Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Rates Rising But Florida Home Insurers Report Still Losing Money
Dec 28 2010 // Many Florida homeowners expected relief from the higher property insurance bills that followed the busy 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. But more than 4 million homeowners are about to get hit by rate hikes and...
Best Revises Outlook; Affirms Ratings for West of England PI Club
Dec 22 2010 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has revised the outlook to negative from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of...
Ullico Casualty Increases Fiduciary Liability Limits
Dec 21 2010 // Ullico Casualty Group Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ullico Inc., has increased its fiduciary liability insurance limits from $15 million to $25 million, effective immediately. Limits are available on a primary or...
Property, Violent Crimes Decline in U.S. in First Half 2010: FBI
Dec 20 2010 // The nation experienced a 6.2 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 2.8 percent decline in the number of property crimes from January to June 2010. Arson, motor vehicle theft, larceny-theft fell and...
Top 25 Carriers’ Q3 Premiums Rise Nearly 11.5% in 2010 Versus Q3 2009
Dec 20 2010 // Alexander Hamilton once said, “I never expect to see a perfect work from an imperfect man.” Despite an imperfect marketplace, the Top 25 property/casualty companies continued to improve. Their continued...
Young Agents Survey:
Dec 20 2010 // Why Young Agents Stand by Their Career Choice Most enter the insurance business by accident but for young independent insurance agents, the decision to stick with insurance as a permanent career is a matter of choice. A...
Commercial Pricing Stays Flat, Management Liability Declines
Dec 20 2010 // Overall commercial insurance prices were flat for the seventh consecutive quarter, declining less than 1 percent, according to a survey of third quarter activity. Commercial property, directors and officers liability, and...
Moody’s Affirms Rating of Fireman’s Fund; Outlook Stable
Dec 17 2010 // Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its A2 insurance financial strength rating for Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. Moody’s also announced that its outlook for the Novato, Calif.-based insurer remains stable,...
Best Affirms Allstate and Subsidiaries ‘A+’ Ratings; Outlook Stable
Dec 16 2010 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of Allstate Insurance Group and its members. Best also affirmed the ICR of...
P&I Insurance Market Makes a Record Comeback Says Willis Report
Dec 14 2010 // A new report from Willis Group Holdings notes that “investment income in the Protection and Indemnity (P&I) insurance market, which provides ship owners with marine legal liability coverage, bounced back to $680...
Outlook: South Carolina Economy to Improve Slowly in 2011
Dec 14 2010 // The South Carolina economy improved in 2010 and will continue to recover in 2011 with better job growth. But the improvement next year will happen slowly. Job growth is expected to increase to 1.2 percent in 2011 from 0.1...
Overall Commercial Pricing Stays Flat, Management Liability Declines
Dec 13 2010 // Overall commercial insurance prices were flat for the seventh consecutive quarter, declining less than one percent, according to a survey of third quarter activity. Commercial property, directors and officers liability...
U.S. Life/Health Sector’s Premiums Rise 2.6%; First Increase Since 2008
Dec 10 2010 // U.S. life/health industry’s nine-month net premiums written rose 2.6 percent to $424.2 billion, reflecting the first increase since year-end 2008, according to a new report. In its nine-month financial review of the...
S&P: U.S. Personal Lines Insurance Sector Outlook Revised To Stable
Dec 10 2010 // Rates for the personal lines insurance sector continue to see improvements, according to a new report. While pricing for the U.S. commercial lines sector continues to decline, though at a slower pace in the last two years,...
Merger, Acquisition Activity Heats Up
Dec 10 2010 // Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity between July and September was robust making the third quarter the most active with 61 deals versus 36 last year. Deal volume for the first nine months is up 28 percent from the...
Texas Unemployment Insurance Tax Rates to Rise for 2011
Dec 9 2010 // The standard minimum unemployment insurance (UI) tax rate paid by Texas employers in calendar year (CY) 2011 will be 0.78 percent, up from 0.72 percent in CY 2010, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) announced. The taxes...
Lawyer Malpractice Claims on the Rise
Dec 8 2010 // The economy has taken its toll on all businesses today and law firms are no exception. They have experienced downsizing, pressure to change specialties in order to compete for new business, and other cost cutting measures,...
S&P Affirms ING’s Ratings; Removed from CreditWatch; Outlook Negative
Dec 8 2010 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on various operating insurance subsidiaries of ING Groep N.V. (ING) and its...
Swiss Re’s Economic Forum Sees Continued Growth, Pressure and Risks
Dec 8 2010 // Swiss Re’s Economic Forum singled out three main factors that will continue to affect the re/insurance market in 2011. The Forum’s economists forecast “continued global economic expansion in 2011, led by...
IronBuilt Increases Capacity Limits for Construction Risks
Dec 8 2010 // IronBuilt, the specialty construction unit of Ironshore Inc., has increased its limits of up to $25 million in umbrella/excess, wrap-up and project specific liability capacity. IronBuilt offers construction risk protection...
