Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Summary of Forecasts for 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season
May 29 2009 // Private weather forecaster Planalytics predicted Wednesday that the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season will produce 10 tropical storms, of which six will become hurricanes. The company said one or two of the storms were likely...
New Report Cites Climate Change as Cause for 315,000 Deaths a Year
May 29 2009 // Climate change kills about 315,000 people a year through hunger, sickness and weather disasters, and the annual death toll is expected to rise to half a million by 2030, a report said on Friday. The study, commissioned by...
California Workers’ Comp Insurer Files for 15% Premium Increase
May 29 2009 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund has filed a mid-year rate plan that reflects a 15 percent increase in collectible premium. The revised rates will apply to new and renewal workers’ compensation...
Some Alabama Beach Pool Insurance Rates Going Up July 1
May 29 2009 // Rates for some coastal property owners insured through the residual market insurance organization known as the Alabama Beach Pool are going up July 1. The overall average hike will be 5.5 percent, according to the Alabama...
Best Revises Selective and Subs Outlook to Negative; Affirms Ratings
May 28 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has revised its rating outlook to negative from stable, but has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of Selective...
Marsh Survey Concludes UK Insurance Rates ‘Continue to Fall’
May 28 2009 // According to findings from Marsh, “Insurance rates in the UK continued to fall, but at a slower rate, across all major lines of business in the first quarter of 2009.” The figures are based on business placed...
Pretty Normal Hawaii Hurricane Season Forecast
May 27 2009 // The Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Hawaii is forecasting three to five tropical cyclones forming in the central Pacific during the 2009 hurricane season, which begins June 1. An average season has four or...
Medicus Insurance Decreases Rates 6.7% In Nevada
May 26 2009 // The Nevada Division of Insurance has approved an overall rate decrease of 6.7 percent for physicians and medical professionals insured by Medicus Insurance Co. “Our claims experience in Nevada has been...
New York Barn Burns Decades after Blaze Hit Same Spot
May 26 2009 // A fire has decimated an upstate New York barn more than 30 years after a blaze destroyed another barn on the same spot and killed two children. Edward Tyler remembers the first time his family’s barn in northern Rome...
ASI Enters South Carolina Homeowners Insurance Market
May 22 2009 // Florida-based American Strategic Insurance Corp. (ASI) has entered the South Carolina marketplace and is offering homeowners’ insurance coverage for coastal property owners through independent agents. “As the...
Coastal Insurance Rates Could Rise if Federal Tax Law is Enacted
May 21 2009 // As it girds for hurricane season, Texas has plenty to worry about. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) – which provides coverage for high risk coastal properties – has ended up at the brink of...
CII Skills Survey Underlines Industry Commitment to Staff Training
May 21 2009 // The UK’s Chartered Insurance Institute’s third annual skills survey, confirmed that “two thirds of people in insurance and financial services believe that the sector should remain committed to maintaining...
Fitch Advises Florida Insurance Market Remains ‘Fragile’
May 20 2009 // Fitch Ratings agency is advising that the Florida property insurance market is “fragile” and remains a “peak risk zone.” The Florida assessment is included in a Fitch report for investors right...
Auto Thefts Down Dramatically in Texas But Car Burglaries Rise
May 20 2009 // Praise the work of auto theft task forces or new car manufacturers or both for the dramatic drop in auto thefts in Texas. Criminals are stealing older vehicles simply because they’re finding it harder to bypass...
Cunningham Lindsey U.S. CEO: Market Conditions Not Slowing Growth
May 20 2009 // With its acquisition in early 2009 of the international business of GAB Robins (excluding its UK operations) and the U.S. forensic engineering firm, EFI Global, Cunningham Lindsey became the second largest property...
Best Affirms Travelers Ratings; Changes Outlook to Positive
May 19 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of Travelers Group, its P/C members and affiliate, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America (TCSA) and TCSA’s...
Better Predictions of Storm Intensity Could Take Decade
May 19 2009 // People living in hurricane danger zones could have a long wait — as much as 10 years — for improved forecasts of rapid intensity changes in a hurricane, the top U.S. hurricane forecaster said recently. In the...
Recession Increasing Insurance Fraud
May 18 2009 // Areas Where Agents Might See an Increase in Fraud Does a bad economy increase crime? Analysts have debated that question for years, according to Mike McKee, senior special agent for the National Insurance Crime Bureau....
2009 Fire Season Outlook Identifies Few Areas of Concern
May 18 2009 // Forecasts Normal to Below Normal Potential Across Most of the West Northern California, where nearly a million acres burned last summer, is poised to possibly be another hotspot for wildfire activity in 2009, according to...
Catlin Sponsored Survey Team Returns Safely after 2½ Month Arctic Trek
May 15 2009 // The Bermuda-based Catlin Group announced from its London offices that the “three explorers conducting the Catlin Arctic Survey returned from the Arctic sea ice late on Wednesday (13 May), marking the end of a...
