Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Costs Continue to Decline
Apr 7 2009 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford has announced a decrease in workers’ compensation costs effective July 1, 2009. The overall loss cost decrease in the voluntary market is 7 percent, while the overall...
Guy Carpenter: Rates Rising on U.S. Property Catastrophe Reinsurance
Apr 7 2009 // A new industry briefing shows reinsurance rates continuing to increase for the U.S. property-catastrophe reinsurance market for April 1, 2009 renewals. According to Guy Carpenter & Co.’s “Rates Up on...
U.S. Forecaster Lowers Atlantic Hurricane Prediction
Apr 7 2009 // Citing cooler seas and the prospect of a weak El Nino, Colorado State University’s hurricane team lowered its 2009 Atlantic forecast Tuesday to 12 tropical storms, of which six could become hurricanes. The research...
S&P Affirms Fortis Corporate ‘A-‘ Ratings; Outlook Negative
Apr 6 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘A-‘ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Netherlands-based commercial lines insurer Fortis Corporate Insurance N.V. (FCI)....
Rising Sea Levels in Northeast Putting Cities At Risk to Storm Damage
Apr 6 2009 // Global warming should lift sea levels along the U.S. Northeast nearly twice as fast as global rates this century, putting New York City at risk to damage from hurricanes and winter storm surges, scientists said. “The...
Cat 5 Litigation in the Forecast?
Apr 6 2009 // As 2008 Hurricane Claims Enter Court and New Season Approaches, Katrina Issues Linger The 2008 hurricane season was the sixth most active tropical storm season recorded since data collection began in 1851. Six storms made...
Auto Loan Delinquency Rate on the Rise
Apr 6 2009 // The percentage of auto loans past due 60 days or more rose 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with the prior-year period, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion. The numbers point to auto...
Calif. Rating Bureau Recommends 24.4% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase
Apr 6 2009 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) has recommended to the California Department of Insurance (DOI) to implement a 24.4 percent increase in pure premium rates that would take...
Central Texas Hail Storm Racks up $160M in Losses
Mar 30 2009 // Many Central Texans are still cleaning up from a large hail storm on last week that knocked out windows, smashed roofs and dented thousands of automobiles causing an estimated $160 million in insured losses. The storm...
S&P Cuts Outlook on Berkshire to ‘Negative’
Mar 27 2009 // Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is at risk of losing its “AAA” credit rating from Standard & Poor’s, after the ratings agency revised its outlook on billionaire Warren Buffett’s company to...
Aon Survey Finds Aerospace Insurance Market Approached Parity in 2008
Mar 25 2009 // Aon’s newly launched “Aerospace Insurance Market Outlook 2009” initially determined that the “average lead premium in the aerospace insurance market continued to decline during 2008, but...
S&P Revises Outlook on ACE Canada to Positive; Affirms ‘A’ Ratings
Mar 25 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Toronto-based property and casualty insurer ACE INA Insurance (ACE Canada) to positive from stable. S&P also affirmed the long-term...
Insurance Agents 40-and-Younger: What Are YOU Thinking? Exclusive Young Agents Survey
Mar 24 2009 // Young property/casualty insurance agents and brokers across the U.S. are being called upon to answer some questions … and have some fun. Who are you? What do you really think about your career? about your industry?...
Survey: Commercial Lines Pricing Drops 3% in Q4
Mar 23 2009 // The commercial lines insurance market showed more signs of price stabilization in the last quarter of 2008. Commercial insurance prices saw just a slight decline of 3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to a...
General Liability Losses, Expenses Likely to Rise Rapidly
Mar 23 2009 // The general liability line of insurance has produced industry-wide combined ratios below 100 percent for the past two years, but this profitable underwriting performance is unlikely to continue, analysts say. General...
Spring Brings Increased Wyoming Mining, Safety Concerns
Mar 23 2009 // The arrival of spring brings increased activity at Wyoming mines and quarries, and with it, a greater risk of workplace accidents, safety officials say. Seasonal workers becoming reacquainted with their jobs and the use of...
A.M. Best: Negative Outlook for Nebraska’s Battle Creek Mutual
Mar 19 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of B+ (Good) and issuer credit rating of “bbb-” of Battle Creek Mutual Insurance Co. in Nebraska. The outlook for both ratings has been revised to...
Swiss Re <em>sigma</em> Study Tallies Catastrophic 2008
Mar 18 2009 // Swiss Re has just released its latest sigma study, which details the toll of disasters that made 2008 “one of the worst years for catastrophe losses” according to the report. More than 240,500 people lost their...
Marsh Warns EU Environmental Laws Expose UK Firms to Increased Risks
Mar 18 2009 // Marsh has analyzed the possible effects of new European legislation designed to protect the environment. The broker points out that “businesses in the UK will now have to pay for any significant damage that they...
Auto Loan Delinquency Rate Up Nearly 9%
Mar 18 2009 // The percentage of auto loans past due 60 days or more rose 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with the prior-year period, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion. And the numbers point to auto...
