiled anonymous general independent agency information along with...

Florida’s Citizens Increasing Rates on Some Commercial Policies

Sep 6 2013 // Florida regulators have approved a first round of rate changes for the state-backed property insurer that include an 8.3 percent increase in condominium association multiperil policies. Citizens Property Insurance Corp....

Driveway Software Launches Smartphone Platform for Usage-Based Insurance Market

Sep 5 2013 // San Francisco-based , a provider of smartphone-based telematics products for the usage-based insurance market, has introduced its SmartUBI Platform, a complete insurance telematics platform which includes a smartphone...

Auto Tire and Rim Thefts Increasing in Metro Detroit

Sep 5 2013 // Tire and rim thefts are increasing sharply in Detroit, Mich., according to Help Eliminate Auto Thefts (H.E.A.T.) and the American Car Rental Association (ACRA). H.E.A.T. is Michigan’s statewide auto theft prevention...

Obamacare Premiums Called Affordable in 17-State Survey

Sep 5 2013 // A 25-year-old New Yorker earning $25,000 a year will pay as little as $62 a month for health insurance next year, and a peer living in Vermont may pay nothing, according to a 17-state survey of premiums under the U.S....

N.J. Survey: Over 60% of Young Drivers Say They’ve Texted While Driving

Sep 4 2013 // New Jersey auto insurance group Plymouth Rock Assurance released the results of a distracted driving study that found 61 percent of young drivers surveyed in New Jersey acknowledged having sent text messages while...

Self-Driving Cars Could Be on U.S. Roads by 2020

Sep 4 2013 // Cars that drive themselves could be on U.S. roads by the end of this decade. But don’t take your foot off the pedal just yet. Automakers, universities and others are at various stages in the development of autonomous...

Rising Sea Levels Ranked as Greatest Climate Change Threat: Guy Carpenter

Sep 4 2013 // Guy Carpenter & Company has an analysis of the evolving risk landscape spurred by global warming, which stresses that “climate change, global warming and the resulting landscape shift for risk management is a...

Best Affirms Members of Farmers Insurance Group Ratings; Outlook Stable

Sep 3 2013 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of the members of Farmers Insurance Group and Farmers Reinsurance Company....

Best Affirms Argo Group International and Subs Ratings; Outlook Stable

Sep 3 2013 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of Bermuda-based Argo Re Ltd. and its subsidiaries. Best also affirmed the...

Swiss Re Survey Finds Most People Believe World is Getting Riskier

Sep 3 2013 // A key finding from a landmark survey commissioned by Swiss Re on the occasion of its 150th anniversary, has found that “people around the world say they’re acutely aware of the risks they may face in the...

Global Reinsurer Capital Reaches $510 Billion: Aon Benfield Survey

Sep 3 2013 // The latest edition of the Aon Benfield Aggregate (ABA) report, which analyses the financial results of the world’s leading reinsurers in the first half of 2013, concludes that “a continuing influx of new funds...

Premium Increases Under Obamacare Are Exaggerated, Rand Says

Aug 30 2013 // Predictions of sharp increases in health-insurance premiums for people getting coverage under the U.S. Affordable Care Act have been overstated and many states will see little to no change, researchers at Rand Corp....

Homeland Security Chief Says U.S. Should Expect ‘Major’ Cyber-Attack in Future

Aug 27 2013 // The U.S. will face a cyber-attack in the future that will cause major disruption in the economy, the outgoing Homeland Security Department chief said. “Our country will, at some point, face a major cyber-event that...

Moody’s Expects Commercial P/C Rates to Continue Rising in 2013

Aug 27 2013 // Moody’s said it expects U.S. property/casualty (P/C) insurance rates to continue to rise during the remainder of 2013 for the major commercial lines, following significant rate increases for 2012. This increase would...